Taxi Driver Online

you thought wrong!
the term is excused pending Government guidance that has now been issued to all the big authorities including Calderdale and Kirklees, we are now on countdown to go all Wav.

The DDA is one act. Just because the act covers many areas of discrimination don't be fooled into thinking that a certain part of the act has no bearing on another section of the act.

The law is sometimes complex and at times it would appear to some that it is straight foreward but there are many aspects of law that intermingle with other statutes. However, in this case that does not apply.

Just because some people have been brainwashed into thinking that Taxis in the future must adhere to a certain specification it doesn't alter the fact that pararrel legislation can determine what is judicially right.

There are no exemptions from the DDA, the act stands or falls on its merits. The Government has decided that the judiciary should determine what level of investment a small business should reasonably make when implementing the DDA.

This Taxi trade will be afforded the same level of commitment as any other business so dont be deluded that one part of the act will not effect another.

Councils and Taxi associations should read this thread and take note.


Best wishes

JD

According to the woman on Radio 2 the other week Taxis are exempt from the DDA, A guy from Newquay phoned up and had a go at her saying he couldn't afford the £30,000 price tag to buy a TX11, she told him Taxis are exempt from the DDA which came into force last week. Also a lad from Blackpool who owned a hotel had a dig at her saying it would cost him £25,000 per room to alter each room for the disabled, it would take him 25 years per 1 room to get his money back on the back of disabled people using it.

Make you wonder really

Nige
not everything said on radio is accurate as you probably know from your experience.

indeed i always wondered why councils where trying to force all WAV in some areas. a couple of years ago when i used to own another business i was told i would be exempt from the act because the cost invloved in making changes to my office would be 'un-reasonable' for the amount of wheelchair business i did. surely it would also be 'un-reasonable' to force a self employed saloon HC owner/driver to buy a £30K WAV.

This woman was a disabled person who has something to do with the DDA thing on a show on Radio 2, she got a right going over by this guy from Newquay.

I'm glad my comments have provoked some thought but to answer Nigels question about this part of the DDA not affecting Taxis I would just like to remind everyone that the DDA effects everyone, the only sector of society that is not effected are the Armed forces.

What we do know is that a date for the implementation of the DDA into other forms of Transport such as Buses and Rail carriages is still to be determined. We have seen the Governments advice on the implementation of the first phase for Taxis. Councils are now busy introducing their own policy on how they think the Taxis in there area should comply. Geoff has pointed out that some councils in his area are being reasonable and taking into account the financial burden placed on a Taxi owner. That still does'nt give any respite to those Taxi owners who are being placed in a position of high financial cost or lose their ability to work.

Perhaps this new phase of the act will bring about a stability in terms of financial input. I hope those districts which in the past have voiced concern over the cost of implementing the DDA will now get together and pool their resources with a view to getting financial justice under this DD Act.

Best wishes

JD

I think you are quite right in terms of a £30,000 TX2, but I'm not so sure that a court will view a £20,000 E7 etc compared to a £15,000 Mondeo as being un-reasonable.

Or for that matter, a £10,000 Fiat thing.

_________________
IDFIMH

Another consideration a court may take into account, is how buying a WAV, be it £20,000 or £30,000, can be viewed as un-reasonable, when we have people spending up to £50,000 for a piece of plastic to put on the back of it?

_________________
IDFIMH

I think challenged it can be won.

Think about the bus firms who are spending millions for disabled access buses only to be used by a few per month.

My understanding has always been that the general provisions of the DDA apply neither to transport in general nor to taxis in particular.

This seems to be essentially what is being said in the following extract from Mind's website:

Discrimination over transport

"The use of transport is generally exempt from the goods and services provisions under part lll of the Disability Discrimination Act (though discrimination by transport providers in stations etc., for example, treatment by staff in ticket offices, is covered under part III)."

"Part V of the DDA contains specific provisions for taxis, public service vehicles and railways. However, no date has been given when these provisions will come into force."

Thus the general provisions do not apply to taxis except insofar as access to cab office and the like may be an issue - the vehicles per se are covered by the more specific parts of the Act.

If the newly effective provisions of the Act did apply then it begs the question why the trade needed a specific part of the Act with its accompanying regulations, yet to be enacted, of course.

And it would beggar belief if the DfT had gone through the near decade-old but not yet complete rigmarole leading up to the regulations if it was ultimately for a judge to decide these things from an effectively clean slate based on the vague provisions of the more general parts of the Act.

The relevant part of the the newly effective Part III of the Act seems to be S. 19(5)(b) which says:

Except in such circumstances as may be prescribed, this section and sections 20 and 21 do not apply to...

...any service so far as it consists of the use of any means of transport.

Don't confuse what is reasonable with total exclusion. The point is to detemine what expenditure is reasonable when purchasing a wheel chair converted vehicle. There are many types of wheel chair converted vehicles that vairy in price. The vehicle at the extreme end of the range is the TX2.

My original post did not make any reference to non compliance of the DDA. It made the distinction in what a person or business should be reasonably expected to pay.

There are some councils throughout the country which specify that a certain type of vehicle may only be used as a Hackney Cab. Most of those those councils also have an age policy.

What will be tested in court is the level of finance an individual or business might reasonably be expected to pay in relation to supplying disabled access. Once you have a ruling on what is deemed to be reasonable you have the foundations for a plan of action. We shall have to wait and see what transpires in the courts but until them councils will still go on introducing policies that suits themselves regardless of the financial hardhip those policies might have on the individuals who have to supply the vehicles in question.

Best wishes

JD

The point that is missing is the fact councils are already insisting on the level of finance that a perosn should pay to provide wheelchair access.
There is no room whatsoever for manouverability in this respect.

What the courts will hopefully determine is the level of finance a person or business should reasonably be expected to pay when making provision for the disabled.

With regard to legislation you know as well as anybody else that ambigous legislation is and has always been determined by a court of law. The DDA is not exempt from that process no matter what. It should also be noted that this act is a civil act and any legal deliberations will take place in the civil courts rather than the criminal courts.

Best wishes

JD

The £50,000 for the piece of plastic will increase in value, the vehicle purchased will decrease considerably. Before you start your "they'll be worth nothing after dereg." chundering, take into account recent reports where saloon plate values have continued to rise following deregulation of numbers.