I planned on going more into my use of Lyft and then I heard a story on the news the other day that tied in very well…lemme explain.
So here in the US, there are ride-sharing options to use when u need to go somewhere. Essentially anyone who owns a car can sign up to be a driver with whichever company and thru the company app, when I’m ready to go somewhere, I input my destination and pickup location and the nearest driver (I suppose) accepts the request and comes for me. i get a picture of the driver and their car, they see a picture of me…easy peasy and they’re cheaper than taxis or a car service by far. In Atlanta, the options we have are Lyft and Uber. When T-ster suggested using Lyft, I was a lil skeptical because I’d used Uber previously and had a “not so great” experience both times (nothing to do with accessibility). But! Winter was winding down and I was ready to get out of…I did some reading and got the app. In so doing I realised that I could set up a handicapped profile (and request an accessible vehicle) and there’s a clause on their website that states that drivers cannot discriminate against disabled passengers – this kinda put my mind at ease (plus I couldn’t find anything similar on Uber) and I was ready to take the plunge.
The good thing is that I don’t need an accessible vehicle; Soca Scooter breaks down and fits quite comfortably in the trunk of any car. When I requested my first few cars, I used to give the drivers a heads up by text “hey I’m in a mobility scooter ok”. Well that stopped when one chick responded with “oh. U need a bigger vehicle then, I’ll cancel so u can get one”. I couldn’t tell her that I certainly didn’t – allyuh eh want to see me get into ah SUV…it’s not ladylike/pretty/graceful AT ALL; on top of which, it eh the easiest thing for me to do. I try to avoid them at all costs. My experience so far using Lyft has been great – all the drivers I’ve encountered have been helpful when I needed them to be and I’ve not gotten any complaints/run into any issue (they mighta been cussing me fuh so on the inside for having to haul the scooter in and out the trunk, but i saw no signs of it)
- One lady had a trunk full of ferns she’d just bought but she did some rearranging and we were on our way. So…use my link if you ever decide to use them – i believe we’ll both get some kinda credit or something.
Now…bout that news story. A blind person with his service dog and his friend requested an uber driver. Story went that the driver pulled up, saw them, told them he couldn’t take them and drove away. Apparently the driver said (to a reporter after) that his daughter is allergic to dog hair and that’s y he couldn’t take them and he drove away to go read Uber’s policy. Woulda be nice if he’d explained the situation to the people – not the reporter…after the fact. who knows what really happened?
I’m not stupid, I know that anything is possible with Lyft and their drivers too, but for just a split second, I thought “yup…looks like I’m using the right company”
alright, i gone so…have a great weekend!