Blind Bus Passenger Let Off At Wrong Stop

Even though he’s blind, Matthew Morris of Colorado Springs still tries to live as normal of a life as he can. Every day, he takes a 10-minute bus ride on the Mountain Metropolitan Transit system to baby-sit his two grandchildren. But the routine went wrong Wednesday morning.

Morris, 36, said his usual bus driver let him out seven blocks after his scheduled stop near the police operations center near the intersection of Nevada Avenue and Rio Grande Street. Morris said he’s never had a problem on the bus before.

“It just wasn’t very cool,” said Morris. “It shouldn’t have happened. I was irritated.”

Morris said he was prepared for his normal stop because an audio alert sounds, but he also prepares on the driver to inform him and that didn’t happen.

“He just drove on by,” said Morris of his bus driver. “When we stopped, I asked him what direction I needed to go in and what was around me, just to get a bearing on my surroundings. He closed the bus doors and took off.”

Morris was at the south end of downtown surrounded by heavy traffic, but said he tried to make it back to his destination with only a cane to guide him. He only made it a few blocks before running into difficulty.

“I got confused and and intimidated,” he said. “I dropped my cane and had a panic attack.”

Fortunately, Morris said a kind pedestrian helped out.

“He handed me my cane, I thanked him and he left,” said Morris. “I’d like to thank that gentleman very much. I’m all about being independent, but there are some times when I need a hand just like anybody.”

The situation could have been more dangerous for Morris if the weather hadn’t been good or he hadn’t had relatives in town. He said his daughter and son rescued him.

“We were worried,” said daughter Laura Charles. “There are some people who will mess around with blind people. Maybe we should be with him more, and give him more rides instead of letting him be so independent.”

Morris said he called transit officials for an explanation, but didn’t get one.

“They told me I should have pushed the button (on the bus),” he said. “I asked where is the button? I’m blind.”

A transit official said the matter will be investigated to determine why it happened and prevent it from happening again. Morris said he will continue taking the bus, but will ride on an earlier route.