Liverpool disability advocates win first step in fight for accessible taxis

From the Liverpool Echo in the UK:

Disability campaigners were celebrating Aug. 1 after winning a victory in their fight against a ban on accessible taxis.

A high court judge ruled Liverpool council must reconsider its decision not to license the wheelchair-friendly cabs.

Last year, licensing chairman Malcolm Kelly sparked outrage when his committee refused to issue licences to the drivers of the Peugeot E7 taxis.

More than 300 cabbies signed a petition to say they were in favour of permitting the use of the E7.

But campaigners were forced to go to the high court to challenge the council’s decision at a two-day judicial review.

Yesterday, Mr Justice Blake finally ruled Liverpool’s licensing committee seriously misunderstood wheelchair users’ need for the larger E7s.

His judgement boosted the battle by wheelchair user Alma Lunt, chairman of the Merseyside Coalition of Inclusive Living, and Allied Vehicles, which manufactures the E7.

Liverpool council will now have to reconsider its stance on issuing licences for the sliding-door cars.

Mrs Lunt, of West Derby, said: “After two years of fighting, it finally feels like we are getting somewhere.

“But it will not feel like we have won until the council licenses these vehicles and I see them on the street.

“This is a landmark case under the Disability Discrimination Act and I am very proud to be a part of it.”

Allied Vehicles spokesman Donald Pow said: “We are very chuffed. These taxis are already in use across the country, Liverpool was one of the few places which would not allow them.”

John Bruce, of Liverpool Wheelchair Users Group, said members were delighted to hear the high court’s decision.

Campaigners had argued those in larger wheelchairs had to travel unsafely, unsecured and facing sideways when they used the city’s hackney cabs, leaving room for one other passenger.

But the council argued its fleet was wheelchair accessible and claimed any problems were caused by driver error.

A council spokesman said: “We have just received this decision and will need time to consider its implications in full with our legal team.”