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Section 18 - Passenger Transport Services Regulations 2023 - Duties of drivers | Zoe

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Passenger Transport Services Regulations 2023

18Duties of drivers

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18 Duties of drivers

(1) The following are the duties of a driver of a vehicle providing a passenger transport service:

(a) not to behave in an offensive manner in the vehicle or in the vicinity of the vehicle;

(b) not to intentionally interfere, or intentionally attempt to interfere, with the comfort or safety of any person;

(c) to give reasonable assistance to assist a passenger to enter or exit the vehicle that the driver is operating in the course of providing the service, including a passenger who is in a wheelchair or using another mobility aid;

(d) not to set down a passenger at a place other than the destination nominated by the passenger unless –

(i) the passenger was set down elsewhere –

(A) pursuant to a direction given under Part 4 ; or

(B) for reasons of safety, in an emergency or on other reasonable grounds; or

(ii) in the case of a regular passenger service, the destination nominated by the passenger was not on the route of the regular passenger service; or

(iii) in the case of a regular passenger service having designated stopping places for the picking up and setting down of passengers, the passenger was set down at the stop nearest to the nominated destination; or

(iv) in the case of a school bus service being provided under a contract with the Secretary, the passenger, being a schoolchild, was set down elsewhere in accordance with the terms of that contract;

(e) not to discriminate against a person with a disability who has an assistance animal, as defined in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 of the Commonwealth, by refusing to transport the assistance animal in the vehicle, except in accordance with section 54A of that Act;

(f) not to cause or allow a passenger on the vehicle –

(i) who is travelling in a standing position to obstruct an entrance or exit on the vehicle; or

(ii) to travel in a standing position to the danger or discomfort of another passenger or the driver;

(3) The following are the duties of a taxi driver when providing a taxi service:

(a) to either commence or conclude, or commence and conclude, a hiring within the taxi area specified on the taxi licence under which the taxi that the driver is operating is providing the service;

(b) when the taxi that the driver is operating is in a taxi zone, to stand the taxi in the foremost vacant space within that zone;

(c) not to leave the taxi that the driver is operating unattended in a taxi zone without reasonable grounds for doing so;

(d) not to prevent another taxi from leaving a taxi zone;

(e) not to advise a person that the person is required to hire the taxi standing in the foremost space within the taxi zone;

(f) subject to regulation 20 , not to advise a person that a wheelchair-accessible taxi, remote area wheelchair-accessible taxi or substitute wheelchair-accessible taxi is not able to be hired without a wheelchair passenger;

(g) not to operate a taxi in a taxi zone if the required equipment is not installed in or on the taxi;

(h) to start the taximeter installed in the taxi that the driver is operating at the commencement of the hiring period and not before;

(i) to stop the taximeter installed in the taxi that the driver is operating, or operate it to hold the reading constant, at the conclusion of the hiring period;

(j) to ensure that a wheelchair carried in a wheelchair-accessible taxi that the driver is operating is restrained in the wheelchair restraint assembly installed in the taxi;

(k) not to permit a person to ride in or on the taxi that the driver is operating without the consent of the hirer of the taxi;

(l) in undertaking a hiring, to travel by either the route nominated by the passenger or, if no route is nominated, the most direct route that may reasonably be used from the point at which the taxi was hired to the destination stated by the passenger;

(m) not to operate a taxi while the taximeter installed in that taxi is displaying a fare other than that specified, by a taxi fare order, to apply to the taxi;

(n) not to charge a passenger –

(i) more than the fare displayed in accordance with paragraph (m) ; or

(ii) a fare at a concession rate if the passenger cannot show evidence that the passenger is a member of a transport concession scheme administered by the Department, or an equivalent transport scheme of another State or a Territory;

(o) to stop the taximeter for any period during travel during which the taxi is delayed because of any of the following causes:

(i) a lack of fuel for the taxi;

(ii) a mechanical breakdown of the taxi;

(iii) a traffic accident involving the taxi;

(iv) the lawful closure of a bridge, if the closure was publicly notified in a newspaper before the hiring period;

(v) the directions or actions of a police officer who is investigating the commission or possible commission of an offence involving the driver or the taxi;

(vi) an event that the driver, with reasonable foresight, could have prevented or avoided;

(p) to reset the taximeter by removing the record of the hire period at the conclusion of the hire period.