[NAGDU] Uber and LYFT

Thu Jun 13 01:07:53 UTC 2024

Hello Vanessa. Thank you for sharing this experience. I too, have experienced situations like this. Many times, my reassurances that my god will not harm the person are enough and the situation becomes a teachable moment. Something that works for me is that in addition to telling the driver what my rights are as a blind guide dog users, I also tell them what my responsibilities are. Usually, when it's framed in such a way that they know that it's not just about rights, the situation becomes even more positive.

--
Raul Gallegos, President
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-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Vanessa Lowery via NAGDU
Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2024 5:51 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Vanessa Lowery <val4dogs at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Uber and LYFT

I also find the Lyft app to be somewhat more intuitive. Further, I actually have the opportunity to include a comment about the driver and the trip if all went well.

I had a driver from LYFT today who was open about being scared of dogs. He wanted the dog to go into the cargo area of his vehicle, but I explained that the dog would lie on the floor in front of my seat and I needed to be able to control the dog. He was still a bit reluctant, but I smoothly loaded the dog into the vehicle and settled him on the floor in front of my seat. I made sure that I had control of his head so that virtue would not attempt to make contact with the driver. The driver explained that as a young child, he had been bitten by a dog, and to date, the fear of dogs persisted. It was a good trip with no issues, and I complemented the driver on doing well in spite of the fact that a dog that he was scared of was in his vehicle. He was appreciative of the compliment that I gave him. I also gave him a good rating.  He also mentioned during the early part of our trip that he understood that I needed to travel with the service dog. I don't know if this was a teachable moment, but it was an opportunity to show him that I maintained absolute control of my dog. That lowered his level of discomfort. I have some vision, and I could tell by his body actions when I started to load the dog into the vehicle that he genuinely was scared of the dog. So it was my job to make things happen smoothly, efficiently, and quietly.

Vanessa and the zoo
Set from my iPhone

> On Jun 12, 2024, at 5:05 PM, Leslie Hamric <lhamric930 at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> Me too. Although yesterday, I did take an Uber to drop something off somewhere and the driver that I had was terrific. I guess this was the first time she ever had a blind person in her car and she was from a different country than ours. She was just blown away how I could get in the car, get to the building with Omega, get inside, give the papers to the front desk, get back out and then find the car again. Definitely a teachable moment. I did a multiple stop trip so then I didn't have to pay for two different trips and it was cheaper that way. But like you, I've been avoiding Uber and taking Lyft because the Lyft people can't come back and say you should take Lyft pet. Because Lyft pet doesn't exist.
> Leslie Hamric
> Cello and Braille Music Teacher
> 
>> On Jun 12, 2024, at 3:54 PM, Vanessa Lowery via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Lately, I have been taking Lyft. I have had a few denials from them, but the level of denials seems to have dropped off to some extent. There may come a point at which they pick up again, but I hope not. One of the things that I do is Carrie a beach towel with me that is long enough to pretty much cover the length of the floor where the backseat is. This is not a perfect solution, it certainly helps. The other thing that I'm trying to do is step up my Grooming since we are at that time of the year when the dogs are blowing their winter coat in preparation for summer. I make sure that the towel is visible to the driver when he or she pulls up. When I have reached my destination, I just put the towel which I can fold down into a fairly workable size into my backpack. Since I tend to be a backpack where anyway at times, it is not inconvenient for me to have it available.
>> 
>> In the meantime, I wish everyone good luck as you file complaints. I have knocked on the department of Justice door a few times myself. Especially now that the form is familiar enough to me that I can fill it out pretty quickly on the computer.
>> 
>> Vanessa and the zoo
>> Set from my iPhone
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