Taxi Driver Online

Blackburn family's anger after taxis refuse to carry wheelchair user

A FAMILY said they were left angry and embarrassed when two specially adapted black cabs refused to carry their wheelchair user son. Blackburn mum Anette McDermott and her son Darrell, 26, were shopping with their disabled son and brother Ashley, 24 when they claim they were told, ‘I don’t do wheelchairs’ by one driver and waved away by a second.

The pair said both drivers outside Blackburn market were driving newer model cabs, designed to accommodate wheelchairs. Now Blackburn with Darwen Council is set to investigate what happened.


The trio were laden down with bags and were looking for a disability adapted cab in order to get Ashley, who suffers from cerebral palsy and epilepsy, home. Their story has angered disability campaigner and former Hyndburn mayor Malcolm Pritchard who said the licences of the drivers involved should be investigated.

The McDermotts said the first cab driver, whose taxi was equipped with a ramp, gave no reason for his refusal while another with an adapted taxi said he had an injured arm. Darrell, 26, who is his brother’s full time carer, said: “Ashley knew he was being turned down for a cab and it was upsetting for him. The first guy who turned us away just waved at us and didn’t give a reason, even though his taxi has a ramp.

“The second one said ‘I don’t do wheelchairs’ and another driver said he had a bad arm and couldn’t lift anything. “I explained I would do all the lifting, but that wasn’t good enough. He just wouldn’t let us.”

Anette, who works full time with disabled children at Oswaldtwistle’s Hargreaves House, said the cab drivers’ refusal to let them in the taxi caused an embarrassing scene which upset her son. She said: “People were starting to gather and stare and we just had to walk away.”

Coun Pritchard, whose son Mark is also a wheelchair user, said: “I think this family having to go through this is disgusting. They deserve to be treated with a bit of dignity and not discriminated against in that way. I think the provision of cabs and drivers for the disabled in Blackburn needs to be urgently looked into to.”

Blackburn with Darwen Council said it was illegal for drivers to refuse to carry a wheelchair user without a medical exemption certificate and they would fully investigate all complaints.

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IDFIMH

It's a [edited by admin] Poor show when people who have the means to transport the genuinely disabled won't do so..that's bad crack.

That said...Wouldn't you have the right to refuse any customer, Abled or Disabled, that you so wish on certain other grounds if it merited it? for arguments sake you, wouldn't accept say an upchucker if he was able bodied so why would you have to accept a wheelchair bound upchucker if he wanted a taxi..

Surely you do not have to take a wheelchair customer in every single case.

Well I have plans for tomorrow which I have had to scrap because someone needs a taxi that can take a wheelchair and in my neck of the woods I am the ONLY one who will do wheelchairs although there are other vehicles driving around with wheelchair access symbols all over them they are not acyually equipped to do so but as long as they tick a box on their application that says yes the council never checks up that they can !

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Is something missing from this story i wonder?

wouldnt the wheelchair have been one of those great big leccy things?

"disabled son and brother Ashley, 24 who suffers from cerebral palsy"


BTW, wouldnt the family own their own WAV normally?

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

If you have good reason you can refuse any job.

A person that has soiled himself is a good reason, wheelchair or not.

The issue that does cause problems is if the wheelchair punter is on the large size and the driver isn't. In that case a refusal could be justified.

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IDFIMH

An electric wheelchair with an adult user, without any kind of means to weigh the total can be refused if you believe it could cause you or the passenger injury loading/unloading.

Simply do yourself a risk assessment sheet stating some obvious possible risks and have it in your cab at all times.

Blackburn = you know who. The Council will be shit scared of them pulling the racial card.

We had it round here last month, one of the drivers point blank refused to take a wheelchair saying he wasn't loading it, the passenger complained to the Council, what come of it?? NOTHING.

Scenario, the above situation, driver please could you load the wheelchair, driver no get the next one,why because I said so, so one smashed windscreen later driver cannot work until its repaired.

BTW there was no mention of the wheelchair having a three pin plug, so it will be a specially built normal one

The drivers were not even going to have to load the wheelchair. The carer was going to do all the loading.

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Grandad,

1. Thats why they are CARER'S

but 2. Maybe the chair was just too big? and one glance and the driver knew

I cant find any pictures anywhere to go with this story BTW

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Does your insurance cover this?

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

In Chesterfield last night they were doing wheelchair loading tests, those who could load them took 5 minutes, there were some epic fails according to the Licensing Officer, she said the HC drivers along with their plates and badges would be going in front of the points committee on Wednesday with a recomendation that they either suspend or revoke plates and badges.

Thats the way forward.

What is this illegal point system you keep referring to??
If there was some epic fails, its all down to training on the councils part, if the drivers have not been physically shown, how can they be blamed

Chesterfield have a driver points system where if they keep appearing in front of the committee they'll get their badges revoked or suspended. It's not down to the Council to train them on loading wheelchairs it's down to the driver to familiarise themselves with the vehicle and the loading of wheelchairs.

But a driver can only load it in a way that he or she knows, or thinks, there should be a program in place that actually shows the driver the correct way, after all its the council that insist that vehicles must be WA