Disabled Air Force veteran dumped by Hamilton taxi on busy road

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d on Stuff.co.nz and in the Waikato Times

A mentally and physically disabled Air Force veteran was dumped by a Hamilton Taxis driver on a busy 80kmh road after the driver refused to take him to his rehabilitation centre.

The Human Rights Commission has condemned the actions saying disable people deserved empathy and respect not "contempt and hostility".

Hamilton Taxis refused to comment, but Ross could not prove to the driver he was an ACC client and the driver used that as the excuse to dump him on Ruakura Road. Ross has taken a taxi from that company for that route fortnightly for the past 15 years.

Jason Howarth believes the life of his father, Ross, was put at risk during the incident on Monday, September 14.

Ross Howarth was involved in a serious car crash in 1989 while serving in the Air Force, leaving him with brain and foot injuries.

He has used Hamilton Taxis for 15 years, paid for by ACC, to get to and from his rehabilitation centre, physiotherapy appointments, his carer's house and his home in Tamahere, Hamilton.

Last week, the taxi failed to show up for Ross at his carer's house, a standing appointment. The carer rang and when the Hamilton Taxi arrived, Ross didn't recognise the driver. The standing appointment is for the taxi to take him from his carer's home in Percival Rd, near Ruakura, to his rehabilitation centre in the CBD.

He told the driver he was an ACC client, but the driver couldn't confirm with the taxi company if it were true.

"[The driver] went to the two roundabouts, dropped me off on the side of the road and said, 'Get out,' so I did. He wouldn't go any further," Ross said.

"I tried to wait for another taxi, but it didn't turn up, so I headed back."

His son, Jason, believes his father was dropped off near the Ruakura Research Centre, a busy main road where traffic travels at 80kmh.

"Dad does have a foot injury and 3 kilometres is a long way for anybody to walk, never mind someone with an injury."

Ross also had two bags with him - his overnight bag and his day pack.

"It's concerning me that they can leave someone with a head injury on the side of the road.

"If it was in another part of town, or the taxi driver had taken a different route, Dad may not have been familiar with the area and it could have been a much different situation.

"My biggest concern is it could happen again. Every second Monday he's at Percival Road, but every other Monday, he comes from Cambridge. What happens if they pull over on the side of the road on the main highway? The thought scares me."

Hamilton Taxis general manager Andy Collins was contacted several times for comment, by phone and email.

A reporter waited at his office's reception on Norton Road for three hours, but he never showed. On returning the next morning, his only response to questions was "no comment".

ACC spokeswoman Stephanie Melville said the government agency was "deeply concerned to hear of any ACC client being put in such a distressing and unsafe situation".

"Where ACC funds transport services for clients, we expect a consistently high standard of professional service to be delivered by transport providers. If such a serious breach of service were identified, we would act immediately," she said.

"It is vital that our clients can travel to and from their injury-related appointments with confidence and peace of mind."

ACC offered to change taxi companies, but Jason and Ross declined on the grounds of "better the devil you know".

Human Rights Commissioner Paul Gibson said he was concerned the taxi company chose not to comment.

"By law taxi drivers must act safely, courteously and with tolerance but disabled Hamilton man Ross Howarth was shown none of this when he was dumped on the side of a busy 80kmh road this week," he said.

"Humiliating and endangering your passengers is not good for business, we urge the taxi company whose driver left Ross on the road to educate their employees and ensure this never happens again.

"Disabled New Zealanders like Ross Howarth deserve our empathy and respect, they don't deserve our contempt and hostility."

He invited Ross and his family to complain to the New Zealand Transport Agency.

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