Plymouth taxi firm caught out parking on zig-zag lines and crossings
A TAXI firm has again been criticised by other motorists for its dodgy parking habits.
In November last year The Herald reported on the Taxifirst driver who, in an attempt to make life easier for an elderly woman, parked on a pedestrian crossing at Plympton car park opposite the Co-operative store. Plymouth City Council said it had issued a warning letter to the driver while a Taxifirst spokesman said the driver had “been told not to do it again and he won’t.”
On Monday The Herald reported on how neighbourhood officers in the west of the city were carrying out an operation this week targeting poor parking by parents on the school run.
One Herald reader has now highlighted how taxi firm Taxifirst has been repeatedly caught out parking on the pavement or even on the yellow zig-zag lines outside Goosewell school in Goosewell Park Road, Plymstock.
Another reader found one of the firm’s drivers had again parked on the zebra crossing at the Plympton car park, mere feet from the last incident.
A spokeswoman for Taxifirst said: “We have already seen the pictures of our cars at Goosewell school as they’ve been sent to us and put online by the person who took the pictures.
“We have spoken to the driver who parked on the zig-zag lines, because that is not right.
“However, parking is not always a purely black and white issue.
“People do not live as local to their schools as they did in the past. Some have to rely on public transport and a lot of working parents rely on taxis to get their children to school.
“We also work closely with Plymouth City Council transporting vulnerable children. We have to make sure they get in safe and leave safely.”
A Plymouth City Council spokesperson said: “TaxiFirst are one of two taxi companies which we contact to provide home to school transport routes daily.
“Our contract with the taxi company stipulates that drivers must drive in accordance with the Highway Code and this includes when stationary whilst picking up and dropping off school passengers.
“In most cases a school will usually have an allocated collection and drop off site for the provision of home to school transport. Where there is not a suitable location we will always work with the school and transport service to find an alternative solution.”
Read more: http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Plymout ... z2sX5ViKJH