Untill you have read, and understood the following, with compliments of our friends in Manchester who state:
It is not safe to attempt to load a wheelchair into these vehicles (Black Cabs) this means you could be committing a criminal offence if you continue to do so!!
After studying the effects of Musculoskeletal (MSD) injuries due to loading wheelchairs into Taxis, I have come to the conclusion it is unsafe to do so.
- Ramps. Vehicle ramps are governed by BS 6109 part 2. The British safety standard. This says that amongst other things ramps should;
a. Ramps should be fixed to a vehicle at one end, minimum. TX ramps come in two parts A and B, A is attached to the vehicle, B however is not, A just rest upon B, there is no positive locking mechanism, everything is left to “luck”.
b. Ramps should have 20 mm edges fitted to the ramps to stop wheelchairs going off the edge.
c. Ramps should be weight tested at least annually to show they can withstand a force of 250 kilograms.
These requirements are also stated on page 24 of the following appendix [5]
Manchester Council has responsibility for testing Hackney Carriage Vehicles in that City. Manchester have never weight tested ramps fitted to Hackney vehicles. It should be noted that VOSA, the standards agency, test ramps and tail lifts on vehicles which fall into their area of responsibility, every 12 weeks.
1. Do accidents occur whilst loading wheelchairs into vehicles? The Executive summary in the following Department of Health document says deaths and accidents occur daily.[5](page3).
2.Transport for London have had 228 accidents over a four year period, loading wheelchairs on board buses, 47 have resulted in hospitalisation [4]
It should be noted that the maximum gradients for loading wheelchairs on buses should not exceed 7 Degree’s. Accidents still happen at this angle of entry. [2] (page 6).
- LTI TX vehicles load at an angle of 19 degree’s from a flat surface. The Mercedes vehicle loads at an angle of 22 degree’s from a flat surface.
The HSE document “Getting to grips with Manual handling” [1](page 11) shows the amount of sustained force which can safely used to push a wheelchair up a slope. That limit is equal to 100 Newtons. (10 kilos).
The Transport Research Laboratory survey 1999.[3] shows that on a survey of over 700 vehicles, the mean average weight of a wheelchair user(and chair) is 121 kilos. Of these the 95 percentile shows that 95% were under 206 kilos. That also means 5% were anything up to 384 kilos [3](page 28).
Using the mean average of 121 kilos, per wheelchair, the force required to push a wheelchair bound person up the ramp on a TX vehicle is 363 Newton’s. Over three and a half times the safe limit.
Using the same calculations on a Mercedes Vito vehicle the amount of force is even greater, 460 Newton’s. This is over four and a half times the safe limit. It would seem to be obvious that at levels such as this MSD’s will continue every day.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Act, Section 3(2) states
(2) Every self-employed person shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of -:
(a) the risks to his own health and safety to which he is exposed whilst he is at work; and
(b) the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking,
The fact that I now know it is not safe to attempt to load a wheelchair into either of these vehicles means, I would be committing a criminal offence if I continued to do so.
The conditions of use for a meter in a hackney carriage state: a meter should be clean well illuminated and placed in a position that it can be clearly seen by all passengers in the vehicle at any time during the journey.
This is obviously to protect the public from unscrupulous behavior of the driver and to ensure the passenger has enough funds available to pay for the journey.
Wheelchair bound passengers cannot see the meter at anytime whilst being carried backwards.
wheelchair bound passengers cannot anticipate and brace them selves for corners or speed bumps etc.
Wheelchair bound passengers are receiving a lesser service than ordinary members of the public. This is criminal offence under the Equality Act of 2010.
The need for all Authorities to consider their position on the types of vehicles used was highlighted in the High court action; Regina v Liverpool City Council. (ex parte Lunt and Allied Vehicles) 2009.[6]
I think that because of the risk of injury to the driver and the wheelchair bound passenger, we should consider refusing to take wheelchairs in these two vehicles.
I note that the DDA Act of 1995 states that:
(6) In any proceedings for an offence under this section, it is a defence for the accused to show that, even though at the time of the alleged offence the taxi conformed with those provisions of the taxi accessibility regulations with which it was required to conform, it would not have been possible for the wheelchair in question to be carried in safety in the taxi.
The Transport Research laboratory was commissioned to undertake crash test dummy exercises for the Department of Transport. There were two tests, one taken in 2003 and another taken later, specifically for children, in 2008. I add these as appendices [7] and [8]
The test for children [8] is the most alarming, pages 70 through to 90 are required reading, however I highlight two salient points;
Page 84 para 4.4.2;
“most manufacturers will say that their wheelchairs should be used forward facing only”
Page 90, para 4.5
“Some wheelchairs deformed or failed”….”which suggested that a child would be at risk of injury”.
The standard test [7] pages 30 to 38 are required reading
Page 32; “In general the wheelchair seated occupant was at a greater risk of injury than the vehicle seated occupant. All injury criteria showed an increased level of risk up to double that of an occupant seated in a baseline vehicle seat with a head restraint”
The fact that wheelchair bound occupants of Taxis, particularly when facing rearwards, receive a lesser service than that of ordinary passengers means a criminal offence is being committed under the provisions of the 2010 Equality Act.
The high danger to children in buggies and wheelchairs should result in them not being carried in rearward facing wheelchair M1 vehicles. The fact that these types of chair are stated by the manufacturers to be used forward facing only would suggest that in case of an accident your insurers would be in a position to avoid payment. Recent cases in Birmingham and elsewhere would suggest that in a fatality the driver of the Hackney could be charged with Manslaughter.
I think these matters need URGENT attention.
Appendices used;
[1] ‘Getting to grips with manual handling’; Health and Safety Executive.
[2] Transport for London. Bus Priority Team, technical advise note BP1/06
[3] Transport Research Laboratory… Project report PR/SE/622/99
[4] Freedom of Information Request from TfL.
[5] Department of Health, MHRA, DB2004(2)
[6] Regina v Liverpool City Council (ex parte Alma Lunt).
[7] Transport of wheelchair occupants in road passenger vehicles. ISBN 0-9543339-1-9 (2003).
[8] Transport Research Laboratory. Report TRL667 (2008)
