Taxi Driver Online

It seems to me that the onus is always put upon the "taxi driver"(or Licensed Private Hire Driver) without any regard for the safety or well-being of either party. Just because somebody is licensed to do a job of work does not compel or require an individual to act beyond their physical capability.I would be interested to find anything from HSE in relation to this matter.

O.K.
SO the council will now decide during license applications on your physical capability, and when the screams go up it was you that raised it

there are officers that come on here, please be sensible, someone will lose thier license with your loose talk.

Either there is something in the water in W.Y. or you need phsychyatric therapy. OK . (Ravenstone Boy) xxxx

Anyway, I thought people only lost their licence for misdemenours. !!!!! If it werefor "loose talk" we would all be struggling !!

Yet another case of

yes thats right

its ok isnt it when you can be the trades union rep of an area whilst having a safety net of a lucrative line to sell.

you can afford to be as irresponsible as you are doing knowing you can close the whole trade down and you will survive

I will tell people on here though Mick, you are frightened of an open debate in front of your own members.

and you do tell lies, and you do break promises.

The real problem here is that the DDA is in place to stop people with disabilities being discriminated against.
When a driver has an exemption from carrying wheelchairs that driver should themself be considered as disabled.
To say that a council would remove the licence of anyone because they would be unable to do their job BECAUSE OF A DISABILITY would be very difficult to argue in court.
I think Bristol would be wrongly advised to impliment these proposals as if it was me who had a legitimate bad back which mean't I couldn't safely load and unload a wheelchair passenger but could undertake very other aspect of my job I would argue in court that I had lost my livlihhod because of the councils contraventions of the DDA.

how do you lot think these things up?
scraping the barrel

At least someone has put his views across, instead of the usual negative stupidity from you.

what on earth do you mean?
its you thats being negative by giving reason after reason on no.

I am coming up with solution after solution, thats positive

jesus you get even worse!

The point raised by first guest is quite interesting, how can they make a disabled person, in terms of a driver with a bad back, load heavy weights against doctor's advice, in the name of the DDA.

I don't think that is scraping the old barrel one little bit.

_________________
IDFIMH

what its about Susex is equal opportunity for all.

we have quite a few drivers who have bad backs i help them all I can will do the disabled ect. but when its airport time they can lift heavy cases and manage the wheelchairs easily!

swinging the lead sussex swinging the lead.

Last Friday October the first, the final phase of the DDA came into force. Phase three is primarily about disabled access to shopping premises, work places and small businesses etc.

For some, the significant part about this phase of the act is that it brings into question the reasonableness in the cost of applying Disabled access.

Reasonable is what is stated in the act and as always the legislatures have put the onus on the courts to define what is reasonable.

The courts have the added burden to determine what is "reasonable and pragmatic" in terms of "Financial" commitment. For example, prohibited costs.

Prohibited costs will be deemed a reasonable excuse for not applying the DDA. The size of the organisation and its financial viability to make such adjustments in relation to their financial hardship is a consequence that will determine the outcome of any Judicial judgement.

For some in the Taxi trade this new application of the law should be watched very closely. Early test cases will no doubt bring about uniformity in what financial investment a small business or individual should reasonably make to comply with the DDA.

Those Taxi and private hire owners, who currently run saloon type vehicles and those owners in Authorities where the council have stipulated TX2 type vehicles only, should take special note of future DDA court cases.

I suppose some are wondering why this new phase of the DDA is significant to Taxi and Private hire drivers. The DDA in the future will no doubt place a greater financial burden on the private hire trade as it is now doing on the Taxi trade. It is estimated by the DFT that the financial burden of the DDA on the Taxi trade will be 640 million pounds year on year.

The application of what expenditure is reasonable for a small business or individual to make in order to comply with the DDA is of paramount importance. This especially applies to those owners who at the moment have vehicles that cost considerably less than the thirty grand it costs to purchase a TX2.

A financial burden is one that will either near Bankrupt a person or be so financially damaging that the expenditure would put that person out of business or at a significant disadvantage to his competitors. It may also mean that although a council may wish to implement a certain policy it will not be able to do so if it places a prohibited financial burden on the business concerned. Adding to that last comment it should be noted that where there are other vehicles of lesser cost that comply with the DDA a court of law would no doubt find it unreasonable for a Council to impose a greater financial burden on a small business or individual than is unduly necessary.

Taxi owners and associations throughout the UK should be looking very carefully at this new phase of the DDA. Districts which have in the past voiced concern over the high cost of implementing the DDA to rigid council specifications should take particular note.

I advise those districts throughout the UK who have in the past voiced concern over the financial consequences of applying the DDA to the level of investment which is demanded for a TX2, to get together and form a cohesive body to monitor the coming events.

Districts that immediately come to mind are Sunderland, Brighton and Kirklees to name just a few.

A cohesive body throughout the country could easily finance a court case to determine the level of financial burden that should reasonably be placed on a Taxi or Private hire owner, by a licensing Authority.

If you are of the opinion that your council is placing too much of a financial burden on your ability to carry on your line of work and you think that their decision is unreasonable in the terms of the DDA then you should read the following points.

Aggrieved owners throughout the UK should get together and form a common bond with the purpose of seeking a reasonable adjudication in a council’s decision to impose a greater financial burden on a small business than is reasonably necessary.

Those aggrieved owners and the persons representing them should read very carefully phase three of the DDA act. They should familiarise themselves with the current law.

In order to proceed in an orderly manner, a national committee of objecting Districts should be set up to monitor the coming legal events which will be the bedrock of any legal challenge that may be precipitated.

Funding for all legal necessities should be in place once a course of action has been determined, based on forthcoming court hearings and appeals.

Consideration should be given to the level funding which would be adequate to hire the best legal minds in the country.

It should be remembered that the object of the legal challenge is not to get out of implementing the DDA but to make councils accountable to the law.
Council decision making should be seen to be reasonable without placing to heavy a financial burden on a small business when a cheaper solution will achieve the same purpose.

This information is for those owners who feel discriminated against on grounds of financial exclusion and unnecessary financial burdens. It should also be noted that the courts may take a dim view of any authority who places an unreasonable high financial barrier on persons wishing to gain self employment by the provision of a Taxi license.

The Disability Rights Commission is already talking about bringing an early court challenge to those small businesses who have not implemented the act. These cases should give the trade a clear indication of what can reasonably be deemed financially viable.

One final point, it matters not what the Transport section of the DDA says about accessible vehicles, the legal Judgements in the courts will be the catalyst as to what financial input a current Taxi owner or even prospective owner should reasonably be allowed to make.

Best wishes

John Davies.

its probably the most sensible posting I have read on the issue, incidently Kirklees are not an authority who are placing high burdens on the trade.

however some lobbyists are, and we only have to read the postings on here to realise that trade unionists from Gateshead for instance are lobbying side entrance of vehicles only.

I deal with 2 taxi authorities Calderdale and Kirklees, I DONT EXPECT i WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO TO COURT WITH EITHER, both councils appear to be taking a very realistic and understanding viewpoint.

they will insist we comply with government circulars, in the spirit intended and will not insist on 25 foot turning circles.

it will be interesting to see if all cab authorities will take a more reasonable line

Geoff

I thougth that taxis and PH were exempt from that part of the DDA, hence the specific taxi regulations?