Taxi Driver Online

Covid rules make taxi travel difficult for disabled people

Coronavirus measures in private hire cabs are making travel more difficult for disabled people.

Taxi drivers have been refusing to take passengers in their front seats to prevent close contact.

But this goes against the 2010 Equality Act which protects the rights of people with disabilities.

Campaigners want clearer guidance from licensing authorities to ensure public health rules are not clashing with equality laws.

Stephen Cooke, from Glasgow, has walking difficulties and finds it hard to bend because of problems with his hips.

For that reason he is unable to get into the back of minicabs, and instead has to travel in the front wearing a mask.

He relies on minicabs to get around, but during the pandemic that has proved difficult.

Drivers say it is against Covid regulations and regularly refuse to take him, leaving Stephen stranded.

Mr Cooke says drivers could potentially be in breach of the 2010 Equality Act, as there is no specific regulation to prevent him travelling in the front.

He told the BBC: "When I ask them if I can travel in the front of the vehicle they will resist and say it's not possible cause of the regulations.

"The last few months have been pretty hellish really, because whenever I use a taxi, I don't know whether I'm going to have to argue with the person or not."

Lynn Welsh is head of legal at the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Does she believe there is a clash between coronavirus and disability rights?

She said: "I'm not sure I would call it a clash, but it has changed the mood slightly. I mean, 'reasonable adjustments' are always required but what is considered reasonable may have shifted during the period of an emergency.

"It is more of a person-by-person issue. The pandemic might change what 'reasonability' means but it doesn't do away with the Equality Act."

Alfie Wellcoat is a driver and represents the United Private Hire Drivers union.

He said: "It needs to be understood that there is a middle ground, that they can be allowed in provided that it is safe enough with you.

"But obviously some taxi drivers are in high-risk categories so I can fully understand why they would not want to allow someone sitting in the front."

Glasgow City Council said it had not issued any guidance on this matter to drivers, but that all drivers licensed by the council were required to follow the guidance produced by the Scottish government.

Official guidance states the reasonability element has to be considered in light of the current climate but the duties imposed by the 2010 Equality Act must be met still.

Mr Cooke said he was not unsympathetic to the plight of drivers, but emphasised they could not simply hide behind Covid as a reason not to carry disabled passengers in the front of their vehicles.

He said: "I don't think it's been thought through. I don't think the communication to public transport drivers and the like is as clear as it should be - something it missing somewhere and the less able are falling foul of it."

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IDFIMH

Is this really an issue?

I have customers sitting in the front with me?

Surely I'm not unique?

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IDFIMH

Certainly not - and if only we could afford to be so choosy with the fares.

Just thinking last night, one of my normal irritations is when three people get into the back and leave the front seat empty. It's almost always students, and almost always females

But at least they've now got a justification, so it doesn't annoy me so much


Makes it sound like it's actually banned. Doubt it - supsect at best it's down to individual driver's discretion.

But I wouldn't be surprised if that's just a smokescreen for the real reason - it's a round the corner job, or whatever.

A £3 per mile run to Aberdeen

"JUMP IN"

no I have customers who cannot manage the back but they are wearing a mask and have used sanitizer

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

About once a year I get four of them get in the back.

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IDFIMH

Why would that annoy you? I'm usually glad of passengers sitting in the back personally whether I'm driving a car or a minibus (although I drive an 8 seater so there is more option anyway).

I suspect I'm misinterpreting their intention some of the time, but quite sure it's often because they want to keep as far away from the driver as possible. And, as I said, that's maybe confirmed by the fact that it's most often students, and female students in particular.

It's a bit like the same kind of group who seem to worry about even the most fleeting skin contact (even pre-Covid), so they sort of throw the money into your hand, and it bounces off and ends up down the side of the front seats etc

I have a centre console, so it also means they're more likely to put their feet on that if they're all in the back, and the slats on the air vents eventually get damaged, or mud ends up everywhere. Female students more generally are the worst at putting their feet where they shouldn't be.

Very rarely, three people in the back and the front left empty is often the sign of a runner, although pretty rare for students to do that kind of runner, to be fair. Also more inclined to eat food etc if they're in the back. And one or two have taken their face masks off over the last month or two when in the back. Think front seat passengers less inclinded to do that kind of thing.

Of course, it may just mean they feel a bit shy or awkward, or are unsure about the protocol. Some students in particular have told me that drivers from where they're from don't like them sitting in the front.

And another related student thing is that they don't want to be the one in the front who has to pay the driver, while the others in the back are counting out their pennies etc - you know, those ones where it takes longer to get the cash than it took to do the actual run

But apart from that, it doesn't bother me in the slightest

I think as a passenger as well I'd be more inclined *not* to sit in the front of an eight-seater, or whatever, especially if I was on my own, and if there was a partition of some kind. Kind of think a bigger vehicle gives the impression that the front row is the driver's exclusive space, especially with a partition or similar.

But of course every passenger and every driver perceives these things differently.

It's a few years since I've really thought about these things, but *solo* females are more inclined to go in the back than *solo* males, which is hardly a surprise, obviously. Solo student males are more likely to go in the back than solo male non-students.

So solo students more likely to go in the back than ordinary punters, and solo females more likely to go in the back than males.

If there's two passengers, I never really notice when two go in the back, but I generally notice if three squeeze in the back and leave the front empty.

As I said, it's just about the norm with a group of three female students. On the other hand, I couldn't really imagine three 50-year-old men squeezing into the back and leaving the front seat free. Three older women? Probably more likely to use the front seat, but on rare occasions they might all squeeze into the back.

So only a minority of groups of three will leave the front seat vacant, which is possibly why I tend to notice when it happens.

I sometimes actually ask them if there's someone else to come. A few times three have gotten in the back, stated where they're going, you start moving and they tell you to stop because there's someone else to come

And it's a wee bit like that thing where two or three people get in the back, but they all get in the same door and clamber over, kicking the centre console etc. Which I don't really notice at our night rank in town, because it's a narrow street, and can be quite busy, so makes sense for all to get in at the pavement side.

But there's acres of space at our station rank, and it's like a morgue at times, but you still get three getting in the one side - again, that tends to be a studenty trait - three American tourists or older people generally getting in the back will be more likely to use both doors, even at our more congested town ranks.

Again, that depends on traffic etc. Our South Street rank in town has a bit more space than our Bell Street rank, so at the latter people more inclined not to use the driver's side rear door.

(Another oddity I've just remembered is that years ago cabs at our South Street rank queued against the traffic, so obviously punters more inclined to enter the back at the driver's side next to the pavement. That rank wasn't used much back then, but as it got more congested over the years I think someone somewhere concluded that it might be a good idea for the taxis to queue in the conventional direction, with the traffic )

But even at our more congested Bell Street rank you get the odd solo getting in the driver's side back door, most obviously if they're crossing the road to get into the cab. They may then sit behind the driver, or shuffle across to the other side - obviously most solos in the back will sit on the passenger side, and of course they tend to get in that side anyway.

But a real rarity is a solo getting in the rear pavement-side door, then shuffling across the seat to sit behind the driver. Work that one out. But that's another scenario that makes me feel a bit suspicious

Anyway, another occassional thing that's happened over the years is solos who get into the front, and spend the whole trip coughing and spluttering

I recall one regular doing that once, and she proudly told me that she'd been told not to come into work in case she infected others with her cold

Of course, that was back then, and that kind of thing has taken on a whole new signficance and meaning with Covid.

And, as per my original point, Covid has also changed the whole front/rear dynamic as well, as illustrated by the original article.

Anway, if I won the Euromillions I'd write a book about stuff like this and, even though no one would publish it and few people would read it, I'd use my own money to publish it

Vanity publishing, I think it's called

(I've used 'driver's side' and 'passenger side' above rather than the more technical 'nearside' and 'offside'. So when I say someone's sat on the rear seat passenger side, I obviously mean the nearside rear seat )

Indeed.

Almost all punters that sit in the front ask, and most are surprised when I say please do.

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IDFIMH

Bloody hell, you've really thought about this a lot and are letting it bother you so much. Stop reading too much into it!

Haven't met any drivers who aren't bothered with that kind of thing, main difference being that different things annoy different drivers.

I think food and eating seems to be the biggest annoyance for many, but luckily it's probably not as bad in my manor than elsewhere. I mean, sure there's been lots of articles on here about big kickoffs over food, including extreme violence.

Then there's the whole fares and tipping thing. Recall one London driver on here saying he kept a pile of bronze coins to give as change to those who didn't tip. He'd need a barrowload of bronze here.

Of course, as I've found out this year, card payments seem to be a big impediment to tipping, but at least there's no issue with giving the change in bronze

Another student trait is to slam the doors that bit harder, and again the females seem to be worse than the males.

Funny thing is, I occassionally get folk coming in an apologising about slamming the doors, and they're almost always non-students. And I haven't noticed a thing!