Taxi Driver Online

Nottinghamshire minicabs charges extra for passengers in wheelchairs



Minicab drivers have come under fire for charging extra for passengers in wheelchairs.

Disabled Fiona Reid visited Nottingham for her sister's hen party and was shocked to find she had been charged three times the amount of her friends for a minicab from the Hilton hotel in Milton Street to Bistro Live in Barker Gate.

Miss Reid said she felt discriminated against after she was charged £15 by Trent Cars. But a spokesman for DG Cars, which runs Trent Cars, said the extra charge was an industry standard.

Miss Reid, who is from Lincolnshire and has cerebral palsy, said: "We discussed taxi costs and they had paid between £3.50 and £4.50 for theirs. I felt frustrated and that it was unfair. When I got home, I found it appeared to be an issue nationwide."

A spokesman for DG Cars said the increased fare for wheelchair users was due to larger vehicles and having different licences. He said: "Three times as much sounds unusual but the minimum fare we have is £12, but it depends on the journey. We have a large number of wheelchair-accessible vehicles and we try to keep our prices as low as we can."

Charlotte Throssel, services manager at Disability Direct Nottingham, said taxi firms often charge more for wheelchair-accessible vehicles. She said: "We come across this issue a lot.

"Most taxi firms do charge extra for vehicles that are wheelchair-accessible, so we would advise people who can get out of their wheelchairs to do so."

Pete Mitchell, head of licensing, permits and regulations at Nottingham City Council, said: "We are very sympathetic to Miss Reid's situation but this is something for her to take up with the taxi firm. While we do not agree with this type of pricing structure, where it appears a disabled passenger has been charged three times the standard cost of the journey, the city council is not involved in the setting of fares."

Gavin Smith, who works at Nottingham Cars, said most taxi firms have set fares for wheelchair users. He added: "It all depends on the journey but most of the time it can cost around £4 or £5 more for wheelchair users.''


Read more: http://www.nottinghampost.com/Wheelchai ... z3Jy9e6AGI

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

Really?

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IDFIMH

no - but who checks?

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

Drivers round here can beat that, on Wednesday one driver round here charged a woman in a wheelchair £19 to go from Sutton Town Centre to Huthwaite.

I picked her up off the rank on Saturday and took her to Mansfield Train Station, on the way she asked me how much it costs for the journey she took on Wednesday? The driver said he didn't take wheelchairs as he was a saloon vehicle, if he did take her it would be £19.

All the way there he was on his phone and swerving all over the road.

She's not from round here, she's from Bedford visiting her sister who lives round here.

Sorry
Some of these article,s are poor reporting at best and usually it involves private Hire IE: a car or a bus

If the complaint was for a W.A.V Hackney then it would be valid

the following was stated on the NTA website immediately before the article -

Quote:

We apologise to readers in respect of this story – it appears everyone concerned seems to be confusing minicabs with licensed taxis (whose fares are controlled by the local authority – we have attempted to rectify the story in places – but this wasn’t entirely possible given some of the statements made.

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

I thought that it was against the law to charge a disabled person more than an able bodied person for the same journey. Therfore if this particular vehicle is used for an able bodied person for the same journey, or even for more passengers, would the price have been the same? the distance by road in this case is 1.1 miles. It is half a mile by footpath.

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Grandad,

me too

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

That's the Crux of the problem an able bodied can travel in a car or bus but people in Wheelchair's

Why do you say problem? Are you saying that it is right to charge more for the same vehicle if the person is disabled?

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Grandad,

No I don't I drive a wheel chair Hackney and if anything i charge less for people in wheelchairs

Private Hire they can charge what they want.

They can't charge a disabled person more than an able bodied person for the same vehicle.

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Grandad,

I agree

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

But they can charge different amounts for different times of day and public holidays.