A TAXI driver has been left shamed after refusing to transport a disabled woman.
Dad-of-two Syed Ahmed told the 69-year-old woman that he didn’t know how to use the ramp to get her wheelchair into his vehicle.
But a court was told this was not true.
The incident left the woman, who suffers from cerebral palsy, very upset and sparked an investigation by Gateshead Council.
Council legal chiefs decided to prosecute Ahmed under an 1846 Act which applies to Hackney Carriage licences.
At Gateshead Magistrates’ Court, Ahmed, 60, of Windsor Avenue, Bensham, Gateshead, pleaded guilty to refusing to drive his Hackney Carriage when requested by a passenger.
Prosecutor Jenny Rook said the case arose from an incident in July when Sylvia Kirkley and her carer approached Ahmed, who was first in line at the taxi rank outside the Tesco store in Ellison Street in Gateshead town centre.
He got out of his cab and told her he couldn’t take them because he didn’t know how to use the ramp and could only transport people who could walk. He then told them to get the taxi behind.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m a hack but this really annoys me!There are hundreds more Taxis than ever these days and most of them were issued through the Disability Discrimination act.The least these drivers can do is do the job they are kitted out to do.I see this all the time,they get themselves a W/A Taxi then hide or avoid in any way they can picking up a Wheelchair. When I started we had to lift the passenger out of the Wheelchair and into the cab,fold the chair and put it in the boot.These guys have got ramps what could be easier?
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
This driver should be ashamed of himself.
How hard can it be to use a ramp?
I am a private hire driver with a saloon car and regularly pick up disabled passengers and I always go out of my way to provide assistance including helping out of wheelchairs, into car and folding up the wheelchair and putting into the boot.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
This situation has come to my understanding that the driver did not take the customer because he didnt want a wheelchair job! however I dont agree to the fact that the driver should be prosecuted!
my reaction to this situation is because I think the councils when issuing a wheelchair plate shouldve made it compulsary for A driver to perform a physical act on how to get the wheelchair in, this way if the driver refuses saying “he/she dont know how to use the ramps” the council have something to fall back on. i mean how can the prosecuter justify this situation in reality?
this to my part is an unfair dismissal and should be reviewed and then reinstated!; alfy gateshead driver.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@alfy, If you read the story properly you will see that he back tracked and said he did know how to use the ramps but said he had a shoulder injury.
Miss Kirkley (The passenger) told investigators: “I was very upset and started to cry. This made me feel horrible and helpless.”
The full story can be read by clicking the link below.
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-evening-chronicle/2009/01/07/taxi-driver-admits-refusing-to-take-disabled-woman-72703-22631676/
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@alfy, he’s not been charge with refusing to carry a wheelchair, he has been charged and pleaded guilty to refusing to drive his Hackney Carriage when requested by a passenger. I have witnessed 1st hand Hacks cheery picking work, one even drove off as my other half was getting in when she said where she was going just because he wanted a better fare! Maybe the LA will clamp down on this if they ever start the enforcement that is being shouted for!
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
i will be speaking with the taxi driver in concern very soon to look into this matter as i like to hear 2 sides of the story and then decide and let u guys know the outcome, but people lets not jump to conclusions.
many thanks
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
In response to Ally,
First of all,if you read the public carriage act 1847,you will se that it is an offense to fail,without reasonable cause,to take a hiring anywhere within your license boundary,(roughly within 5 miles of your local town hall) who license you.
Claiming that you don`t know how to do something,is an excuse NOT a reason,and if you don`t know how to use the ramps,then FIND OUT before you come to work. Or is the other lame duck excuse going to be that you cant remember how to drive the bloody car since its not a long enough job!
This driver,appears to have changed his story at least once,must have changed script writers too,and he has pleaded guilty,WHY…if he was not guilty….could it be because he was GUILTY AS HELL,and when the dr was asked for a medical exemption cert…..he refused it.
It makes me sick,when drivers either refuse jobs for this reason,or because the job is not going far enough,and as said by another,the drivers that see wheel chair punters and scoot the other way….should loose their badge.
This was why at 1 time,cars hafd to be a certain size…to accomodate chairs,luggage or anything else…within reason.
Before any idiot says `maybe the chair might not fit in`,,,,there are few cars on the ranks today that a driver cant put a chair into,one way or other.
I have run,cortinas,hillman hunters,avengers,vectras,escort estates,VW`s…..to name a few…..all have had a chair in at 1 time or other.
To this particular driver I would say…thanks for retiring,we don`t need drivers like you in our business.
Having said that..i expect he will come back as a pirate operator,they usually do.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade