Driving Miss Daisy - New Zealand
Overview
"Driving Miss Daisy provide a safe, reliable and friendly companion driving service offering more than just transportation. Our service is an opportunity for you or your family to stay connected to the community and maintain important interests and activities. We offer much more than a transport service – we'll collect you from your door, drive you to your destination and provide whatever help is needed before delivering you safely home again. All drivers are vetted by the NZ Police, first aid trained and hold a Passenger Licence with NZ Transport Agency, giving you and your family peace of mind."
Access Card notes
Driving Miss Daisy accept Total Mobility Scheme (TMS) cards. This gives cardholders a 50% discount on their fare. Contact details for local services can be obtained via the Driving Miss Daisy website.
Access guidance
- Our franchise owners and drivers are trained using our internal program and they also do several Unit Standard certificate courses which gives them further understanding of the needs of their clients. Many of our clients are unable to queue and stand, we always take our clients up to the door of the destination / venue or make arrangements prior to ensure we are able to get our clients as close as possible so they get access as priority and do not have to queue or stand. Our drivers take our clients into their appointments and ensure they have a chair to sit in the reception area while they wait for their appointment.
- Our franchise owners have wheelchair accessible vehicles with ramp and/or hoist access. Our drivers are trained and also completed Unit Standards - 1748 Transport passengers with impairments or disabilities & 15165 - Transport passengers in wheelchairs using total mobility vehicles equipped with hoist or ramp.
- As we are transport and companion service distances we can normally manage very easily to ensure we get our clients directly to door of their destination. Many of our franchise owners own wheelchairs which they use for example when taking to or collecting our less mobile clients from airports. This allows the client to move safely from the carpark into the terminal or vice versa.
- While we don't have premises ourselves our franchise owners and their drivers are all local to their areas and have very good knowledge of the suitable toilets in their areas which are available. Some of our franchisees and drivers use the toilet finder apps and have found them very handy.
- Many of our clients assistance dogs accompany them on journeys. We are very dog friendly and provide water and a bowl. For long distance journey's toilet stops are scheduled.
- Yes we have many carers accompany our clients. We don't not charge extra for this.
- We have many visually impaired clients and while we don't have anything within our vehicles our franchise owners and drivers do talk through and assist these clients to ensure they are taken directly into an appointment for example and taken to the reception area and checked in. Drivers go back to collect our clients from their appointments, assisting them back to the vehicle. This is an area we do need to look further into to see what might be suitable for our clients and in the vehicles.
- This is an area we are looking into. We don't have anything in place on a nationwide basis. We don't provide sign language interpreters, however we have some franchise owners and drivers that can sign.