An Ontario woman, who is visually impaired, was denied a ride by an Uber driver last Thursday because of her guide dog, according to CTV News.
Shelby Travers told CTV Ottawa that she tried to inform the Uber driver about her location and guide dog since the driver had difficulties finding her.
However, when the driver arrived at her location, he told Travers that he doesn’t take dogs in his car and drove off without further explanation.
“As I was saying ‘I’m blind, she’s my guide dog,’ he drove away with me still holding onto the car,” said Travers to CTV Ottawa. “Then I just broke down like in the streets.”
Uber Canada says it’s reached out to Travers.
“We’re upset about the experience described here. We have spoken to the rider to check on her well-being and we are looking further into this. Driver-partners who use the Uber app agree to accommodate riders with service animals and comply with all accessibility laws,” a spokesperson from Uber Canada said in an email.
Travers said she experienced these types of incidents in Toronto and Calgary and wants better enforcement of these laws to stop these occurrences from happening in the future.
“We rely heavily on different forms of transit because we cannot drive,” said Travers.
According to Travers, Uber did not say whether the driver will be let go from working for its services.
In November last year, Uber began to offer wheelchair-accessible vehicles in Canada and the U.S., as the company previously received criticism for not being accommodating enough to people with disabilities.
Update 04/02/19 4:44 pm: The article was updated with a quote from Uber Canada.
Source: CTV News
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