Taxi Driver Online

Hi because I am fairly new to the trade only twenty years of taxi work I consider I'm still quite green I got very heavily in to wav taxi service with contract work I bought most wav vehicles of past now I have a saloon car . 70% of my work involved wheel chair customers. On advise of my g.p and MRI scan. The advise came like a brick. The next wheel chair you push may be your last because you may be in the next one . I dropped my wav straight away I lost a lot of money but I am still working and only have the odd month with back problems but that okay . The question I ask. Is please protect the drivers because the expectations of loading dead weight up short ramps and twisting of the spine is not any good to us drivers please were are the limitations here nobody will comment on the building trade you are not required to lift more than 25kilo yet you are expected to push between 6 to 30 stone in a wheel chair I feel I have paid the price in full . I have tried most vehicle,s they all have faults 6foot ramps between 14 to 24 inches loading hight according to health and safety 1/12
24inch height 24foot ramp I know it sounds a joke but we are the ones working this trade were is the protection required yes you can go on courses but is that giving the advice to your health and safety . I always felt as strong as a bull not now as weak as a kitten. We spend a lot of money on vehicles that could damage our health it sounds crasy but that is the reality of it I feel a little trapped in my job I have ten years of working life before retirement but my back I struggle when I look at other work they say have you ever had any back problems To all you drivers do you consider your own health in your job speak out

You make a very good point.

I have no answer but I think that we ought to get H&S to give us some kind of Guide Lines on this matter

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Don't dream it ~ Be it.

I don't have an answer either but I have loads of stones in my garden and so far I have never managed to get blood out of any of them so I won't hold my breath for guidelines from H&S.

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Grandad,

ive been saying this for ages, once crippled the LA who insisted on 100% WAV hacks wont pay your mortgage or leccy bill, they can insist on 100% WAVs but can they insist the driver pushes the wheelchair up the ramp?

"All wheelchair users are welcome but must be pushed into the vehicle by thier carer"


does no-one make a winch for WAVs?

(back loader but you get the idea - although at least the chair aint side on)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J88IxhNSwOk

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

There is advice on this site somewhere and invariably it stems around adequately performing a risk assessment.

One of the chaps in Manchester has done a very good bit of work in relation to it.....it explains the law and the various risks.....the ediunburgh Cab trade have also done research.

However, if your going to carry out a risk assessment on purely WAV work.....then it could be discriminatory....so do that for the lot.

http://mrblackcab.proboards.com/index.c ... hread=1276

CC

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

christ, id never get out....

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

You could put the meter on before the risk assessment?

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

That's called cherry-picking

I never saw ambulance service staff pushing up ramps, it was either a tail lift or a winch job, i bet council staff wouldnt be expected to push a 150kg bloke in a wheelchair up a 30degree ramp, theyd have UNISON on the case!

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

whats the SWL of a typical set of WAV ramps?

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

As you say, it will depend who's doing the pushing

The big ? I have read as wheel chair customers use the varied taxi,s we have out on the road in an event of accident I read an articul about the biggest majority of wheel chairs are not of a standard for transportation. And have no support for the user in event of accident. . Considering they crash test vehicles with dummy's With designed seats to support your impact and airbags as much as I am in favour of wav vehicles you still have to take these sort of questions on board we have councils making decisions on interviduel vehicles based on euro standards ? I don't know weather that implies they have tested these vehicles with wheel chaired customer or dummy's to how the passenger Would survive In an accident or is this something they are waiting to see in such events when the law suits pile in . We have a duty to protect our customers
Councils make decisions on vehicles are they trained in such matters we are considered to have to be trained in our trade
Are the people that are overseeing our trade as professional. I wounder should their be grades of wheel chairs like baby seats that are acceptable for transport we have to ask these questions and aloud to protect our customers if their are people that can ask these questions our trade needs you now not when the damage is one

If they are genuinley confined to a wheelchair they almost certainly get mobility allowance and almost certainly have a mobility car which quite often they drive and get in/out themselves, so why are they needing pushing up a ramp into a taxi?....

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Lots of people who drive use taxis, we would be in a much bigger mess if that wasn't the case.

but how many require extra legislation and expense and the risk of hernia or rupture to load them?

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most