Taxi driver abandons blind man after guide dog runs away

A taxi driver refused to allow a blind man take his guide dog into the car with him - then abandoned him when the animal fled after attempting to put it in the boot.

The incident has led to the Bristol driver being stripped of his licence by a Bristol City Council public safety and protection sub-committee.

It started when the driver refused to let the man take the animal into the car with him because “other passengers did not like the smell”, city councillors heard.

Three unsuccessful attempts to get the dog into the boot then failed.

Then as the two men were arguing, the dog fled.

The Bristol cabbie would not help find the animal and bring him back, councillors were told.

The sub-committee was told the Equalities Act imposed a duty on taxi drivers to carry a guide dog where required and let them stay with the person.

As a result of the incident on June 23, the passenger complained to the neighbourhood enforcement team, which told the panel it was not usual for a guide dog to be placed in a car boot, although this was an open car.

On a separate occasion the cabbie refused to help a woman whose electric wheelchair had run out of charge after he took her to Cribbs Causeway.

A council officer told the panel the driver had not taken the “gold standard” course covering guide dogs and wheelchairs.

Members ruled that he had breached the act both times and revoked his hackney carriage licence.

The decision is revealed in the recently published minutes of the exempt sub-committee meeting at City Hall on September 21.

The report says the driver, referred only as MSA, told councillors he had picked up many blind people and wheelchair users and had helped his disabled father so knew what was required.

He said at the hearing: “Sometimes dogs do not want to get into my car but most of the time there is no problem.

“I suggested to the passenger that he put the dog in the car as it was pulling him.

“Normally, I would hold the guide dog while the passenger gets into the car but there can be a problem if the dog does not want to get in the vehicle.”

Bristol Blue Licensed Taxi Association chairman Saif Hussain told the panel MSA had offered for the dog to sit in the boot because it was a big car but it refused and ran off, “so the option of putting the dog in the front was not available”.

According to the minutes, the complainant said: “MSA did not offer to put the dog in the car so I had to do it myself.

“National guidance is that guide dogs should sit in the footwell in the front of the car so putting a guide dog in the boot rather than the footwell can cause problems since guide dogs are trained to carry out specific tasks

“I understand that some drivers do not like dogs being placed in the footwell for hygiene or religious reasons.

“As MSA refused to help me find my dog after it ran away, I told him to leave as he was not helping me resolve the situation.

“My dog returned after he left. I then phoned V Cars who sent out an assistant driver. He quickly resolved the situation.”

Explaining the other incident, the cabbie told members: “When the battery in the wheelchair ran out, she asked me to help her get it recharged.

“I had to explain that this was not my responsibility to do and that it rested with her to deal with this matter.

“There had also been a further delay because she did not have cash and I needed to use a machine to take payment.

“In all this fare took 45 minutes. This type of delay has a serious impact on my ability to get enough passengers to make a living.

“There is a fixed cost for any job that I carry out as indicated by the meter reading so I am not able to increase the price for certain types of fares to allow me more time between passengers or to take account of loading and unloading.”

Councillors found the allegations had been proved.

The minutes say members were “concerned that MSA had abandoned his blind passenger at the side of the road after his dog had run off and had offered him no assistance to find it”.

They upheld the complaint about the electric wheelchair because the legislation places a duty on a driver to provide mobility assistance to get in and out of the car, including disabled passengers staying in their wheelchair if they prefer.

The minutes add: “It was found to be a reasonable request for a wheelchair user to ask for assistance in respect of their electric wheelchair which in any event was needed to alight the vehicle.

“The sub-committee also suggested to MSA that he should not reapply for this licence until he had completed the gold standard course.”