MOBILITY MATTERS
I2
STEVENAGE CABBIE REFUSED TO TAKE GUIDE DOG
A blind man has had a taxi driver refuse to take his guide dog for the second time this year. Sean Dilley,
29, I2
booked a cab through Stevenage Taxis to take him from Steve- nage town centre to Great Ashby Veteri- nary Hospital but said that when the driver arrived he refused to take his assistance dog Chipp. Mr Dilley told the Stevenage Comet that, after pointing out it was against the law, the driver said he’d take Chipp but only if the dog was locked in the boot. It is the second inci- dent in five months after a driver from Gary’s Taxis in Letch- worth refused to take Mr Dilley’s guide dog in January. Abdul
Hasan was subse- quently
cautioned
after a district council disciplinary hearing in March. Mr Dilley added: “We called the office on speaker phone and Stevenage Taxis told him he had to take the guide dog but the driv- er became rather loud and threatening. He objected to having a ‘dirty dog’ in his car. “The office sent anoth- er car and apologised, telling me they would call the driver in. Before parting,
the driver
demanded money from me to clean hair from his car where we had initially sat in it. “This is the latest dis- gusting and unac- ceptable refusal
to
carry my guide dog. They are vital mobility aids for the blind and the law recognises
this and outlaws their refusal. Unfortunately the message isn’t get- ting through to taxi drivers, some of whom think the law doesn’t apply to them. I call on Stevenage Borough Council to prosecute and I assure the driver that if they don’t, I will take out a private prosecution.” A spokesman from Stevenage Borough Council said: “Steve- nage Borough Council has received a com- plaint of a refused taxi fare from Mr Dilley and we will undertake a full investigation. “There are currently six licensed drivers out of 298 who have exemptions. These have been given on medical grounds only. Drivers with an exemp- tion carry a certificate to indicate this.”
WGC DRIVER’S DISGUST OVER COLLEAGUES’ SNUB TO MAN WITH PARKINSON’S
A taxi driver who took a man with Parkin- son’s disease and his wife home after fellow cabbies ignored them, has spoken of his dis- gust at his colleagues’ actions. The Welwyn Hatfield Times was put
in
touch with the driver by a friend, who would only give his name as ‘Mike’. His comments related to an incident reported in the WHT on July 4, where three drivers at the rank in Welwyn Garden City refused to budge from the rank to help the couple who were over by Sainsbury’s in Church Road. The driver, who did not wish to be named, said: “It is disgusting really. That’s what you’re there for, you’re a public service. It’s disgraceful that you
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can pick and choose your jobs when you’re a public service. If you drive a bus you don’t say ‘I’m not taking you because I don’t like the colour of your coat’.” Asked if he believed action would be taken against the drivers, he said: “There will be, there would have to be.” He added: “It [the council] needs to strike while the iron is hot. It’s a public serv- ice and you can’t discriminate. “And, as it happened the fare was to Tewin and it was 20 quid, so it was a nice job for me,” he quipped. ‘Mike’ said he had tried to give the details of the three drivers to the council’s Hackney Carriage department, but staff had refused to transfer him. A
council spokeswoman said they had “no record” of the call. Instead he gave the Welwyn Hatfield Times the licence numbers and car model details of the drivers alleged to have snubbed the couple’s pleas. The paper then passed the details on to Welwyn Hatfield
which has pledged to investigate. A spokeswoman said: “Our
investigations
into this matter contin- ue and we have now spoken to the police community support officer. However we have yet to speak to the members of the public involved in this incident and we would urge them to contact the Hackney Carriage office so our investiga- tion can be con- cluded.”
PHTM AUGUST 2012
Council,
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