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News
in brief
(4/8/2004)
Private
Hire plating comes to Edinburgh and
police 'disable' city black cabs, while
Kirklees council uncovers fake insurance
scam.
Private
hire plates
Private hire cars in Edinburgh will
be fitted with external plates in a
rolling programme which will be
completed by 2005.
The
move was approved by Edinburgh
councillors earlier this year, and is
intended to promote public safety and
make it easier to identify rogue drivers
and bogus taxis.
Private
hire vehicles in the Scottish capital
currently display an orange disc in the
windscreen beside the tax disc, with an
internal identification plate.
The
change will bring the city into line
with standard practice in the rest of
the UK.
Edinburgh
taxis 'disabled' by police!
Police in Edinburgh are being blamed
for leaving black cab drivers stranded
because of claimed interference from a
new radio system being installed
nationwide.
Some
drivers who stop beside police
headquarters in Fettes, which is close
to a taxi rank, and at a city cab office
are unable to restart their vehicles due to the presence of masts
using the new Airwave system.
It
seems that interference from the masts
affects the engine immobiliser, and when
drivers try to restart their vehicles
the signals to switch off the
immobiliser are blocked, requiring the
towing away of vehicles from the
affected areas.
Drivers
who leave their engine running to
prevent the problem could instead face a
£30 fine from environmental wardens,
according to trade group CABforce.
Now
trade leaders are worried that the
problem, which only affects LTI's TX1
model, could escalate as more masts are
erected throughout the city.
The
digital Tetra system is being rolled out
across the country to replace the
obsolete analogue system, and will
enhance communications within the force
as well as making interception of police
communications more difficult.
All
UK police forces are due to adopt the
system before 2006, but the project
nationwide has been blighted by the
immobiliser problem as well as environmental
and health issues.
More
modern immobilisers are not affected
because they are able to distinguish
different frequencies with more
precision, but other vehicles such as
Vauxhalls and Rovers are can fall victim
to the problem
System
operator mmO2 said that since it was
operating within the terms of its
license then it was up to vehicle
manufacturers to rectify the problem.
LTI
are currently investigating the problem.
Kirklees
insurance scam
25 drivers have been found to have
fake insurance documents following
spot-checks by Kirklees Council.
It
is thought that the dodgy documents were
bought for a few hundred pounds, as
compared with genuine policies which can
cost drivers up to £4,000.
Council
official Doug Holliday described the
forgeries as 'very good' and thought
that the problem could involve a
nationwide syndicate.
Licensing
chief Councillor David Sheard said that
purchasers knew what they were buying as
insurance is not bought from someone on
a pub or in the streets.
But
some drivers have claimed that they
thought they were buying genuine
policies cheaply.
Khalif
Saleem, who had been driving for a
Huddersfield firm, appeared before
magistrates charged with driving without
insurance and other offences. He
was banned from driving for a year and
ordered to carry out 320 hours community
service.
Kirklees
Council licenses around 1,600 private
hire cars.
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