The Valladolid taxi driver who did not take a pregnant woman to the hospital is sought | Spain

The childbirth in a woman’s street last Saturday in Valladolid has caused outrage and doubts in the taxi sector because a guild partner refused to transfer the parents to the hospital when the mother broke waters. The couple left the cinema when, suddenly, she began to feel contractions and the man requested a taxi to move to the hospital as soon as possible. Both were putting the packages in the trunk of the vehicle when, as they reported to El Norte de Castilla, the driver repaired that the parturient was giving birth and urged them to leave the car. Several police officers, with the help of an ambulance, contributed to the birth to reach properly. The taxi drivers’ guild has criticized the attitude of his partner, whose identity is still unknown, while the Sector Ordinance in Valladolid points out that this assumption is not a reason to prevent admission to a client.

The events happened on the afternoon of last Saturday, May 17, around a Valladolid Shopping Center. The couple left the cinema when the pregnant woman felt contractions and proceeded to ask for a taxi to immediately go to the hospital. But as soon as the taxi driver realized the state of the woman, he declined to transfer them and left them lying. The Municipal Police has celebrated the reaction of the agents who, supported by the toilets and until they appeared by anonymous pedestrians, allowed the baby to arrive healthy to the world, despite the fact that the family had to be treated in the middle of the street, since the lighting occurred near a zebra crossing and with abundant traffic in the vicinity.

The president of Radio Taxi Valladolid, Óscar Ordóñez, says he does not know which companion by profession is involved in this story, however, he affirms that “the police have already contacted him” and that “does not belong to Radio Taxi.” This means that the driver can come from another municipality around Valladolid. Ordonez laments what happened, but understands that perhaps the pilot “felt fear, nerves or caught him badly, he did badly to leave the place of the facts.” The taxi driver admits that these extraordinary events arouse reactions not always correct “and can happen to anyone”, although the guild is accustomed to risky transfers in case of injured or pregnant.

The proceeding of the Valladolid taxi driver, beyond the moral reflections, clashes against the Municipal Ordinance of Valladolid that regulates the operation of these vehicles. According to article 28 of these municipal regulations, the driver can only refuse to transfer the user if he were involved in criminal activities such as a police prosecution or his potential commission of irregular facts. Taxi drivers can also reject a career if the client is under effect of alcohol or drugs, unless these circumstances carry “serious or imminent danger” for the individual. In that case, a health center must be addressed or referred. Both for this sector and for any citizen, not helping a person who needs it, as is the case of a pregnant woman who is giving birth, means committing a crime of omission of the duty of relief.