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Easy driver
Swindon based cabbie Allan Wells is one of the few registered disabled taxi drivers in the UK. It¹s a rewarding job, he says, as long as you¹re ready to deal with drunken passengers I’ve been driving taxis on and off since 1976, but my roots are in Wiltshire farming.
In 1962, when I was 21, I slipped on some snow while working on my family’s dairy farm near Cricklade in Wiltshire. I slipped so badly that the entire lower part of my right leg twisted round the wrong way and I was out of action for seven months. When I returned to work, it was to a milk round delivering products in the local area. I did this until 1970 when, despite a number of operations on my leg, it became clear I would need a job that involved less walking. I became a lifeguard at a swimming pool but even that became impossible when, after kneeling down in the water to help a small child, I could not get up; the leg dislocated again. The child was fine but it was another trip to hospital for me.
I decided to look for work as a driver, but it took me a while to get insurance. In 1976 I started as a taxi driver in Swindon, using a Triumph 2000 automatic taxi with the accelerator pedal on the left. I worked for three years but started to suffer problems with both legs and I needed more operations to replace my right knee and the cartilage in my left leg. I realised that I would have to use hand-controlled cars from then on, but once again, insurance became a problem.
In 1986 I returned to the road, this time as a private hire driver of an Austin Montego. I stayed with the model for six years and then changed to a minibus, but it got to the stage where I could not get in and out because I could not bend my right leg. I had heard that purpose-built taxis were designed with disabled people in mind but had thought this applied only to passengers using wheelchairs. However, after a friend agreed to lend me the deposit, dealer Mann & Overton in Birmingham told me they would be able to supply an automatic TXI black cab with a special driver’s seat to give me more room. The car also had “he man” hand controls – a lever fitted to the steering wheel that I push up to accelerate and down to brake.
Since then I’ve enjoyed an uninterrupted spell on the road. I’ve recently bought a new TXII from Mann & Overton, which is great to drive. The passengers in Swindon seem to prefer these modern taxis; I’ve even noticed people hanging back in queues at ranks to ensure they get my car. Most passengers don’t notice the hand controls on the steering wheel or that I have any mobility problems unless I have to get out to help them with their luggage. I manage this most of the time, but since having a fall last year I’ve been exempted by the local council from pushing wheelchairs in and out of the taxi.
On the downside, taxi drivers can get a rough ride from the public and I have been attacked more than once by drunk passengers. Once I was punched by a man and my glasses broke. I reported this and the attacker went to prison for 18 months. Thankfully, that sort of incident is now less of a worry as my new taxi has a reinforced plastic screen between me and the passenger compartment. There is a small gap at the bottom for passengers to pay fares.
While I’m delighted with my taxi, it has been more difficult to find a suitable car to use when I’m not working. The only suitable automatic car I have found that I can afford is the Kia Sedona – a seven-seater people carrier in which the local dealer has fitted the “he-man” controls. Would I recommend others in my position to become a taxi driver? Certainly, but remember that you will be in the vehicle for long shifts, so comfort is paramount. A purpose-built taxi can meet both the driver’s and passengers’ needs.
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