Taxi Driver Online

Not much sympathy for the driver here, from me at least - he only realised he had the foam in the car when he got home, so I'd guess he didn't have a clue about it either - if he was up to speed, he'd have told the testers where it was when he failed the test and before leaving the depot.

(And I'd have to admit to the fact that I wouldn't have a clue about whether all the relevant gear is present - and how to use it - with my new Octavia...it's my first car without a proper spare wheel, so I'll have to have a proper look at it all...some time )

And, I mean, there are surely worse injustices in the trade if the press will go to town with the likes of this - for example, in Fife he'd be charged £100 when he went back for the retest and showed them the foam kit


Aberdeen taxi driver to miss out on days of wages due to car inspection ‘mishap’

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/ne ... complaint/

The city council told Gary Mundie he had failed his taxi inspection because he did not have tyre foam - which he later found in the car.

An Aberdeen taxi driver has hit out at the council after failing his latest inspection due to having no tyre foam – even though it was in the car.

Gary Mundie has worked as a taxi driver for the past 23 years and gets his car inspected by the council every six months.

This is the first time the vehicle has ever failed the test.

“I took it in this morning and was told it was a failure because I did not have tyre foam,” he said. “I had a look when I got home and I found it in a box in the car.

“The car has only been on the road six months and passed with no issues last time. The car is safe to drive but now it has to be off the road until I can re-sit the test.”

Aberdeen driver forced to re-sit taxi inspection test

The earliest Gary can book the car back in is on Friday which means he is unable to work for two days.

He will miss out on wages during this time but will still have to pay his fees towards the taxi firm he works with.

He has also had to fork out for another inspection test.

“It was going to be a busy couple of days for me because of the Premier League Darts event being in Aberdeen,” he added. “So, this will have a big impact.”

Gary has been back in touch with the relevant department at Aberdeen City Council about the tyre foam being in the car but is yet to hear back from them.

The tyre testing manual, dated July 2018, on the council’s website states a breakdown kit “with sealant liquid” must be present in the car if there is no spare wheel.

“If I have a puncture, I’ll call AA and get it fixed,” Gary said. “I don’t use the tyre foam but it was there during the inspection.

“I don’t think it should be an automatic fail if it’s not there. It should just be an advisory, something you’re told to make sure you have in the car.”

An Aberdeen City Council spokesperson said: “Any driver who experiences a failed taxi inspection can make representations onsite prior to leaving the testing site.

“The taxi testing manual is a publicly available document. We are unable to comment on individual drivers’ circumstances.”

Well, duh. Would be interesting to know why the testers missed the foam kit, but if the driver doesn't even seem to know where it was located, then who could blame the testers? Either the kit was located where it shouldn't be, or was never in the car at all...

And are there other people like this driver who seem to rely on the AA to fix a puncture rather than trying to do it themselves? Didn't know you could do that. I certainly wouldn't call them out unless there was a particular problem and I was really stuck...

Mega photos here - by the looks of it, I'd guess the kit isn't the one originally supplied with the car, which is maybe why it wasn't where it should be. You'd think a box like that would be seen, though, assuming it was in the car...

It's maybe a bit like the fire extinguisher thing - they're passed around between drivers when they go for the test

Being a goody two-shoes, I've got my own in the car all the time

But, I mean, it's an Octavia, not a 40-tonne truck or double-decker bus

And, surprise, surprise, he's not a 'taxi' driver. But in Aberdeen the two codes are pretty much the same apart from the WAV requirement for *some* HCs, and a saloon HC quota. I think.

https://wpcluster.dctdigital.com/wp-con ... 6x1024.jpg

https://wpcluster.dctdigital.com/wp-con ... 6x1023.jpg

https://wpcluster.dctdigital.com/wp-con ... 40x564.jpg

How do you not know where a box that size is in your own car? I'm sure it wouldn't fit in the glove box or door card pockets, so could only be in the boot.

Does the Octavia have a secret cubby hole somewhere in the boot?

None of the cars I've owned (Alfa, BMW, SAAB, Ford, Vauxhall, Toyota) have had any covered storage area in the boot other than lifting the boot floor to get to spare wheel/tools, where the tyre inflation/repair foam has been in my last 2 cars, which was replaced straight away with a full size spare wheel.

The Zafira has 2 in the floor behind the front seats.

_________________
Grandad,
To support my charity text MAYORWALK to 70085 to donate £5

Don't know about the Octavia in the photo, but my new one has a hole under the boot floor, but that's also where you'd have to look for the original puncture repair kit, so it would be quite difficult to miss it, unless they were just looking for where the original kit would be, and didn't notice the aftermarket kit the driver has in the photo. There are also storage areas either side of the bootspace, which would be big enough to hold the box, so it's conceivable it was missed by the testers if they simply looked for where the kit should be rather than the aftermarket stuff in the photo, particularly if there was other stuff in the cubby with the box, as there normally is...

But, of course, the driver didn't seem to know where the box was either when he was at the depot, so to that extent it's hardly a surprise the council testers couldn't find it. And maybe suggests that there was no kit at all in the car in the first place...

I suspect you have got a mobile electric air pump.

Doubt you will have a jack and tyre wrench.

_________________
IDFIMH

Why does he need to wait days for a retest?

If the only failure was the foam kit, then surely he only needs to attend the testing center and show them he has it now.

_________________
IDFIMH

Sensible - LA's don't do sensible.

(When someone with initials SW points out you can't spell centre, just tell him you're a Yank.)

_________________
Chris The Fish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdlyi5mc ... re=related

I'm in two minds about this. a lot of cab drivers don't even bother checking their tyres, how would they be expected to know how to use a puncture repair kit or foam? Personally I'd not be at all happy driving far with a tyre full of foam. bus and lorry drivers are not allowed to change tyres or wheels these days due to the immense safety risk of the vehicle toppling off a poorly-placed jack or the driver getting killed. Then the wheel nuts have to be set with a torque wrench then re-set after 50km. How many can drivers check that after having tyres changed?

It's a bit like fire extinguishers. when I ran a Toyota hybrid on PH work the licencing officer wanted to see the extinguisher. I asked him what type. Water, no good on electric or oil fires, powder, not permitted on passenger vehicles because of the danger of passengers breathing in the powder. Foam, maybe but again not on electrical. He gave up.

The local fire officer's view was if your car/bus/lorry catches fire, get passengers out and take steps, bloody great big ones in the opposite direction! I found out last weekend that if you call the fire brigade for a vehicle fire the first thing they ask is what fuel. Luckily mine was brake overheating, just caught it on time!