Taxi Driver Online

New deal for 36 taxis for disabled

telegraph and argus!


Taxi drivers and councillors have agreed to a new deal for 36 wheelchair-accessible taxis to be commissioned next year.

It follows a review by Bradford Council’s hackney carriage unit, which found there was a “significant lack” of such vehicles. Only 11.6 per cent of taxis are currently suitable to carry wheelchair-bound passengers.

By 2012 virtually all the hackney carriages in the district will be accessible to wheelchair-users as older vehicles drop out of commission and are renewed.

At a long and often heated meeting of the Council’s regulatory and appeals committee, the Bradford Hackney Carriage Owners’ Associa-tion offered to bring forward the date by which all new or renewed licences must be for wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

Under laws to prevent discrimination, this date is set at 2010 but, after yesterday’s meeting in City Hall, the deadline in this district will now be January 1, 2009.

Ian Bairstow, the Council’s assistant director of environment and neighbourhoods, also gave details of a previous deal worked out in 2005. The Council and the association had agreed to convert ten existing saloon vehicle licences to wheelchair-accessible licences each year, which should have seen 30 changed over in the last three years. Only 12 had been converted in that time.

Councillors rejected a recommendation designed to speed up the renewal process by reducing the age restriction for taxis by one year for saloons and two years for wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

In addition, driver training and testing will be extended to include disability awareness issues. Groups such as Bradford Access Action and Bradford and District Disabled People’s Forum will be involved.

Hackney Carriage Owners’ Association president C D Khalid told the meeting the trade required proper guidelines for vehicles to be converted. He said current draft proposals from the Council were “misleading and conflicting”.

Mr Bairstow said the full guidelines would be available shortly.

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

Here's the original thread highlighting the bradford decision. Some of us were of the opinion that the voluntary process wouldn't work but what do we know? I supose councillors know best.

http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/vie ... php?t=2335

What is interesting is the fact that I highlighted their vulnerability to a legal challenge and not surprisingly that is exactly what they got and lost.

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

I wonder why the disability groups did not point out that most disabled cannot get into a WAV

Because probably the disability groups were concerned with the general lack of WAV's?

CC

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

The taxi trade agreed to do something and then apparently reneged.....to be fair the council left the ball in the trades court.....not knowing what the situation is in Bradford I wonder if they'll now deregulate with a WAV policy?

CC

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

It was the local taxi association that suggested the idea of ten voluntary conversions per year to prevent the council increasing taxi numbers.

Not even the formidable LTI propoganda machine could persuade these guys to purchase the so called ICON, I suppose that speaks for itself but LTI shouldn't worry because the council might come to their aid if they insist the wav has to have a 25 foot turning circle.

When this compromise was announced I said it wouldn't work and I was right, I also said they were leaving themselves open for a challenge and thats what they got. The end result was predictable and thats where we are now.

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

Would that be because they don't tell blatant lies skippy?

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Former taxi driver

Most disabled people don't have a wheelchair. Even the ones who do often prefer a saloon ( including Anne Begg MP who requests a saloon car when booking through her usual firm in Aberdeen).
Almost all ambient disabled (the ones who can walk a little for the hard of thinking) prefer a saloon type vehicle and request one when booking

And as a thought: Hardly any wheelchair users ever get taxis from a rank or hail them in the street. They usually phone for one.

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

Just a thought: A preference for a saloon car is rather different from an inability to access or egress a purpose built, wheelchair accessible taxi.

Skippy made an outrageous and unfounded claim in that, "most disabled cannot get into a WAV"

I am not a champion for LTI or for anyone else, but to make such a ridiculous claim is patently absurd.

What do you say, Skippy?

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Former taxi driver

Well Jimbo as you have been christened the hard of thinking or brain dead in my book.
When I say most disabled I mean it regardless of manufacturer

So in Skippyworld, WAV's are a retrograde step?

They are all totally useless, and the disabled are better of in areas where there are no WAV's?

And what do you mean by "most disabled"?

Most as in numerical, or most as in most severely?

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Former taxi driver

Not quit, what I'm saying is there absolutely no need for an all wav policy anywhere as Gus says most disabled dont have wheels
We only have 1 wav here and the owner has said he has never had a wav job yet in the 18 months hes had it
most folk use a private wav company even though the guy is just a call away or use saloons as they like them better even though they have to slide in in some cases.
Councils should check on the numbers of wheelchair users in there areas before inflicting a full wav policy, when there may be only 1 or 2 that actually need a wav

I would take that to mean the vast majority of registered disabled people.
e.g. The blind, those with walking sticks/crutches/zimmers etc, epilepsy sufferers, people with learning difficulties .. ect.
You don't need a wheelchair to be disabled.

Every disabled person has a particular type of vehicle they find easiest to use.
I can't think of anyone around here who would choose a London style cab as first choice.
After all it was designed around it's turning circle, not it's passengers. Wasn't it?

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

I'd put money on it that the People that are shouting the loudest for WAV's are mostly the "abled bodied Liberal do gooding must have at to hell with the expense brigade" and not most of the wheelchair users themselves.

As is the general consenus that Wheelchair users would much rather slide into a saloon unless severely Impared in which case a specialist transport team may be of more use, something to which all taxis can never be expected to achieve.

The disabled are like you and I, they suffer from embarassment just the same. Im sure they have no wish to be seen perched in a wheelchair like a bird in a glass cage as they get driven about, it also raises safety aspects, the wheelchair users that can drive don't use WAVS but normally haul themselves in sideways to saloon style cars. so why do the overly Zealous do gooders not see that and take a more realistic approach to the problem.