Echuca taxi company charged after wheelchair passenger deaths

On February 6, 2021, a 63-year-old woman died after her wheelchair tipped backwards while she was travelling in a taxi in Echuca.

On June 28, 2021, a 75-year-old man was travelling in a taxi in Echuca when his wheelchair tipped backwards.

He was taken to hospital with a fractured sternum, where he died from complications on July 5, 2021.

It is alleged that in both incidents the company failed to provide and maintain a safe system of work and failed to train taxi drivers in line with the manufacturer’s instructions for the wheelchair tie down system.

The matter is listed for a filing hearing at the Echuca Magistrates' Court on February 28.