Taxi Driver Online

October 16, 2007 Tuesday

Cabbies to smarten up

Braintree And Witham Times

Taxi drivers in Braintree will soon be smartening up their act as a dress code for cabbies has been approved, and those who fail to fall in line could get slapped with penalty points.

Braintree Council agreed to adopt a dress code for licensed drivers at last Wednesday's licensing committee meeting, but the finer details of what will make a smart cabbie will be decided during consultation with the trade.

T-shirts, tracksuits and baseball caps are among items of clothing which fall within the not allowed' category, while shirts, trousers and knee-length skirts are allowed.

Alan Smith, chairman of Braintree, Witham and Halstead Local Taxi Association said he was all for the clothing conditions apart from the restrictions on baseball caps as in summer they stop the glare of the sun in your eyes.

A penalty point scheme has also been adopted which will see drivers and operators before the Council's Driver Panel if ten or more points are accumulated in a year and it will decide what sanctions to impose.

For not conforming with the dress code you would receive three points.

Chairman of the meeting, Mike Banthorpe, said the points were not supposed to replace legal obligations, like having vehicle insurance, and councillor Fred Swallow said: "What we are trying to do is bring the standards up."
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Has to be a first but those with sharp eyes will be asking under what legislation can they legally make this condition?

We all know the legalities about imposing conditions on hackney carriage drivers therefore I think this proposal isn't going very far.

Regards

JD

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A council suiting themselves and ignoring the law?

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JD although I totally disagree with councils making unnecessary rules up, they do seem to have a valid points on the dress code, would you like to be driven by someone who dressed like a tramp or someone in smart casual dress IE polo shirt jeans or trousers

I don't have an issue with dress codes, only the lawfulness of imposing them?

If the law states a council can impose a dress code on a hackney carriage driver by way of condition, then fine but if the law says conditions must be imposed by way of by-laws then we have to take the law as it stands, whether we agree of disagree with the sentiment?

However, if my memory serves me well I think there is something in the 1847 act about dress so I'll have to dig it out and have a closer look?

Regards

JD