If the government say they are safe, then who are we to argue?
Most of the
"rear loaders are dangerous". argument is just years of LTI propaganda. They are no more dangerous than side loaders or saloons.
Each type has it's drawbacks and side loaders are generally designed to be loaded from one nearside door.
Ask yourself how much room is required to fully deploy the side ramps and leave enough room to maneuver the wheelchair onto them? Then ask yourself how far from the pavement the taxi would need to park and how far into the road it would be? How safe is that?
If the rank is on the wrong side of the road, as it is in Aberdeen's busiest rank, the passenger has to be loaded from the road in front of traffic. How safe is that?
The wheelchair passenger cannot easily be unloaded with their wheelchair from any other door since their are various obstructions in the way (seats, security screen etc) and, of course, there is no ramp.
So, with either type, in an emergency, the passenger would need to be decamped from their wheelchair. In a rear loader you have a choice of two side doors if the loading door won't open. In a side loader, you have only one.
That's if the fire service don't just force open the correct door or cut the cab apart.
And, if a council licenses saloons, which have no wheelchair access, then a rear loader is surely an improvement. A wheelchair user in the front of a saloon would need to be dragged across the gearstick, handbrake and past the steering wheel, not forgetting the deployed airbags, to get out the other side.
Very practicle not
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