MOBILITY MATTERS.. READING DRIVERSWHO REFUSED TO
TAKE BLIND PASSENGERS SET FOR PUNISHMENT
Two taxi drivers who refused to accept a fare by blind passengers are set to be repri- manded by the borough council. A sting operation involving a blind customer and a guide dog was car- ried out around Reading to test taxi drivers. It consisted of the blind person with a dog and a second sighted person ask- ing for a journey from The Penta Hotel to Reading Station and back. Of the five hackney carriage and five
PHVs tested, two private hire drivers refused to take the guide dogs as part of the fare. Clive Wood, en- gagement officer for Guide Dogs Reading,
said:
"Guide Dogs are pleased to work in partnership with Reading BC to raise awareness amongst the Reading taxi community on the legal requirement to allow guide dogs in their vehicles. There are still a sig- nificant number of guide dog owners being
refused access to taxis ac-
there are many taxi drivers who provide a great service to blind and partially sighted people - and we hope this will be the norm very soon.” Cllr Tony Page, deputy
leader,
Mr Chawama, Licensing Officer, Clive Wood with Winne and Mrs Butler, Licensing Officer
ross the UK and we welcome any initia-
tive to stop this. We also know that
added: "Both hack- ney carriage and private hire drivers have a responsibili- ty to accept fares requested by blind passengers with guide dogs and I am pleased that eight out of the ten taxi drivers accept- ed the fares. “Formal action will now be
taken
against the two pri- vate hire drivers who refused on the basis they would not carry the assis- tance dogs in their vehicles. All drivers should also be aware similar test purchases will take place in the future.” Mmmm… Full credit to Reading Council for their diligence in this matter. Now it is down to the “for- mal action” to be a sufficient deterrent so
that those
drivers, and others, will not do the same again in this district. We’re talking about stiff fines and possi- ble revocation – Ed.
LEICESTER DRIVERWHOWAS ‘WORRIED GUIDE DOG WOULD LICK GEAR STICK’ APPEALS CONVICTION
A taxi driver found guilty of refusing to take a guide dog in his vehicle has lost an appeal against his conviction. Zaman Khan, from Leicester, pleaded not guilty at Leices- ter Magistrates' Court in March to refusing to take Martyn Richardson and his guide dog, Janet,
in his
Hyundai i40 estate in May last year. The
29-year-old
was found guilty of the offence, under the 2010 Equality Act. In June his appeal against the convic- tion was thrown out at Leicester Crown
64
Court. A further £400 in costs was added to a £400 fine and £400 costs Khan was ordered to pay by magis- trates in March. The court also heard that Leicester City Council’s li- censing committee had since refused to renew Khan’s taxi licence and he is out of work. The appeal hearing was
Richardson,
told Mr 48,
called city compa- ny ADT asking them to take him, two friends and his guide dog Janet home after a night out in May last year. Mr
Richardson,
Zaman Khan, at the Leicester Magistrates hearing in March
who gave evidence from a chair in front of the witness stand in Court 3, with Janet lying quietly at his feet, told the court he got into the taxi’s front passenger seat with his guide dog sitting in the
footwell. He told the court that when he got in Khan said he didn’t want the dog in his car and said he was scared of dogs. “He said ‘no dog, no dog!’,” Mr Richardson told the court.
“I said ‘it’smy guide dog’ and he said something like ‘I am scared of dogs, or your dog scares me’. “I said ‘you scare me’ as a sarcastic form of retaliation. “Then I just got out, I was upset and annoyed. I don’t like fuss and I just want- ed to get away from the situation and walk home.” Questioned
by
Khan’s barrister, Antony Schiller, Mr Richardson denied claims that Khan had asked himto sit in the back of the car with his dog because he was concerned she may
interfere with the gear stick and that he had been abu- sive to the driver. Mr Richardson re- plied: “That is com- pletely untrue. If he had said that there may have been a different outcome.” Adam Rumsey, one of the other pas- sengers sharing the taxi, said when he got in a short while later Mr Richardson was getting out of the car saying “I’m afraid of you” to the driver. A third passenger, 68-year-old Gra- ham Hollis, went after Mr Richardson to try and persuade him to get back in.
AUGUST 2018
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