Taxi Driver Online

I don’t know a cab driver who hasn’t at some time or other taken a fare for a lot less than the meter fare. We live in a modern age where the law of contract and agreement are an every day part of life and therefore contract between passenger and driver should be binding whether or not the fare amounts to more or less than the journey being undertaken?

If a person asks you take them from London to Heathrow for 20 pounds and you say yes then that contract should be binding on both parties. Likewise if you were approached and asked to go to Heathrow for 200 pounds then that contract should also be binding, regardless of whether it finishes inside or outside your licensed area. So we are talking about the law of “agreed” contract and defining it to the way we work and the way the prospective passenger wishes to undertake the hire. Therefore the following modern proposal on contract to section 55 of the 1847 act is designed to put the ball firmly in the court of both driver and hirer. Not withstanding the fact that a driver cannot charge more than the fare prescribed in any bylaw for a journey that starts and ends inside the prescribed distance, except in the circumstances outlined below.

Amendment to section 55 is as follows but I need to go over the other sections appertaining to fares in order to clarify the detail in each section. For those with sharp eyes you will notice that I have also inserted the words "reasonable cause" in the section.

55 Agreement to pay more than the legal fare

Any agreed contractual arrangement entered into by the hirer and driver, to pay a specified fee for any journey undertaken whether starting or ending inside the prescribed distance shall be binding on both parties. Any driver undertaking a hire under an agreed contractual arrangement may require and demand payment of the contractual fee before commencement of any journey. Such contractual agreements shall not require the taximeter to be engaged. Any bylaw so enacted under section 68 of this or any other act shall not interfere with the contractual agreement defined by this section. Any hire undertaken without a pre contractual agreement shall be subject to any fare structure set out in any bylaws allowed by this act. Any driver without "reasonable cause" who demands more than the fare allowed under any bylaw or this special act shall be guilty of an offence and subject to a fine not exceeding [level 3 on the standard scale]
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The current section 55

No agreement whatever made with the driver, or with any person having or pretending to have the care of any such hackney carriage, for the payment of more than the fare allowed by any byelaw made under this or the special Act, shall be binding on the person making the same; and any such person may, notwithstanding such agreement, refuse, on discharging such hackney carriage, to pay any sum beyond the fare allowed as aforesaid; and if any person actually pay to the driver of any such hackney carriage, whether in pursuance of any such agreement or otherwise, any sum exceeding the fare to which such driver was entitled, the person paying the same shall be entitled, on complaint made against such driver before any justice of the peace, to recover back the sum paid beyond the proper fare, and moreover such driver shall be liable to a penalty for such exaction not exceeding [level 3 on the standard scale]; and in default of the repayment by such driver of such excess of fare, or of payment of the said penalty, such justice shall forthwith commit such driver to prison, there to remain for any time not exceeding one month, unless the said excess of fare and the said penalty be sooner paid.

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We've all been in situations where we've been asked to wait while a passenger conducts some business dealings or similar, only to find out after half an hour or so that they have gone missing and won't be returning to pay for the fare. We are also accustomed to being asked to wait in a restricted area, or on double yellow lines. In other words waiting should be at the discretion of the Taxi driver and not the other way around? Any hirer not informing a driver before the journey commences that he may be required to wait for a period of time, should amount to any reasonable cause for the driver not to wait.

In much the same way a driver is not obliged to undertake a journey outside the prescribed distance I have placed the same emphasis on the discretion to wait. In short, requiring to wait will be an agreement between both parties in the same way a contractual hire is undertaken therefore giving discretion to the driver who may or may not be in agreement to wait?

Deposits for waiting are a must and current legislation does give you some rights as to what you are legally allowed to do, however I've fine tuned the section so that waiting and the requirement of deposits comes under the discretion of the taxi driver.
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57 Deposit to be made for carriages required to wait When any hackney carriage is hired and taken to any place, and the driver thereof is required by the hirer there to wait with such hackney carriage, such driver may before the journey commences demand and receive from the hirer the fare for driving to such place, and also a sum equal to the fare of such carriage for the period, as a deposit over and above such fare, during which he is required to wait as aforesaid, or if no fare for time be fixed by the byelaws, then a sum must be fixed under a contractual mutual agreement, Any request to wait by such hirer on the driver of any hackney carriage shall be at the discretion of the hackney carriage driver and such discretion should take account any illegal stopping places controlled by road traffic regulations in force at the time, a driver may at his own discretion discharge himself from the hire the moment the waiting period exceeds the payment deposited by the hirer, the driver shall not be required to inform the hirer on the expiry of such deposit, any deposit shall be accounted for by such driver when such hackney carriage is finally discharged by such hirer; and if any such driver who has received any such deposit as aforesaid refuses to wait as aforesaid, or goes away or permits such hackney carriage to be driven or taken away without the consent of such hirer, before the expiration of the time for which such deposit was made, or if such driver on the final discharge of such hackney carriage refuse duly to account for such deposit, every such driver so offending shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding [level 1 on the standard scale].
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Current legislation

57 Deposit to be made for carriages required to wait When any hackney carriage is hired and taken to any place, and the driver thereof is required by the hirer there to wait with such hackney carriage, such driver may demand and receive from such hirer his fare for driving to such place, and also a sum equal to the fare of such carriage for the period, as a deposit over and above such fare, during which he is required to wait as aforesaid, or if no fare for time be fixed by the byelaws, then the sum of [7p] for every half hour during which he is so required to wait, which deposit shall be accounted for by such driver when such hackney carriage is finally discharged by such hirer; and if any such driver who has received any such deposit as aforesaid refuses to wait as aforesaid, or goes away or permits such hackney carriage to be driven or taken away without the consent of such hirer, before the expiration of the time for which such deposit was made, or if such driver on the final discharge of such hackney carriage refuse duly to account for such deposit, every such driver so offending shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding [level 1 on the standard scale].
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This section shows the absurdity of current legislation. It relates to horse drawn carriages so I have inserted the following words.

"This section shall not relate to motorised hackney carriages."
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62 Penalties in case of carriages being unattended at places of public resort, "This section shall not relate to motorised hackney carriages." If the driver of any such hackney carriage leave it in any street or at any place of public resort or entertainment, whether it be hired or not, without some one proper to take care of it, any constable may drive away such hackney carriage and deposit it, and the horse or horses harnessed thereto, at some neighbouring livery stable or other place of safe custody; and such driver shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding [level 1 on the standard scale] for such offence; and in default of payment of the said penalty upon conviction, and of the expences of taking and keeping the said hackney carriage and horse or horses, the same, together with the harness belonging thereto, or any of them, shall be sold by order of the justice before whom such conviction is made, and after deducting from the produce of such sale the amount of the said penalty, and of all costs and expences, as well of the proceedings before such justice as of the taking, keeping, and sale of the said hackney carriage, and of the said horse or horses and harness, the surplus (if any) of the said produce shall be paid to the proprietor of such hackney carriage.
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The problem there, as we all know, is will it be abused by the bad guys?

Or will the bad guys be able to use that as a get out?

But it is madness that your other half can't use your car for social reason.

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IDFIMH

Maybe a copy would suffice.

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IDFIMH

In the view of the driver, the customer has/is:

Foul and abusive, actions or manner.

In a drunken or drugged-up state.

Insufficient funds.

Queue jumped the rank.

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IDFIMH

The problem with that is the bad guys will become very rich.

We have a problem where a large number of drivers charge, in my view, exorbitant fares late at night to folks going out-of-town.

Yes the law allows it, but I'm not sure 'fit and proper' folks should charge £90 for a fare that would go less than £50 on the meter.

IMO the last thing we need is for those bad guys to charge crazy fares within the district.

But there's merit in allowing drivers to charge a bit more for large amounts of luggage via an estate car request, or for a 6/7/8-seater.

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IDFIMH

The amendment doesn't give a driver the right to negotiate a fare undertaken within the prescribed distance, it just simplifies the section in respect of someone offering you a payment either more or less than the normal fare.

If someone entered a cab on a cab rank and said I'll give you ten pound to take me down the road even though you would be obliged to take him under normal circumstances you are not going to say sorry, I have to put the meter on and charge you whats on the meter. Thats what is meant by a contractual fare, alternately if someone got in a cab on a rank and said I want to go to such and such an address but I only have such and such an amount and you decide to take them even though you know the fare is more than they have on them, then that is also a contractual fare.

If a contractual fare is undertaken there is no need to put the meter on although the one thing I have a problem with is if the passenger changes his mind and decides to go somewhere else. or even curtails the journey after a few hundred yards or so? Perhaps the meter should be engaged just in case that scenario presented itself. However the main point is to simplify these types of contractual agreements.

Regards

JD

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I don't see how bad boys can become rich, the law doesn't alter in respect of undertaking a hire. A hire must be accepted unless a driver has reasonable cause to refuse it. For instance a driver cannot negotiate a fare when plying for hire, under this amendment he can only agree to accept an offer made by a passenger whether it might be more or less than the actual fare. Obviously if the fare ends outside the district then the driver has a right to refuse it unless he is happy with the arrangement made but that is the present case.



As you say that is the nature of the law and it has been so since 1847, whether we like it or not that is not going to change. On the other side of the coin there are many people who don't charge exorbitant sums for out of town journeys. We have private hire pirates in Manchester who are renowned for charging more than double the fare of a black cab and some punters actually pay it. We have black cab drivers who also rip off punters regardless of where they are going? There will always be unscrupulous people who rip off punters but the amendment proposed doesn't alter a thing in respect of fare charges.

Regards

JD

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In that case this amendment passes it's first reading.

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IDFIMH

If you were to give your car to a drunk and allowed him to drive away and he killed someone. would you not partly be to blame .

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

Maybe we should also be trying to sort out the small PSV mess as well.

Making sure all drivers of PSV vehicles need a PSV driver's license, would be a good start.

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IDFIMH

If you give your car to someone in order that they can save a life, would you not be worthy of praise?

And before anyone says it's an inappropriate analogy, you started it

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

I think private hire should be allowed to work whatever area they like.
If a vehicle is safe and licensed.
If a driver is safe and licensed.

Then what does it matter if a operator is based in an adjoining area?
The clowns from the GMB think Brighton is there little fiefdom.

Knowing where to go is a good reason to stay in your area.

If you want to work elsewhere. Do the local brief.

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Unmet demand you're having a laugh