IN THE NEWS
LIVERPOOL MUM STRUGGLED TO GET TAXI HOME WITH HER GUIDE DOG AFTER NIGHT OUT
A mum said she felt like a “second-class citizen” as she struggled to get a taxi home with her guide dog after a night out with a friend. Sue Mooney, from Kirkdale, hailed a cab at 9pm outside the Cabbage Inn on Breck Road.
When the cab pulled up Sue claimed the driver saw her guide dog Carlo and told her she would not be allowed in the car. He then drove off leaving her stranded on the side of the road. Sue claims that this is the fifth time a Delta taxi driver has not allowed her to enter a taxi. Sue told the Liverpool Echo: “He wound the window down and
asked if that was my dog, refused to take us and drove off. “It made me feel like a second- class citizen, I should be allowed to go where I want, when I want. “My friend stayed with me until the next taxi driver came along. I can’t see and have very limited vision so if my friend had not been with me
I would have stood there
wondering where he had gone. “This is not the first time it has happened and it leaves me vulnerable.”
Sue has been using a guide dog for more than a decade. Sue, 60, said: “I called Delta and I was told that the driver must have an allergy. I was asked to fill in a complaint form.” Sue believes more needs to be done to educate drivers, she said: “I would like to know that the drivers they take on are told that there is no excuse and that people with guide dogs should be allowed in the car. My dog is not an inconvenience”
STRATFORD TAXI DRIVER LOSES LICENCE AFTER REFUSING TO TAKE DISABLED PASSENGER
A taxi driver from Shipston-on- Stour has had his licence revoked after refusing to take a disabled passenger in a mobility scooter. Stratford-on-Avon District Council has revoked 69-year-old Mr Parker’s
licence following a
decision by the council’s licensing panel in March. The driver had initially appealed the decision but withdrew his appeal before the hearing was due to be heard on October 9. It comes after a complaint made in January from a member of the public in a mobility scooter, who said that Mr Parker refused to carry him in his hackney carriage vehicle whilst working in Stratford-upon- Avon town centre. Cllr Lorraine Grocott,
environ- 50
mental and neighbourhood services portfolio at the district council, said: “Under the Equality Act 2010, licensed taxi drivers using accessible vehicles must not discriminate against disabled passengers, and they should also give them assistance
when
required. “Actions such as these are inexcusable and certainly not the
high standard that we expect from our licensed drivers, who all undergo disability awareness training to ensure they are aware of their legal obligation.” Mr Parker is no longer a licensed driver with Stratford-on-Avon District Council and has been ordered to pay costs of £3,696 to the district council. Cllr Chris Mills, licensing panel chairman, said: “We have a duty to ensure all taxi drivers in Stratford district comply with the terms and conditions of our licensing policy, which places paramount import- ance on the safety of the public. “Taxi drivers hold a position of trust and have a duty of care, and when drivers fail in this duty, we have no hesitation in revoking their licence.”
NOVEMBER 2023 PHTM
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