The Bastards Not Leading the Blind

Yesterday, the Dallas Morning News published a story about a blind woman being abused by a Yellow Cab driver (read it here). As the story goes, the woman felt the driver had been driving too far and too long for where she wanted to go. When she asked the driver about the situation, he began to argue with her until she felt compelled to call 911. At that point, the driver let her out of the cab but didn’t tell her where she was.

Finally, a passer-by told her where she was and she was able to phone her sister for a pick up.

Yellow Cab’s response was to apologize to the woman, reprimand (but not fire) the driver, and offer the woman $100 in fare vouchers. According to Jack Bewley, co-owner of Yellow Cab, the cab company’s GPS system showed that the driver was never far from the woman.

I guess that’s supposed to make things OK—the loving and caring cabbie stayed nearby presumably to watch out for the woman’s safety. Mr. Bewley’s final word on the matter, “I think that we have done what we could to try to resolve the problem.”

I scream “bull shit!” This situation and its “resolution” are completely offensive and unacceptable. In a city with a piss poor public transportation system, how are handicapped people supposed to lead independent lives if they are at risk of being victimized not only by individual drivers but also by the organizations those drivers represent. In my opinion, the driver involved in this case should be fired and quite possibly charged with abuse. Yellow Cab owes this woman far more than $100 in vouchers and they owe all people in the North Texas area a far stronger statement regarding personal safety while using their services.

I can only imagine how utterly frightened and utterly humiliated this blind woman must have felt. I am pissed off about this story. I’m writing to Mr. Bewely and to Yellow Cab, and I would urge anyone in the North Texas area to do the same. In addition, while it is fairly rare that I take a cab in my home city, it is not unheard of. To that end, I will boycott Yellow Cab and urge others to do the same until Yellow Cab makes a more reasonable and appropriate response. Please partner with me in this boycott.

You can write to Yellow Cab via their website here.

Or at their mailing address:

1610 S Ervay St
Dallas, TX 75215

How I Spent Thanksgiving

Running the 8 mile Dallas Turkey Trot with 30,000 other people.

It was the best part of the day.

Time: 1:07
Pace: 8:27/mile
Position: 150 out of 332 (in my age/sex group who ran the 8 mile race)
Overall Position: 1274 out of 4239 (officially registered runners in the 8 mile race)

Next stop, Too Cold to Hold, 15K on 19 Jan. 2008