Taxi Driver Online

Age limit on Pendle cabs won't change



THE age limit of hackney carriage taxis on the roads in Pendle will not be increased, despite a plea from the trade.

The Hackney Carriage Drivers Association wanted the age limit of vehicles increased from nine years to 12 years because of the pressure being put on the trade.

But Pendle Council’s executive committee narrowly voted to keep the status quo.

Coun Paul White said: “On the sport checks we’ve conducted across Pendle on taxis, and there have been over 200, half of those taxis tested have failed.

“There was absolutely no way that I could vote to jeopardise the safety of our residents. I don’t think we should even be considering it whilst the failure rate is so high.

“Perhaps if they were passing the spot checks it would be a different story.”

Councillors voted five to four to keep the age limit as it was.

Jackie Allen, taxi licensing manager at Pendle Council, said in a report to councillors: “A petition from the Hackney Carriage Drivers Association was considered at a meeting of the Taxi Licensing Committee on February 13, 2014.

“The petition had 58 signatures in favour of increasing the age limit due to increasing financial pressures and lack of business meaning them having to work longer hours to make the same wages, affecting them and their families.

“Since the age limit was introduced in 2009, thirteen spot checks have been carried out resulting in 229 vehicles being tested with 118 being taken off the road with mechanical faults.

“This equates to a failure rate of 52 per cent.”

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/ne ... _t_change/

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

Just keep buying an 8 year old vehicle every year and only do the minimum maintenance required to get over the pit then, cheaper than spending £18000 once every 9.

That should improve standards

No change to taxi age limit


Pendle Council’s Executive has turned down a proposal to amend the age limit on the borough’s taxis – for a second time.

Members had been recommended by officers to agree to a proposal from the Taxi Licensing Committee to increase the upper age limit from nine to 12 years.

But they stood by their previous decision in March when they considered a similar request from the taxi committee to leave the upper limit unchanged.

Most authorities in Lancashire currently have no age limit on taxis.

In Pendle, tests are carried out once a year on vehicles one to three years old, twice a year on those over three years old and three times a year on vehicles failing tests on serious faults until they have passed three consecutive tests with no faults.

The present age limit was introduced in 2009 due to the high number of vehicles failing spot checks.

http://www.pendletoday.co.uk/news/local ... -1-6757425

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

The age limit means very little if you use the law correctly. I still have a 55 reg car on the road when the council age limit is 7 years. I've been to court over it and won; if the Pendle drivers do the same, maybe the council will get the message. But then with such an appalling failure and prohibition rate, the drivers do themselves no favours.

So it's getting worse