Taxi Driver Online

Taxi boss is ‘lost for words’ after drivers checked on Saturday night



Taxi bosses have moaned about the timing of legal council safety checks

On a busy Saturday night in Scarborough, you wouldn’t expect too much trouble flagging down a taxi.

Hundreds of drivers are roaming the roads as they compete for fares, in a trade that many say is becoming harder and harder to make ends meet.

And it’s this ongoing struggle that has riled taxi firm bosses, after the council took the “truly stupid” step of hauling vehicles off the road during the heart of Saturday night.

In total, safety checks were carried out on 26 vehicles between 8pm and 10pm on Saturday February 15, with the councillor at the helm of the snap inspections branding the operation a success – and vowing to have more in future.

However, with thousands of revellers braving stormy conditions for a night on the tiles, as well as an influx of visitors for the annual Coastival festival, a taxi boss said they are “baffled” at the timing of the legal checks.

“Here is a Saturday, already the busiest night of the week, but with an extra 4,000 people in town for Coastival, and they decide to take my drivers off the road – I was lost for words,” said the business owner, who has asked not to be named.

“Saturday is really the only night of the week drivers have a chance of making decent money.

“There really is just no logic in it.”

But the council claims there is, and that it needs to ensure that vehicles are not only fit for the road, but that they are also following the law.

The authority points to the results of the inspections, which found a number of drivers to be in breach of their licenses by failing to display or wear any ID, with the council admitting it is looking at taking further action against the culprits.

“I am pleased with the way the operation has been conducted,” said Cllr Brian Watson, Scarborough Borough Council Licensing Committee Chairman.

“We take the safety of the travelling public very seriously and it is important that licensed drivers adhere to the law with regard to vehicle maintenance, tax and insurance to ensure the safety of all road users.”

And he added: “We shall be organising more snap inspections in the near future and we will be taking firm action where vehicles are found not to be fully roadworthy.”

Overall, the council says that approximately two thirds of the vehicles checked out at the Dean Road council depot were given a clean bill of health or a simple advisory notice.

But 11 drivers were told that their vehicle may fail its next MOT, mainly for dodgy lights – although two cars were found to have illegal tires.

Scarborough Council says the results of the Saturday night inspection compare “favourably” to previous spot checks.

And Una Faithfull, Scarborough Borough Council’s Licensing Manager, said weekend checks had been carried out before, adding: “The timing of inspections largely relates to the availability of all the different agencies that have to be involved and therefore the time slots we can work to are limited.

“The detailed inspections were carried out as quickly as possible to allow drivers to return to work and all cars were inspected well before 10pm, as we appreciate after that time is usually the busiest for drivers.”

The operation was carried out by the council, with involvement from other bodies such as North Yorkshire Police.

Sgt Peter Wood, North Yorkshire Police Roads Policing Group, added: “The results of the operation show the value of partnership working to increase the safety of road users, in this particular instance ensuring that the taxi and private hire vehicles operating in the Scarborough area are safe and compliant with regulations.

“This has the benefit of increasing the professional standing of the 
vehicles, operators and drivers, and making them as safe as possible for their customers.

“It is pleasing to see that only a small number of vehicles had any safety issues, however it is a reminder for all concerned that they should not become complacent with vehicle safety, and to ensure that regular safety checks are carried out and any defects remedied straight away.”

source: http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/new ... -1-6466005

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

I take it that the reporter is American!

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Grandad,

68 Fitness of hackney carriages and private hire vehicles Any authorised officer of the council in question or any constable shall have power at all reasonable times to inspect and test, for the purpose of ascertaining its fitness, any hackney carriage or private hire vehicle licensed by a district council, or any taximeter affixed to such a vehicle, and if he is not satisfied as to the fitness of the hackney carriage or private hire vehicle or as to the accuracy of its taximeter he may by notice in writing require the proprietor of the hackney carriage or private hire vehicle to make it or its taximeter available for further inspection and testing at such reasonable time and place as may be specified in the notice and suspend the vehicle licence until such time as such authorised officer or constable is so satisfied:

It does state reasonable times.

The reason that operator is a tad miffed isn't because of a few of his cars being pulled, but the fact that a load more went home early not wanting to be pulled.

Same happens down here, the council come out a checking and it's boom time for those that have nothing to worry about.

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IDFIMH

What's with this wearing of badges, as long as the badge is in the cab in full view that's all that's needed, one driver up here was wearing his on one of those lanyards with a clip for the badge, and the guy behind him grabbed it and nearly strangled him with it.
That's why you should never wear a tie unless its a clip on one
my badge is blue tacked to the top of the windscreen in full view

Our conditions state that the badge must be worn. Drivers have been hauled before the LO for just having it on view in the car. My wife and son both use lanyards but they unclip at the back if pulled. All the kids at the local school have access passes on lanyards, they unclip at the back when pulled. He needs to get a proper lanyard.

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Grandad,

We have two.

One to attach to the vehicle, and one to attach to the person.

Basically its the law.

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IDFIMH

Correct the jungle telegraph soon goes out, That licencing are in town and the dodgy cars disappear for a few hours then pop up later

And the thicko LO say there,s not many cars out tonight its Saterday

The Council knew all the motors were going to be out, hence the pull.