New laws to protect disabled passengers introduced in Northern Ireland
January 25, 2010 by Louise Williams
Filed under All News, Industry News, Transport and Traffic news
Northern Ireland will today bring into force a new law which will protect disabled passengers from discrimination. The Disability Transport Regulations will make it illegal for any transport provider, be it a coach, bus, train, car rental, taxi, or breakdown service, to discriminate against a disabled user.
Under the new regulations it will be against the law for a disabled person to be given a lower standard of service, in comparison to an able-bodied person, on any form of transport in Northern Ireland.
The Equality Commission and Northern Ireland’s biggest transport provider, Translink, have both welcome the new regulations. The commission reported that a third of the complaints it took during the course of last year, related to disability discrimination, so it hopes the introduction of the new law will go some may to remedying this.
The chief executive of the Equality Commission, Evelyn Collins, believes the law will have a positive impact upon the lives of many disabled people as it will help them, “realise opportunities for work and leisure” as a result of the improved travel conditions.
A new advertising campaign, masterminded the Equality Commission, will also launch today to coincide with the introduction of the Disability Transport Regulations. The idea is to raise awareness of the new laws and to make people aware of their rights, and allow transport operators the opportunity to get clued up on the regulations to ensure that they are working within the new disability law.