Taxi victory opens door to rights

Taxis are the main transport option – and sometimes the only transport option – for many disabled people, yet comparatively few are fully accessible. Helen Smith reports on a high court victory for cab users in Liverpool that could mean more accessible taxis for more people

As an ambulant disabled person, I’ve always found so-called accessible taxis quite hard to get into. Not only is there a huge step to negotiate but the seats are set so far back that the only way I can sit down is by flopping backwards, which gives many a taxi driver a bit of a shock.

I’m not the only disabled person to find accessible taxis pretty inaccessible. Many people with large, powered wheelchairs also struggle to gain access to the standard TX2 taxi.

But a taxi exists that’s more accessible and this is the Peugeot E7 taxi, Manufatured jointly by Peugeot and accessible vehicle specialist Allied Vehicles.

This taxi is bigger than a TX2 and disabled people find it easier to get into; it’s also safer. But it seems that not all local authorities are keen to embrace it.

When Alma Lunt, who uses a wheelchair, asked Liverpool City Council to license the alternative style taxi, her request was turned down. This was despite the fact that she and other disabled people repeatedly explained to the Council’s licensing officer and licensing committee that vehicle constraints prevented them being properly positioned and safely secured in the existing London-style taxis.

The licensing committee turned down the new-style taxi because it has sliding doors and doesn’t meet a 28-foot turning-circle requirement, a demand that originates in the days of the horse-drawn hackney carriage in London.

When Liverpool’s licensing chairman refused to issue licences to the drivers of Peugeot E7 taxis, Alma Lunt and other campaigners, backed by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), went to the High Court and challenged the Council’s decision at a two-day judicial review.

The High Court found that the Council’s decision not only discriminated against disabled people but was flawed and unfair.

Susie Uppal, director of the EHRC’s enforcement team, said: “For many years, disabled people in cities such as Birmingham, Glasgow and Cardiff have been able to travel in safe, efficient and convenient E7 taxis. It is only right that the people of Liverpool may now have that same opportunity.”

Alma Lunt said: “This would give me the freedom I need. Nearly two in five wheelchair-users in Liverpool cannot use the TX2 but would be able to use the E7.”

Donald Pow, general manager of Allied Vehicles, the other claimant, said he was “delighted” with the ruling, which came at the end of “a long, hard struggle”.

Liverpool Council is presently reconsidering its position on the E7 in the light of the judgement. Let’s hope they’ve now been “persuaded” to listen to their disabled residents.

Although the E7 taxi is licensed in 95 per cent of local authority areas, Manchester City Council and Transport for London are still refusing to license it. I and I’m sure many other disabled people hope this ruling will help them to change their minds.