A coroner has found that a Hobart man’s death could have been prevented if a wheelchair-accessible taxi was available to pick him up.
78-year-old Robert William East passed away in March of last year due to a head injury he sustained after crashing his wheelchair while traveling along a gravel footpath.
Coroner Olivia McTaggart said East had been drinking at Berriedale’s Grenada Tavern in the hours leading up to the incident and had requested a wheelchair taxi through 13CABS to take him home.
However, after waiting for 45 minutes of the estimated hour and a half waiting time, East decided to attempt the 2 kilometre journey home on his own.
McTaggart said East had almost turned into his street when he tried to navigate a gravel path and lost control of his wheelchair, veering off the path and ending up 15 to 20 metres down a bank.
He passed away in the Royal Hobart Hospital two days later, with Coroner McTaggart saying “he would not have died if a wheelchair accessible taxi had arrived to collect him within the 45 minute period in which he waited”.
She suggested more incentives be put in place for qualified drivers to offer wheelchair-accessible taxi services.
The government has responded by saying that they have introduced changes to enhance incentives for wheelchair-capable taxis and their drivers, including establishing a minimum number of trips per month for wheelchair-accessible taxis and increasing subsidies for wheelchair passengers.
