New transport law in North Ireland
For years the disabled have been complaining that taxis and bus drivers have refused service, charged extra to take them on board, or have just roared past them because they didn’t want to deal with a wheelchair on the bus. Finally a new law, the "Disability Transport Regulations" now require that taxis, buses and trains treat the disabled as any other able bodied passenger, including charging the same price and taking the as passengers. There have been many complaints over the years that mass transit workers refuse to help the disabled and many times drive past taxi and bus stops that people in wheelchairs are sitting in. Many people complained about empty buses blasting by eh bus stop without even slowing down because the driver did not want to deal with getting someone in a wheelchair onto the bus and locked down so they were safe during the ride. Many taxi drivers charged extra fees to load someone that was disabled into their vehicle and for luggage that they were required to put into the trunk because the rider could not carry them into the car themselves. This discrimination has made it very difficult for the disabled to get around the cities and to get to work or shopping centers. Trains were also on the list of transit workers that either refused to help the disabled by saying the lifts did not work or simply ignored people in wheelchairs. Those same companies are now required to have lifts and other equipment to safely transport the disabled. The "Equality Commission" has been playing a series of advertisements on tv and radio to let the disabled community know that they have new rights and transport workers know their new job requirements. It is hoped that these advertisements will get taxi drivers and bus drivers to realize that they must stop for disabled citizens and they cannot charge more money or refuse service simply because of the disability.
SCRN has written many articles about issues in Europe as the disabled were removed from airplanes because the pilot didn’t want them on board to taxi drivers refusing to take people in wheelchairs because it took to long to get them into the car. It is good that governments realize that the disabled should be treated no differently than the able bodied and should not get substandard service or be charged extra because of their injury or medical condition. It will be interesting to see how the advertisement blitz works and whether workers will actually take it to heart that they need to help those that cannot help themselves. It is not clear who will be doing the enforcement of the law, but they better have plenty of officers around to make sure things are working properly. People are creatures of habit and will not do more work or do things that they do not want to unless they are forced to. Secret officers should try to get on mass transit to make sure it is working properly and if not there needs to be stiff fines to be paid. Once a few workers get hit with big fines it will go through the grape vine that they have to follow the law or else.
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