[nagdu] Cab drivers in DC pass blind people with guide dogs

[William ODonnell]

Many times, I have been told that they will not take people since the oporator did not inform the driver that there was a dog, etc.  The 

--- On Mon, 9/6/10, Marion Gwizdala <blind411 at verizon.net> wrote:

> From: Marion Gwizdala <blind411 at verizon.net>
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Cab drivers in DC pass blind people with guide dogs
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Date: Monday, September 6, 2010, 2:11 PM
> Will,
>    I'm not sure what you mean by needing to
> "go on explaining and waiting for the approval of the
> supervisor"! If you mean that you are advising them that you
> will be accompanied by a guide dog, the way to resolve this
> is to not tell them. You are under no obligation to do so
> under the law; likewise, they are obliged under the law to
> transport you. The presence of your guide dog is irrelevant,
> so don't tell them!
>    What I did here in Tampa is to call about
> ten minutes aftter my first call to check on whether or not
> the call had ben dispatched. Generally, they would tell me
> what cab number was dispatched to pick me up. If the cabbie
> refused to carry me, I would advise him that I am blind and
> my dog is a service animal. If the driver continued in the
> refusal, I would let him drive away so that there was a
> clear refusal. In Florida, violation of the law is a second
> degree misdemeanor and, as per resolution 2010-25, it is now
> the policy of the NFB to work for the same penalties in all
> states. File a complaint against the cabbie and against the
> company. The company may claim that they have no control
> over their drivers if the drivers are independent
> contractors; however, the law does not see it this way and,
> when the owners of the cab companies find themselves paying
> their high-priced attorneys to defend them against charges
> of discrimination, they will start making some changes!
> 
> Fraternally yours,
> Marion Gwizdala
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "William ODonnell"
> <william.odonnell1 at yahoo.com>
> To: "the National Association of Guide Dog UsersNAGDU
> Mailing List" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, September 06, 2010 9:47 AM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Cab drivers in DC pass blind people
> with guide dogs
> 
> 
> The same thing goes on here in NYC.  If you need a
> cab, you can get a yellow cab in Manhattan; however, outside
> the city, it is a hit or miss issue with the car
> companies.  First, you need to call for the cab and go
> on explaining and waiting for approval of the supervisors,
> dispatchers, and drivers.  If you are trying to get a
> cab on the street, well, good luck.  The yellow cabs I
> mention above are the ones from the medallion Taxi and
> limousine commission (TLC).  They will usually pick you
> up; however, then you need to go on with the explanations
> that the dog is a service dog and will not harm anyone
> because very often you here the fear from the driver that
> the dog may harm them.
> --- On Sun, 9/5/10, Dan Weiner <dcwein at dcwein.cnc.net>
> wrote:
> 
> > From: Dan Weiner <dcwein at dcwein.cnc.net>
> > Subject: Re: [nagdu] Cab drivers in DC pass blind
> people with guide dogs
> > To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of
> Guide Dog Users'" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> > Date: Sunday, September 5, 2010, 7:42 AM
> > Granted, Sherri, the wording is
> > regrettable, but the fact is we're not
> > going to win on some of these points and in the case
> of the
> > article we'd be
> > missing the forest for the trees pointing that out,,
> > or however that goes.
> > At lease when I lived in Maryland I can tell you that
> > access was a problem
> > when it came to cabs.
> > And, those friends of mine who lived in DC would
> confirm
> > the estimate of
> > half the drivers passing by or not taking you.
> > 
> > This is the height of absurdity and even shameful,
> that
> > we've had eighty
> > years of guide dog training here in the USA and it's
> still
> > that way.
> > And like it or not, nine times out of ten in my neck
> of the
> > woods in
> > Maryland it was people from the mid East, Africa and
> Asia,
> > emigrants in
> > other words, who did the worst offending in this
> regard.
> > This is the first
> > time in my life, sorry to say, that I started feeling
> a
> > real hostility to
> > emigrants, who, in my way of thinking, were dishing
> out to
> > people from here
> > worse treatment then they were getting. They had jobs
> and
> > could find them
> > quickly again, no skin off their nose to treat a
> blind
> > person like dirt.
> > And, guys, don't start with me the old chorus of how
> > they're afraid of dogs,
> > etc. I couldn't care less, it isn't a dog popularity
> > contest we're in here.
> > The reasons are immaterial to me, how to reverse this
> trend
> > is what I'm
> > interested in.
> > 
> > 
> > Sad but true it was a lot of folks from other lands
> who did
> > this.
> > .
> > Not that there weren't any good old native American
> > born, white and black
> > guys, who had their chance to step up to the plate and
> be
> > butt holes because
> > there were.
> > So, you were lucky if you got drivers who knew you, or
> I'd
> > take numbers of
> > cabbies I liked and give them some business on the
> side,
> > but frankly, the
> > fact that we have to do that means there's something
> > seriously wrong.
> > I mention that because some blind friends there said
> > rather superciliously,
> > "well, what I do is make sure I get the drivers who
> don't
> > mind dogs". I'm
> > beating my head against a wall, here, guys, but the
> cabbies
> > are supposed to
> > take us, ain't up to us to get a little black book of
> > people who decide it's
> > convenient to follow the law.
> > Now, here in Florida, I've only taken a few cabs
> recently
> > as I'm trying to
> > save money, so what can you tell me about access here,
> or
> > Marian in Tampa,
> > etc?
> > 
> > There would be only two reasons that at some point I
> decide
> > not to choose a
> > guide dog as my main means of mobility:
> > 1. It's hard on me to see them get old and so on,
> > very hard.
> > 2. This access situation.
> > When I call a cab, I should not have to have my heart
> in my
> > mouth wondering
> > whether they're going to see me and drive away. One
> > of the drivers who
> > liked me told me that several of them who didn't like
> dogs
> > would just not
> > come if they knew it was a dog user and say they came
> and I
> > wasn't there, or
> > other little tricks.
> > In Prince George's County, Maryland, the company had
> some
> > GPs system whereby
> > they could tell which driver was nearest to whatever
> > location I was calling
> > from and he would be assigned. Now, that would mean I
> > could very often and
> > would get a person for whatever reason, decided to
> drive
> > away or in some
> > other way treat me like the scum of the Earth because
> I
> > dare to want to be
> > independent and use a guide dog.
> > 
> > Of course they're computers, the cab company's may not
> be
> > the most accurate,
> > I called once from my cell phone when at Dunkin''
> Doughnuts
> > and every time I
> > called from my cell they'd say "Oh, we'll send
> > someone to the Dunkin'
> > Doughnuts, and I had to make sure they got it before
> they
> > hung up.
> > One day I got really frustrated and said, I don't care
> who
> > you send but make
> > it someone who understands English and make sure
> they're
> > not an idiot."
> > I swear, one of the cab drivers thought this was
> funny
> > because whatever
> > dispatcher had put that under my phone number on the
> > computer, so it would
> > come up as "has a guide dog, wants someone who
> understands
> > English, doesn't
> > want an idiot.".
> > Still, all of those qualifications didn't help
> > sometimes--smile
> > 
> > Rant over
> > 
> > 
> > Dan W.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
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> 
> 
> 
> 
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