Taxi Driver Online

Newport woman claims taxi drivers refused to pick up disabled partner



A NEWPORT woman has criticised taxi drivers because she says they regularly refuse to pick up her disabled partner.

Alexandra Griffiths, aged 29, of Lliswerry, said taxi drivers had repeatedly refused to pick up her partner, who is wheelchair bound and paraplegic, over the last few years.

She said it was a ‘disgrace’ that disabled people were being discriminated against.

“Dragon Taxi drivers driving the Hackney cabs have produced paperwork claiming they are unable to provide a taxi service to disabled people due to their own personal medical condition,” she said.

“The last driver that claimed this said he had a heart condition which prevented him from helping my partner into the cab.”

She added that when they had asked for wheelchair accessible cabs they had been told there were none available, but when they rang back and asked for a Hackney cab they said ‘no problem’ and one would be on its way.

Ms Griffiths, who works in St Woolos Hospital, added that their struggles to book taxis had made going into town difficult.

“I feel that if drivers are unable to provide the service then they should not be allowed to drive the Hackney cabs.”

She added: “As disabled people are a minority they don’t like to shout about these things as things are hard enough as it is, but it’s frustrating when the simple things in life are made difficult.”

A spokesman from Dragon Taxis said: “We only have a handful who work for us directly. Most drivers are independent and are not assigned to any company.

“They will cater for all the needs of people the best they can.”

He added: “We only have between five to seven black cabs. It’s a small number for the amount of people who require them, so it depends on time and availability.”

A spokeswoman for Newport City Council said any taxi driver who refused to carry a disabled passenger could face having their licence revoked and she urged people to report such incidents to the council with as much information as possible.

“Newport City Council takes any failure of hackney carriage taxi drivers to accept disabled passengers very seriously. Hackney carriage taxi drivers are required under the Equalities Act 2010 to carry disabled passengers and to provide them with assistance, wherever possible.

“Drivers can be exempt from these regulations on medical grounds and they do not apply to private hire taxis.

“Where we have sufficient evidence to support a complaint Newport City Council will not hesitate to prosecute and consider revoking their licence.”

source: http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/1 ... d_partner/

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

First she states it was a ‘disgrace’ that disabled people were being discriminated against and then goes on to say that the disabled shouldn't be allowed to drive taxis !!! Pot ,kettle, black.