Taxi Driver Online

Glasgow taxi driver abandons 'vulnerable' disabled woman to pickup other passenger

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scot ... e-14987968

Dalbir Singh has been suspended for six weeks after horrified onlookers blasted his "completely unacceptable" actions.

A disabled woman was left angry and upset after a taxi driver ignored her calls to be picked up at a rank before pulling away with a different passenger.

Glasgow licensing chiefs have suspended Dalbir Singh for six weeks following complaints from horrified onlookers, who blasted his actions as "completely unacceptable".

Witnesses said Mr Singh drove off to avoid taking the woman, leaving her sitting in her wheelchair at the roadside where she was "getting irate".

She had been at the front of the taxi queue and reports to Glasgow City Council said she was calling to the driver, who crawled out of the rank and put his hazard lights on.

He then got out of the car to open the door for another lady on the rank, a complainant said.

They added the woman getting into the car was "hesitant" as she knew something was wrong.

One complaint to the Council said: "For a person to treat a vulnerable person in this way is completely unacceptable."

Licensing convener Alex Wilson said: "This, if true, makes for shocking reading, that you would leave a disabled passenger on the rank."

Another witness added: "All in all, it was not a good image to present to the public."

The next driver on the rank picked up the woman.

Mr Singh insisted he had planned to take her but the licensing committee ruled in favour of suspending his licence with immediate effect.

He said he moved forward to make room for the ramp and signalled for the woman to move to a dropped section of kerb.

He explained: "When I came out, another passenger jumped in my car. I seen the other driver coming to pick up the wheelchair lady.

"The wheelchair lady didn't come to me."

However, Mr Wilson said: "You could have got out and said you needed to move forward."

Councillor Gary Gray added: "One of my parents was in a wheelchair and the same thing happened.

"To my 46 years today, I do not forget the upset my parent felt because of an ignorant taxi driver."

Licensing chiefs also suspended seven private hire drivers for six weeks after they were caught plying for trade - taking an unbooked journey for payment, which invalidates their insurance policy.

Another driver was suspended for the unexpired portion of his licence for the same offence.

But she got in anyway

Pretty unusual case though in that the case resulted from complaints from several 'horrified onlookers'.

I noticed how this was tacked on at the end to hide it

Biased reporting again

Article makes confusing references to other vehicles and him pulling "out" of the rank so were there more Hackneys present and were the horrified onlookers other cabbies ?

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

I think the fella got off lightly.

In other instances drivers have had their licenses revoked for not taking punters sitting in their wheelchairs.

_________________
IDFIMH

Agree,quite a number of drivers have found themselves in front of the beak for refusing.

he,s not pulled out of rank,hes drawn forward as theres a shelter here,then you can get your ramp out and not hold up the car behind from leaving the rank with a hire,this is the busiest rank in the city,holds about 10 cabs,with the feeder rank behind it holding about 20 and theres always lots of people around it,if it were other cabbies they would have dealt with him there and then,not go running to the enforcement

_________________
i started out with nothing and ive still got most of it left

Don't know about *biased* so much as just focussing on what they think will sell newspapers, rightly or wrongly.

As regards reports like this, particularly important to bear in mind that they are aimed at the public in general rather than the kind of people who read stuff on here. In fact, even on here I suspect most would be more interested in the wheelchair refusal rather than several bog standard plying for hire cases.

And to be fair, the Glasgow press have featured a *lot* of articles about plying for hire in the last couple of years, both in terms of individual cases, and about the issue more generally.

And have noticed, for example, that on here less people read the 'driver robbed at knifepoint' kind of stories rather than 'council debates compulsory CCTV or seat widths', or whatever, so probably the opposite of what the public would read.

This is an internal document from the London Evening Standard, so stories obviously aimed at the general public. I suppose trade-related stuff would normally come under the Transport or Crime headings, so provides some idea of the kind of thing papers are looking for (although London different kettle of fish from Manchester, say, never mind small towns and more rural areas).

Ah the good old glasgow kiss

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