The Taxi Accessibility Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations apply to certain taxis which are Class B licensed taxis.

A taxi which is granted a Class B taxi licence on or after 31^st May 2016 and was not licensed under Article 61 of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 at any time during the period of 12 months ending on the date these Regulations come into operation, must meet the requirements set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.

The Regulations also allow for alternative means of compliance as set out in regulation 4.

The Regulations, which are made under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, are intended to ensure that disabled people can use such taxis in safety and without unreasonable difficulty and, in the case of wheelchair users, can do so while remaining in their wheelchairs.

They are also intended to ensure that disabled people are carried in these vehicles in safety and reasonable comfort.

The detailed technical requirements to be met by regulated taxis are contained in the Schedule which sets out wheelchair accessibility requirements and general accessibility requirements.

Those provisions deal with such matters as wheelchair spaces (paragraph 2), boarding lifts and ramps (paragraph 3), entrances and exits (paragraph 4), communication devices (paragraph 5), steps (paragraphs 6 and 7) and handholds and handrails (paragraph 8).

An Explanatory Memorandum and a Regulatory Impact Assessment have been produced and copies are available from Vehicle Policy Branch, Department of the Environment, Clarence Court, 10 – 18 Adelaide Street, Town Parks, Belfast BT2 8GB or online at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr.

These Regulations have been notified to the European Commission pursuant to European Parliament and Council Directive 98/34/EC of 22^nd June 1998 (O.J. No. L204, 21.7.98, p. 37) as amended by European Parliament and Council Directive 98/48/EC of 20^th July 1998 (O.J. No. L217, 5.8.98, p. 18) laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations and of rules on Information Society Services.

Copies of the British Standard publication referred to in these Regulations may be obtained from any of the outlets operated by the British Standards Institution, or by post from the British Standards Institution at Standards House, 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL. The 1999 Annual Book at ASTM Standards is available from the American Society for Testing and Materials, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428, USA