[nagdu] Cab drivers in DC pass blind people with guide dogs
Robert Stigile
rstigile at sbcglobal.net
Tue Sep 7 14:10:33 UTC 2010
Hello Marion and All,
There has been a lot of discussion on this list, about taxi cab
drivers in DC.
This last Washington Seminar, I had my first experience of a
driver, in a long time, that thought you needed to pay a fee for
having the dog in the cab.
He even went as far as trying to tell me, that the sign on the
back window, told you how much extra it will be for the dog.
I finally gave up trying to explain to him, that there should not
be a extra charge, and said, well, if you are so inclined to
charge an extra fee, then I guess I will have to take it out of
your tip.
He backed off at that point, and when we got out of the vehicle,
I had someone read him the sign, of which it said, there is no
extra charge for service animals.
Here in my area, specifically the San Fernando Valley, a suburb
of Los Angeles, we really do not have issues, because I have
filed several complaints with the Department of Transportation,
as well as our Division, CAGDU, has worked very hard, around the
state, to inform the agencies that oversee the taxi cab
companies, that it is our right to travel with a service animal,
and because of the work we have done, a lot of the issues have
disappeared.
Once in a while, there will be a driver who thinks, he can get a
way with not picking you up, but the dispatchers can tell when
the driver is doing that, and they will suspend them, I have
actually heard them over the radio or while on the phone, telling
a driver they will need to bring their cab in, due to their
behavior towards a blind person.
So, it may be tedious for a while, but you have to file
complaints.
I hope this helps,
Robert Stigile
E-mail: rstigile at sbcglobal.net
Skype: robertstigile1
----- Original Message -----
From: "Marion Gwizdala" <blind411 at verizon.net
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog
Users"<nagdu at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:23:02 -0400
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Cab drivers in DC pass blind people with
guide dogs
Will,
There is no obligation, as I have stated, to inform the
company of the
presence of a guide dog. Again, if you are refused access
because of your
guide dog, I strongly suggest you file complaints as widely as
possible.
this means with the agency that regulates the cab company, your
state's
human rights department, law enforcement, and the DOJ. If you
ever need any
assistance, please do not hesitate to call upon me!
fraternally yours,
Marion Gwizdala, President
National Association of Guide Dog Users
National Federation of the Blind
813-626-2789
Blind411 at Verizon.net
HTTP://NAGDU.ORG
----- 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 7:21 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Cab drivers in DC pass blind people with
guide dogs
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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