Taxi Driver Online

Council introduces Braille plates in taxis



A West Midlands council has announced it will pioneer the use of Braille licence plates on the inside of taxis.

Telford & Wrekin Council's licensing team have introduced the tactile plates in their licensed fleet of Hackney Carriage vehicles to enable blind and visually impaired passengers to identify the vehicle they are in.

This is to help them feel safer and enables them to easily give feedback about a particular vehicle or driver to the licensing team.

These plates have both raised tactile lettering and numbers, as well as Braille characters to allow easier recognition for customers with visual impairments.

The plates are a new idea designed by VIP-System Limited in conjunction with the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). They are designed to be secured to the inside of the rear passenger doors

The plates have been given the 'RNIB Reference' award for product design and the RNIB fully support and endorse their use.

Graeme Brodie, of VIP-System Limited said: "The Braille taxi identification plate system was developed over a period of time in conjunction with the RNIB Consultancy Services. Many blind and partially sighted people have no way to identify the particular vehicle that they are in, and VIP-System's new product will help to overcome this problem.

"We congratulate Telford & Wrekin Council for their approach concerning the public safety of blind and partially sighted people in their local community and look forward to positive feedback from users."

Councillor Miles Hosken, cabinet member for community protection and cohesion, said: "Telford & Wrekin Council is proud to be the first Council in the country to install this piece of equipment.

"It is important to us that we provide safe, reliable and fair services to all residents and visitors to the area. This is a revolutionary idea that assists people with visual impairments use hackney taxis, licensed in the borough, with confidence."

source: http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/

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

wouldnt it be better on the outside of the passenger doors....after your your in the vehicle its to late consider your safety..