Legally blind woman left anxious and in tears after rideshare drivers refuse to pick her up 23 times in six weeks

So as a taxi driver with asthma and horrific allergies, I've found dog owners are not typically terribly understanding when I tell them we're going to have another cab come pick them up. I've had several people insist that their animal is a service dog as if this somehow changes my own health condition.

I've often found that my own access to public spaces is limited by the use of service animals and straight up pets in public places. I don't even try to go to breweries anymore. I wouldn't bother trying to get on a plane. Even hotels are basically a no go for me unless i want to get sick more often than not.

I don't pretend to have a solution to this, but access to public spaces for animals and for some allergy sufferers is mutually exclusive. It makes it a lot more complicated than 'service animals should be everywhere' or 'allergy sufferers should have access to public spaces'. The two are kind of in conflict. It sucks.

Nobody pays any mind to air quality and it's made my life a whole lot more difficult than it needs to be.

Anyway, i feel for her, but i think the service animal stuff is way over simplified and people forget that other people with disabilities also pay a cost.

I believe the app should state that the customer has a guide dog. That way people with allergies or phobias don’t have to accept the trip. I like dogs but my wife is deathly afraid of them. I blame her mother for instilling that fear but that’s a story for another time.

Start fining uber the company a substantial amount for each offense and see how quickly their tone changes.

I have a disability but I do think rideshare drivers should be allowed to decide if they want dogs in their privately-owned cars or not.

I find it strange that the person in the article specifically mentions 23 refusals from Uber drivers, but what about taxis? Taxis should not discriminate, unless the driver has a particular condition like allergies to dogs. If I had an assistance dog, I would be seeking taxis, not rideshare, because I understand most people wouldn't want dogs in their own vehicle.

Do note I mentioned assistance dogs, which require certification.

This kind of stuff isn't limited to people who have service dogs. A friend of mine has been having a rough time lately because they're a wheelchair user and they keep having taxis mess them around. Stuff like saying the wheelchair won't fit in the boot, or parking somewhere inaccessible then getting pissy and saying "I wouldn't have taken the job if I'd known it would be like this", even though access needs were mentioned on the booking.

And if anyone's wondering, yes, this is discriminatory, there's pretty clear laws against this in my country, but trust me, as someone who spent 2+ years trying to get some justice from that process, it's even more inaccessible than the taxis (in terms of time, effort and money involved)

In the USA this would be illegal. You can't deny a person with a disability that is accommodated by a service dog unless the dog is not obeying the handler or pees/poops inside. Doesn't matter if someone has allergies, a phobia, or is religious. There are fines but it takes a very long time to get anywhere.

Weird there aren't medical exceptions to said law about providing those services...

Why would you deny disable people a ride? I think just by accepting them, they'll give you a big tip just for accepting the ride. In any case it's still feels good to help people out, and make money at the same time, potentially a good tip if you be nice. Guide dogs are well trained so it doesn't even affect your car that much. It doesn't make sense to deny the ride, even just from a money-driven perspective, since the most vulnerable people are often the most kind people.

Doesn't uber have a pet friendly option when booking

That's a real terrible situation for her.

All right. I am not a fan of canines, but this is really screwed up. She needs her guide animal because she's blind, ffs.