SA GUIDE-DOG ASSOCIATION SUES UBER FOR LEAVING BLIND PASSENGERS STRANDED

The South African Guide-Dogs Association for the Blind is taking on Uber for refusing to allow dogs in their cars.

Lester Kiewit speaks with Pieter van Niekerk, Spokesperson for the South African Guide Dogs Association for the Blind.

Many visually impaired people rely on service dogs to help them navigate spaces that would otherwise be inaccessible.

Usually, these dogs are allowed in places ordinary pets are not, such as trains and buses.

However, some Uber drivers are refusing to let guide dogs into their cars because they do not want it to ‘dirty their vehicle.’

The South African Guide Dogs Association is now aiming to sue the Dutch owners of the Uber app.

According to van Niekerk, in the past seven or eight years, there have been an increasing number of cases where visually impaired people have been left stranded by drivers because of their guide dogs.

“The moment they realise there is a dog involved they would cancel the calls.”

“It happened where people were stranded in very compromising and dangerous situations.”

He adds that all the dogs are trained not to sit on the seats, they will sit in the footwell, and the Association asks the owners of the dogs to bring a blanket for their service dog to sit on.

Uber South Africa has said they cannot force their drivers to do anything.

The Association is heading to the Equality Court in August and is trying to get the owners of Uber involved as a respondent.