<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">Hi Julie. The driver is allegedly get the notifications. It's more up to the driver if they read them or not. Some do, some don't. Some don't even pay attention Hi Julie. The drivers allegedly get the notifications. It's more up to the driver if they read them or not. Some do, some don't. Some don't even pay attention to it. The nice thing is that the reporting is actually done for you in real time. self ID is a good start but it's not perfect. It's a work in progress.to<br id="lineBreakAtBeginningOfSignature"><div dir="ltr"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Leslie Hamric<br>Cello and Braille Music Teacher<br></span><div><div></div></div></div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On Apr 8, 2025, at 8:35\u202fPM, Julie A. Orozco via NAGDU <nagdu@nfbnet.org> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">\ufeff<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style>@font-face { font-family: "Cambria Math"; }
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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Good evening fellow guide dog users,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I hope all of you are doing well. I am *<b>finally</b>* working my third guide dog, a male chocolate lab from The Seeing Eye, called Xavier. He\u2019s a wonderful dog and a joy to work. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Of course, working a dog brings about the inevitable Uber denials. I\u2019ve gotten three so far, and we\u2019ve only been home a couple of weeks. (Uber and Lyft are really terrible in the DC area.) <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">For some reason, Sunday was just a bad day for me and Uber. I have self ID turned on, so drivers should be notified when they arrive that they are picking up someone with a service animal and that they are required by law to allow us in their car. At least, that was my understanding. But these drivers seem unable to understand the self ID notification. Either that, or they are not being notified properly. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I had three drivers on Sunday going to and from a friend\u2019s house. The first driver took me, only when I pointed to my eyes and told him I was blind and that my dog was working. (Sometimes, looking blind has its advantages.) He did not understand when I asked him if the app told him I was traveling with a service animal. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The second driver, the one who was set to take me home, refused us access. He did not speak English, but even when my friend and I pulled out Google translate, he would not budge. He said no dogs in his car and even canceled the ride. I am not sure if he received the notification, but he seemed totally clueless about the whole service animal thing. I don\u2019t think he was faking it either because if so, he wouldn\u2019t have wanted to cancel the ride himself. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The third driver didn\u2019t want to take me at first either. I had to explain to him what my dog was for, and once I did, he got it. I asked him if he received the notification, and he said yes but that he didn\u2019t get a chance to read it. He said he could just get passed it without reading it. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">So, my questions follow. Are drivers being notified and trained about their requirements under law to take service animal teams in their language of choice? Second, what does the notification system look like? I imagined something that would pop up and force them to read before proceeding with the trip. How are so many of my drivers seeming confused about me and my guide dog? Is this still happening to anyone else? Or do I live in the land of Uber access denials? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I was hesitant about self ID, but I am happy with it because it doesn\u2019t alert the drivers until they arrive. It\u2019s like Uber telling them for me when I\u2019m right there that the driver has to follow the law and take me with my service animal. But it\u2019s not effective if drivers can just ignore the notifications. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Apologies for the long email, and thank you for any perspective you can provide.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Julie<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><span>_______________________________________________</span><br><span>NAGDU mailing list</span><br><span>NAGDU@nfbnet.org</span><br><span>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org</span><br><span>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NAGDU:</span><br><span>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/lhamric930%40comcast.net</span><br></div></blockquote></body></html>