[ballingall]

I saw an awful, awful thing today, and I thought I would share it here.


I had to go to an offsite meeting today, in the centre of Edinburgh. I was late going there because I had an important bit of work to do first. By the time I was ready to leave, everyone else had gone, so rather than take a taxi all that way on my own, I nipped to the train station and went to Edinburgh Waverley.
Came off the train, and for speed to get to the venue, I went to get a taxi.


As I was walking up to the rank, a lady in a wheelchair came out from another platform just in front of me. It would have been to overtake her, so I let her go in front. We joined the taxi rank, it was pretty busy, but there were lots of taxis coming in, and more still coming in and dropping people off, then turning to join the rank.


We moved up the queue, and then there we were at the front.


And because the person at the front of the queue was a lady in a wheelchair, the taxis wouldn't pull up to the rank. The first couple I didn't pay much attention to, if they were company cabs, they might easily have had another call they were going too.


And then it became more and more obvious, as more and more drove past. One even drove up to the rank, light on, and then drove off again when they realised it was a wheelchair user. I couldn't believe it. I actually said so to the lady at this point, and she felt the need to apologise to me for holding me up!


You just don't often see that out in the country, and it really brought it home to me how much discrimination people face, and it could be every single day of their lives.


Rant over, I'm off to slink back into my den.

[Greenmoor]

Oh, how disgusting!  Poor lady 

[bloomer]

feel free to rant thats pretty disgusting!!!

[SallyintNorth]

I don't get it.  Surely they charge for handling the wheelchair?  So why would they avoid picking her up?

[Lesley Silvester]

Don't get me on the subject of discrimination.      I am a pretty easy going person who doesn't get angry easily but discrimination makes me so mad.  That lady deserved the same treatment that anyone else would.  Why should being in a wheelchair make you less of a person and that's what these idiots were saying by their behaviour.  Having a husband who is blind and a son born with only one hand, not to mention working with adults with disabilities, I have seen plenty of discrimination and I get so furious.
 
And not just disability discrimination.  When my son-in-law was turned away from a night club because the owner said, "I'm not having that black bar****d in my club, I was ready to get on the next train to Poole and deal with him.
 
And elderly.  Why should people be treated with no respect because they are older?  They
 
Sorry, I did warn you not to get me started.   
 
I'm going to milk the goat now to calm me down.  (And because I'm late already.)

[Beewyched]

Didn't the ethos of the Paralympics last long 
Disgusting 

[Mammyshaz]

From what I am reading it looks more like she is a known person to give grief to the drivers, rather than a wheelchair discriminated person.

SOME individuals who think they can be  discriminated against in society seem to push boundaries and use their ' difference ' ( as seen in their eyes ) as a way of intimidating people.

[lachlanandmarcus]

From what I am reading it looks more like she is a known person to give grief to the drivers, rather than a wheelchair discriminated person.

SOME individuals who think they can be  discriminated against in society seem to push boundaries and use their ' difference ' ( as seen in their eyes ) as a way of intimidating people.

I couldnt see anything in the OPs post that would lead me to that conclusion. And have seen random wheelcahair users treated the same way.
Im not sure they can charge extra for a wheelchair as that would be discriminatory which under the DDA act would probably be illegal. As would refusing to pick up the fare.
If I were the OP or lady in question I would be reporting the company of the cab driver (even if no details of the individual cab are available) to that company in a complpaint and also to the train station authorities since they licence the cabs to stop at the forecourt (some places only let certain companies etc) so they have to power to warn the companies with losing their licence to pick up at the station.
The only excuse for not picking up would be if the vehicle itself wasnt wheelchair capable - but thats fewer and fewer and the station authorities can insist they all are capable.

[tizaala]

Were they 'black cab ' types or saloon cars ? , perhaps there was a health and safety issue if the drivers had not not been trained to handle dissabled passengers into their cars.
Most of the cabs pulling into Tescos won't even lift an old ladies shopping into the boot for her.

[Bionic]

I too would like to think that the only reason they didn't pick her up was because their vehicles were not suitable. If its anything else then it is disgusting.
Sally

[bloomer]

if their vehicles were not suitable surely they would still pull forward and take the next person in line not drive off without a fare at all???

[Derby_menagerie]

Should have jumped infront of her, stopped the cab as if for youm and then put her in it! That would show 'em!

[lachlanandmarcus]

Should have jumped infront of her, stopped the cab as if for youm and then put her in it! That would show 'em!

I have actually done that for someone before - it worked a treat! And warned the driver that I knew where the passenger was going and how much the fare should approx be.....:-)

[ballingall]

I was tempted to that actually.


They were all black cabs. Not a saloon or a private taxi in sight. And I could be wrong, but I thought pretty much all black cabs were accessible for wheelchair. She was in motorised wheelchair as well, so it wasn't even as if the driver had to help push her up the ramp or anything.


Beth

[heidih]

Poor lady..recently folowing my surgery i was in a wheelchair ...i was in tesco in a aisle and one lady pushed me over as i was im the way while i was parked waiting !..i nearly told her where to go.! Cheek of it..