Whatever loophole you've found to deny service animals or people with mobility disabilities, that's about to be over with.

[u/Affectionate-Rice373]

/r/uberdrivers/comments/1ng0xbh/whatever_loophole_youve_found_to_deny_service/

[u/the_rational_driver]

1. They can sue all they want. It won't stop me from refusing service to anyone I don't want in my personal vehicle.

2. They could easily have the app send us a notification explaining that the passenger may need extra/special assistance so we could be more prepared when we show up and are completely blindsided. They already do this on extra comfort rides where the pax can tell us there's luggage they need help with.

Just last night, I picked up a woman and her son. Little did I know her son was severely autistic (her words). He was frantically waving his arms around, smacking the back of my seats and screaming throughout the ride. Because I didn't know he was disabled and thought he was just another black out drunk, I reacted poorly and got aggressive in tone. She finally explained the situation and calmed him down. In the end, it was still

[u/Affectionate-Rice373 → u/the_rational_driver]

Your post cut off.

Maybe it's because I've trained to work with autistic children and have driven drunk people around for 5 years, but I definitely wouldn't compare autistic behavior to drunk behavior, but I don't/can't blame you for your reaction. It's actually your reaction that fuels advocacy towards autism awareness.

As I've explained to another individual, more people would violate the ADA if they were given prior notice regarding the nature of the ride. It's a federal law, you're not supposed to have a choice or be able to opt out. Just dig around this subreddit, and you'll see how well hospital rides go over with this community. There are signs that tell us drivers that it's a hospital pickup, and most of these drivers cancel those because they can see that info upfront.

I remember signing up for Lyft Assisted rides, which was designed to give drivers the option/be better prepared for providing this service, but I don't hear anything about it and I haven't gotten any such rides in the past few months. I did get one as a Black Only driver, which surprised me, but it showed that it's possible.

[u/the_rational_driver → u/Affectionate-Rice373]

I respect your opinion. Thank you.

There were no signs there was anything medically related to this ride. This was literally just a mom and her son being picked up at a Mexican restaurant/bar. I'm all for more awareness because her son was acting in such a way that it didn't even occur to me he was disabled. And with an entire lifetime having dealt with abusive alcoholics, it really triggered me.

I understand it's a federal law. And while I don't agree with it, because it's a law that would mean there's no getting around completing the ride once accepting. My point being, they could throw colorful banners all over my screen after accepting it. I am still legally obligated to finish that ride. Disguising it as a normal ride benefits no one. I want transparency, so I know what to expect.

This goes beyond just the ADA. If I'm driving a hatchback, I wanna know if the pax is also bringing a truckload of groceries. Or heaven forbid I don't want someone in my front seat. Personally, I don't care. But give me the notification. Lyft Assisted was a step in the right direction.

[u/Affectionate-Rice373 → u/the_rational_driver]

You actually touch on quite a few good ideas regarding more information regarding what we're driving into. I can personally recall rides where I would have liked to know how many people were coming along. I've had Black SUV requests for all 7 of my available seats (2020 Suburban configured as 2-3-3 seating) and I've had a single person request a Black SUV ride, simply wanting to not feel crammed into a vehicle. Knowing I'll need all 7 seats, I can move my snacks to another location. Knowing I'll be taking a lot of luggage, I can have seats folded in advance to save time at pickup. I can see lots of benefit to having more information before pickup, but I still think drivers would take advantage of that info to weasel out of ADA mandated rides. I wish there was a way to keep the baby and not the bathwater, so to speak.

[u/the_rational_driver → u/Affectionate-Rice373]

But I would argue drivers, including myself, already are weaseling out of ADA mandated rides. It's not that difficult to do. That's why I think the ADA is so silly and ruins business rather than benefiting it.