Taxi Driver Online

Hailo driver fined after refusing to carry blind man's guide dog

A Hailo driver refused to carry a blind man's guide dog

A blind man has described the “truly horrible” discrimination he and thousands of others face after a Hailo driver was found guilty of refusing to carry a guide dog.

Journalist Sean Dilly had booked a car with the app in March. The firm sent Shah Hoque, 30, and Mr Dilly phoned him to say he was blind and had to be accompanied by his black Labrador assistance dog Sammy.

But Hoque refused to pick Mr Dilly up, telling him: “I am a private hire driver — I can refuse a job for any reason.”

Mr Dilly reminded the driver of his legal responsibilities and warned he would be taken to court if he could not produce an exemption certificate.

Hoque was charged at Hammersmith magistrates’ court with failing to carry a guide dog accompanying a registered blind person. He was fined £200, with £200 costs and £100 compensation for Mr Dilly.

Hoque claimed he had not heard Mr Dilly say he was blind or any mention of a guide dog.

Mr Dilly said: “Every single time this happens a little bit of you dies inside. Today is about those who may not have the confidence to take offenders to task. Refusing guide dogs quite literally ruins lives.”

A Hailo spokesman said it was making a £250 donation to Guide Dogs for the Blind after the blunder.

In a statement, he said: "Hailo is committed to providing a service that is 100% safe, 100% accessible and 100% reliable - which includes helping passengers with accessibility issues get safely and quickly from A to B. This incident refers to a Hailo Exec minicab driver, a service that we no longer offer since going back to black cabs only on 1 October.

"When we had found out about this case, we acted immediately and removed the driver in question from our network.

"As a gesture of goodwill and to part of Hailo’s commitment to helping people with accessibility challenges get around the cities they reside, a £250 donation was made to the charity of Sean’s choice, Guide Dogs for the Blind."

source: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/ha ... 08631.html

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

thought these asian drivers considered dogs " dirty"

A Hailo spokesman said it was making a £250 donation to Guide Dogs for the Blind after the blunder.

In a statement, he said: "Hailo is committed to providing a service that is 100% safe, 100% accessible and 100% reliable - which includes helping passengers with accessibility issues get safely and quickly from A to B. This incident refers to a Hailo Exec minicab driver, a service that we no longer offer since going back to black cabs only on 1 October.

"When we had found out about this case, we acted immediately and removed the driver in question from our network.

"As a gesture of goodwill and to part of Hailo’s commitment to helping people with accessibility challenges get around the cities they reside, a £250 donation was made to the charity of Sean’s choice, Guide Dogs for the Blind."

At least Hailo are saying the right things but are the LA going to take action ?

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

Yes they do BUT they know they must carry assistance dogs and to be fair some of mine even carry normal dogs occasionally if it can sit on the owners lap for instance the issue is more to do with dog hairs getting on the seats and carpet

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

& that's why i don't take them, & they usually stink

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IDFIMH

I really think anyone driving a licensed vehicle, who doesn't really know they're obliged by law to transport guide dogs, should have their licenses revoked - no if's or but's.

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

bit harsh that mate aint it ?? the asian fellas don't like dogs & consider them dirty, imho they should be exempt, it`s there culture

If they know they are not able to fulfill a condition of a Hackney/Private hire licence then don't apply for one, seems simple to me.

No I think CC is right the DDA is the law of the land if you want to work in the UK you must comply with it or work in an industry where you won't be affected by it ! simples

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

TBH if they are refusing jobs on religious grounds, they are obviously mental as they believe if invisible beings that live in the sky who are watching and judging their every move - if this is the case the license should be revoked for mental health reasons.

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

Yeah right, we have an Asian driver here who doesn't take dogs, when we were doing rail repoacement work ( 6 cabs to Euston ) he decided he liked dogs. On the Monday when he tried to give his docket to our association rep the guy quizzed him about it and he replied with a tirade of abuse even swearing in front of passengers. Needless to say his docket wasn't accepted and he was kicked out of the association. He had to go cap in hand direct to Arriva and they reluctantly paid him for it. ( he even claimed victimisation to them over the incident)

And it's in our culture to help the Blind and to take their Guide dogs, now If that does not suit certain cultures or religions then perhaps Britain is to culturally removed for them to Integrate into it, maybe they should go where an Intolerance of Guide dogs is the normal.

Screw it, We In Britain should not should not be appeasing those who chose to settle here, it's up to them to assimilate with Britich Cultures and Values and Integrate more with the intention that they shall accept our laws and rules and NOT expect us to accept theirs...if you don't like it theres always the option to go elsewhere.

Now there's an idea why not replace fines for refusing to carry a guide dog with mandatory extradition. We'll see how anti dog people are then

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

I'm warming to the Idea..