Taxi Driver Online

Leicester Mercury

November 3, 2007 Saturday

Taxi-drivers able to carry on working

Four taxi-drivers threatened with losing their cab licences have been allowed to carry on working.

Almost 100 taxis were inspected in two spot-checks by the city council earlier this month.

Twelve cars were taken off the road afterwards due to faults found which included brake, steering and suspension problems.

Council officers asked for four of those vehicle licences to be revoked, as the cars were more than eight years old.

However, councillors decided that the cabbies could keep their licences after all.

Kashmir Singh, branch secretary of the RMT union, which represented the drivers, said he was pleased with the result.

He said: "Both the city council's licensing committee and the Ministry of Transport examiner acknowledged that the faults found on the vehicles were actually advisory faults which were not noticeable to any driver and were all easily repairable.

"All drivers had immaculate service records which were produced before the committee showing their commitment to keeping their taxis safe."

Mr Singh said drivers were worried about the threat of losing their licences, which had led to some avoiding spot checks.

He said: "Drivers have not previously fled spot-checks knowing their vehicles are unsafe but have done so due to overzealous testers looking for faults.

"During spot-checks drivers have felt harassed, whole taxi ranks have been blocked by police vehicles, and drivers were followed for miles, sometimes while carrying passengers.

"Taxi drivers encourage the checking of vehicles to ensure their safety for the public. However the methods the licensing enforcement officers employ do not put public safety first."

The four drivers who faced losing their vehicle licences have not been named. The RMT has now drawn up a "taxi charter" explaining safety checks for taxis.

A council spokesman said: "Members took into account the nature of vehicle defects and the likelihood of them recurring. This was taken into account along with vehicles' histories and the trustworthiness of the operators.

"They came to the conclusion that these vehicles were likely to remain safe in the future, and to therefore not revoke the licences."
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