A Brief Account of Wheelchair Accessibility in Taxis from the Users’ Perspective

Of all the various private taxis that operate in and around Melbourne, probably the ones that come with wheelchair accessibility are the most crucial from the usability point of view. The reason is obvious. They do not just ferry people – they are into a service that is all about providing transportation to people who are either too frail, weak, or sick to move independently, or are differently enabled. Thus, a great deal of responsibility rests on these taxi service providers in Berwick or other suburbs of Melbourne when it comes to serving their customers. 

The conditions of the cars have to be taken into consideration

While it is obvious that operators of private taxi service have to keep their vehicles at the pink of health and glory at any given point in time, the ones that offer wheelchair taxi service have to be all the more cautious about the condition of the vehicles. Since they are transporting people who are either sick or differently enabled, it is their responsibility to see that these people do not feel any discomfort whatsoever during their travel. They need to keep the interiors as clean and glittering as they can be, and the mechanism of the car has to be in its pinnacle, so much so that the travel can be a smooth and seamless one. 

The Responsibility of the Drivers

The blokes who are at the wheels of private taxis maintain the utmost professionalism anyway. Indeed, it is one of the USPs of these service providers. Drivers of reputed and seasoned taxi service providers in Lynbrook are always cordial and friendly, warm, and professional, with a great sense of responsibility. However, drivers of wheelchair taxi service providers ought to have some additional responsibilities:   

• They cannot refuse hires from the users of wheelchairs 

• They are prohibited from snapping any additional charge for a journey from the users of wheelchairs. 

• It is their responsibility to carry the wheelchair of the passenger, in case the individual decides to sit in the passenger seat during the tenure of the journey. 

• It is the responsibility of the drivers to see that the wheelchair user who is being transported is safe and in reasonable physical and mental comfort during the journey. 

• It is the responsibility of the drivers to provide a reasonable extent of mobility-assistance to the passenger who is either sick or differently enabled and hence is using a wheelchair. 

• The drivers are required to take the shortest route(s) to get their passengers to their destinations to cut off the travel time as much as possible

• They must refrain from hard braking or speeding unnecessarily that may cause mental and physical discomfort to the passengers. 

• They must be well aware of the road conditions well in advance to ensure that they are not caught in a situation that may cause mental or physical trauma to the passengers. 

Special Attention in view of the COVID 19 Outbreak

In view of this continuing pandemic situation due to the COVID 19 outbreak, the drivers of these taxi hire services near Lyndhurst as in any other place, have to be extra cautious. They need to sanitize themselves and the exterior and interior of their cars comprehensively and regularly more so, when they get an assignment to ferry a sick passenger, to ensure that the car is no way the source of any contamination for the passenger.