Taxi Driver Online

It's a pleasure weirdo, by the way did you get any help for those anger/retaliation problems you were having, because if you did it hasn't worked, you could possibly be the worst personification of a taxi driver yet!

Dont really know if you are bad,mad or sad, possibly a combination of all three, whichever it is you are obviously a very unstable sort of person,now off you go and irritate someone else.

heres a piece from a director of a business who posted this

I have had to supervise the "Putting Up" of all the official signs around my
factory/Offices today. Where a company vehicle is used by more than one
person the vehicle also has to have a sign denoting This is a non smoking
vehicle. Now here is my problem. The company vehicle is classed as the work
place when used by more than 2 people. The act of smoking is a "Criminal
Offence" where prohibited. Enforcement is in the hands of the local
authority who are charged with enforcement. The structure of fines for
smoking is in line with the motoring fines. The questions I have asked the
local authority and the police are these.

1 Does the local authority have to power to stop a vehicle when they see a
breach of the law and a criminal act? Answer No.

2 Does the police have the power to stop a vehicle when they see a vehicle
with prohibitation signs being driven by a driver smoking and if so under
what section of the RTA would this be effected.? Reply don't be bloody daft
in any event enforcement is done by the local council

This legislation is floored before it gets going( Legally) and very little
thought has be used in the way it will be policed. The instruction Manual
tells you that you as the owner, manager etc you must enforce and if you get
a clout round the ear from a smoker who refuses to stop when told" call the
Police for assistance. This law is likely to increase the assault charges by
100%

The mandatory signs you need can apparently however be ordered from www.smokefreeengland.gov.uk for free.

_________________
Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

IMO there will be a small downturn in trade for a short time in the early period but punters will soon go back to doing what they always did. I don't think it will affect the late evening revellers trade at all. As far as the legislation is concerned, we can moan and groan all we like but the reality is it is going to happen and we may as well get prepared for it too.
There are lots of red herrings going around here with regard to drivers rights to smoke in the cab when no passengers in. Of course they are all red herrings as the truth is you cannot smoke in the vehicle at all, even on your day off. However, I aslo think it will almost be impossible for local authorities to police effectively, as they will probably not have anything like enough staff out there to do so. The one thing I really object to is that we as drivers are now basically being held legally responsible for policing legislation ourselves (our poor counterparts in my native Scotland have this on alcohol too!). perhaps some LA idiot can tell me how to stop six drunken yobs (as I get on a Saturday night in my MPV) without recourse to possibly a machine gun !!(joke of course!) This is yet another instance of "authority rule makers" being totally out of touch with the reality of the situation as always !! I do so hope the first driver charged takes it to court and common sense prevails and the charge is thrown out - well I can dream can't I?

yorkscot, there will be a massive down turn in trade, especially when its wet, and things will only get worst not better, so be prepared for very long periods of doing nowt,
That's what we have to put up with in Scotland especially in the rural area's and pubs and clubs have closed down due to lack of trade.
The only feckers that will be allowed to smoke in there club, will be the t wats that brought in the rule

Have only heard of one case of a driver being fined for letting a passenger light up, but that was his daughter so that's a bit different enforcement wise to the scenario you outline.

Quite a few drivers have been fined for smoking themselves, but if a driver is out late at night on a country road, for example, who's to stop him smoking?

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/in ... =962942006
(bottom half of the page)

Off-duty taxi driver fined after daughter lights up

A TAXI driver has revealed how an off-duty mercy mission for a desperate relative turned into a distressing and expensive tangle with Scotland's toughest smoking ban enforcers.

Cabbie Robert Cowan, from Tayport in Fife, was pulled over by two undercover health officers as he gave his daughter a lift in his private-hire taxi after her car had broken down.

The 61-year-old driver was landed with a £200 fine for allowing Amanda, a civil servant, to smoke in his taxi, even though he was off duty. They were also detained by the roadside for an hour, even though his 29-year-old daughter was on her way to pick up her child.

Cowan's case emerged during a Scotland on Sunday survey of how the ban on smoking in public places has been enforced in the first 100 days since it was introduced on March 26.

While most councils have taken a soft approach by issuing just a handful of warnings, Dundee and North Ayrshire have emerged as hardliners, handing out 21 fines between them.

The figures have also revealed that rather than pubs and clubs being the worst offenders, it is cabbies, van drivers and bus companies that are the surprise culprits.

Cowan, who is registered to work in east Fife, is thought to be one of the first taxi drivers to be handed a penalty for allowing a passenger to smoke in his cab.

Cowan was targeted by anti-smoking enforcers in Dundee as he tried to help his frantic daughter collect her son from a childminder after her car broke down.

To calm her frazzled nerves, Amanda lit a cigarette, unaware she was getting her father into trouble.

Although his Skoda Octavia is a registered taxi in Fife, it also doubles as his private family car. But under the legislation, smoking is banned at all times in any vehicle used as a workplace and by members of the public.

As the pair waited at traffic lights in the city centre, they were spotted by two council officials behind them in an unmarked car.

The officials ordered Cowan to pull over, fining him £200 and giving Amanda a £50 penalty.

Cowan said: "This ban was not supposed to be an infringement on civil liberties, but that is exactly what it was in my case.

"I told them that I was off duty and the car was being used as private transport, but they would not listen, even though my meter and my radio were both off.

"I was not aware that the ban applied all the time in private-hire taxis. I held up my hands to allowing my daughter to smoke and said it was through ignorance that I had done it.

"The enforcers seemed like they were just on a power trip.

They don't have the power to detain anyone, but they kept us at the side of the road for nearly an hour, even though Amanda needed to pick up her son from the childminder."

Cowan and his daughter both appealed against their fines, and a hearing held by Dundee City Council's environmental health department in May agreed to withdraw Amanda's fine and issue a warning instead.

But Cowan was told he would still have to pay his penalty as he should have been aware of how the legislation affected taxis.

Since the ban came in to force, enforcement officers have found 124 cases of the law being breached and 32 fixed penalty notices have been given out to premises and individuals.

Environmental health officers have also received 570 tip-offs from the public about people breaking the ban, and inspectors have visited 23,000 premises

BTW, it was a saloon taxi he was driving, not a "private hire taxi" (whatever that is!!) as in the article above, and was certainly not a PH car as reported in a trade magazine.

What "majority?" Only 23% of the adult population (are stupid enough to continue to) smoke.

_________________
Former taxi driver

And there are fairies at the bottom of my garden.

_________________
Grandad,

As the pair waited at traffic lights in the city centre, they were spotted by two council officials behind them in an unmarked car.

The officials ordered Cowan to pull over, fining him £200 and giving Amanda a £50 penalty.

Skippy - is this council specific or nationwide legislation in Scotland ? Any chance of asking your friend as the Renfrewshire gestapo are out in force at the moment and pulling drivers in an unmarked saloon car....

Fraz1975, These rules apply nation wide in Scotland.

1 All enforcement officers must be in full uniform and have ID.
2, There car or van must display the environment stickers.
3, They cannot pull you over.
4, They cannot detain you against your will.
5, You do not have to give them your name or address
6, There must be 2 of them before they can issue any fine.
7, It is only a civil matter not a criminal one.
8 The police will only get involved if they are malkyed

If they do not comply with any of the above, tell them to go forth and multiply,

Cheers Skippy

Got done today but no markings on the car, no uniform and never showed me any ID. One never even came past the rear of my car where he just shouted out my regi number to clipboard man and then took a call on his mobile before heading back to their car

Additionally they have stated on the penalty notice that I was in my PH TAXI.

Now as far as I am aware I drive and operate a Private Hire Car and a Taxi is a completely seperate legal entity. Therefore to be smoking in something that does not legally exist is quite an achievement.

You reckon I should appeal ?

Dam right appeal, the Scottish Parliament laid down the rules for the councils,
Did they pull you over or just creep up on you???????

Crept up. Was sitting parked up reading the paper, engine off windows down. Fag out the window, had I had windows up and tipping ash all over the inside of the car they would not have been able to see I even had a fag.