Taxi Driver Online

UK cab trade debate and advice
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 1:32 pm

All times are UTC [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 23 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2
Author Message
 Post subject: Re: Accident yesterday.
PostPosted: Fri May 15, 2020 2:48 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 8:15 pm
Posts: 9163
Makes sense to have a cheap dashcam in every vehicle you have.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Accident yesterday.
PostPosted: Fri May 15, 2020 3:16 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 4:06 pm
Posts: 24113
Location: Twixt Heaven and Hell, but nearest Hell
edders23 wrote:
Quote:
When I go out of town I always put my belt on, maybe I should do so when working locally. :-k


I'm the same don't bother round town when jumping in and out the car but if I go out of town usually do

Anyway in Brighton your limited to 20 MPH so probably don't need it anyway



never leave mine off, neither do passengers

_________________
Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Accident yesterday.
PostPosted: Fri May 15, 2020 4:17 pm 
Offline

Joined: Wed May 16, 2012 6:33 am
Posts: 13810
Sussex wrote:
When I go out of town I always put my belt on, maybe I should do so when working locally. :-k

You may recall that when a driver died here late at night back in 2008, a sheriff recommended changing the law so that drivers had to wear a seatbelt 'during hours of darkness in country areas', because police claimed he might have survived if wearing a seatbelt. But nothing ever happened.

Funny thing, though, is that the sheriff suggested Fife Council might already have a rule to that affect, but he didn't seem sure :-s

You'd think he might have found out the precise rules for something like this, especially since I'm pretty sure the FAI would have taken place next door in the same building :roll:

And I've never read of any council specifying seatbelt rules for the trade that are more stringent than the national law either.

(A Fatal Accident Inquiry is roughly equivalent to an inquest, I think.)


Sheriff calls for action after taxi death probe

By Gordon Berry

A FIFE SHERIFF has suggested the law could be changed so taxi drivers would have to wear seatbelts while driving in rural areas at night.

The statement has come from Sheriff George Evans in the wake of a fatal accident inquiry held at Cupar into the death of a taxi driver who was thrown from his vehicle while not wearing a seatbelt.

Sheriff Evans has issued his formal determination relating to the death of Malcolm Dowds [48], Riverside Way, Leven, who was killed at around 2am on November 26, 2006, while he was employed by the Cupar firm A. & J. Taxis.

His vehicle left the road between Pitlessie and Cupar, entered a field and overturned, fatally injuring Mr Dowds.

The inquiry heard police evidence that it was found a spare seatbelt buckle had been clicked into the holder in the driver’s seat, silencing the warning signal. The driver’s belt was hanging loose.

The police evidence was that, while it could not be said a seatbelt would have saved the driver entirely, it could have made a difference.

Mr Dowds, it was said, might still have received serious injuries but they might not have been fatal because he could not have been thrown out of the car.

In his determination, Sheriff Evans said members of the public are required to wear seatbelts at all times, but not so a licensed taxi driver.

He said that, as far as he is aware, the regulations obliging drivers to wear seatbelts do not apply to licensed taxi drivers, and the belt does not have to be worn while a taxi is used for seeking hire, answering a call for hire, or carrying a passenger for hire.

Sheriff Evans said there was no evidence to explain what the deceased was doing, as far as taxi fares are concerned, just before his accident.

The sheriff said, “He had, of course, no passenger but he may well have been answering a call for hire, and thus not required to wear a seatbelt.

“It may be that Fife Council already insist on drivers wearing a seatbelt unaccompanied and that would certainly be a wise requirement, especially for taxi drivers driving in rural areas at night, who may have to go longer distances in the dark on more difficult side roads while on their own than their urban counterparts.

“Perhaps the exemption should be lifted during the hours of darkness in country areas.”

Sheriff Evans said, having considered all the evidence, he found Mr Dowds died as a result of a road traffic accident in the course of his employment.

The cause of the accident, he said, was probable inattention or tiredness that led to Mr Dowds oversteering slightly to the left when rounding a bend, as a result of which a front wheel collided with the kerb.

In consequence of that, said Sheriff Evans, the deceased most probably made a sudden steer to the right, which caused the taxi to cross the carriageway and come to rest upside down in a field.

He also found that, had he worn his seatbelt, Mr Dowds might well have avoided fatal injuries, and it would have been a reasonable precaution for him to have worn the belt.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Accident yesterday.
PostPosted: Fri May 15, 2020 4:21 pm 
Offline

Joined: Wed May 16, 2012 6:33 am
Posts: 13810
A year or two later, and another driver died across the River Tay in Dundee, and sheriff also recommended amending the seatbelt regulations.

The taxi driver was hit by a drunken and apparently suicidal motorist who was driving like the Liverpool/St Helens guy who was recently jailed. He got six years.


Fatal Accident Inquiry into the circumstances of the death of Mr Gavin McCabe [2010] FAI 47

https://www.casecheck.co.uk/fatal-accid ... ai-47.html

In terms of section 6(1)(a) of the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976, the Sheriff found that Mr Gavin McCabe died at 17.20 hours on 21 March 2009, at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, as a consequence of injuries sustained when a motor vehicle driven by him was involved in a collision. The vehicle was driven by the deceased in the course of his employment as a taxi driver. The Sheriff found that Mr McCabe's death was the result of multiple injuries sustained by him as a result of the collision, including blunt force trauma when he was ejected from the vehicle and hit the road.

Under section 6(1)(c), the Sheriff noted that Mr McCabe was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the collision. The Sheriff ruled that a reasonable precaution would have been for Mr McCabe to have been wearing a seatbelt, and had he been wearing such a seatbelt, his death may have been avoided.

The Sheriff noted that taxi drivers are presently exempt from wearing seatbelts under regulation 6(1)(g) of the Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Seatbelts) Regulations 1993 (SI 1993/176). This exception was originally lobbied for by the industry, in order to protect taxi drivers from escaping robbery or attack when transporting strangers.

Agreeing with the submissions made by the Crown, the Sheriff agreed that the appropriate government authority should review these Regulations, in order to determine whether the rationale underlying the exception was still sound. The Sheriff noted that the exception was particularly misguided nowadays, considering that the majority of taxi cabs now have isolated driver booths, protecting them from any risk of robbery or assault. Moreover, the Sheriff saw no need for the exception when the taxi is not transporting a passenger.

The Sheriff noted that the risks to the health and safety of both drivers and passengers under the current Regulations were wholly disproportionate to the perceived risks to drivers of physical abuse. The Sheriff concluded that the Scottish Ministers and the Secretary of State for Transport should urgently review the current regulations, with a view to rescinding the exception, either entirely, or at least to amend it to no longer apply to Hackney cabs etc, or to private hire cabs when they have no passengers.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Accident yesterday.
PostPosted: Fri May 15, 2020 4:25 pm 
Offline

Joined: Wed May 16, 2012 6:33 am
Posts: 13810
Quote:
The Sheriff noted that the exception was particularly misguided nowadays, considering that the majority of taxi cabs now have isolated driver booths, protecting them from any risk of robbery or assault.

:-s

Quote:
The Sheriff concluded that the Scottish Ministers and the Secretary of State for Transport should urgently review the current regulations, with a view to rescinding the exception, either entirely, or at least to amend it to no longer apply to Hackney cabs etc, or to private hire cabs when they have no passengers.

But haven't PHDs always been required to wear seatbelts when they don't have a passenger, as opposed to HCDs, who are always exempt when working? :?


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Accident yesterday.
PostPosted: Fri May 15, 2020 6:32 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2003 7:30 pm
Posts: 53921
Location: 1066 Country
Quote:
But haven't PHDs always been required to wear seatbelts when they don't have a passenger, as opposed to HCDs, who are always exempt when working? :?

Correct.

_________________
IDFIMH


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Accident yesterday.
PostPosted: Fri May 15, 2020 9:42 pm 
Offline

Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2016 7:56 pm
Posts: 2466
Think the Sheriff should check and see how many TAXI drivers have been attacked and assaulted,some have received serious injuries even when having protection of the said partition.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Accident yesterday.
PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2020 10:50 am 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 11:47 pm
Posts: 19110
Location: Stamford Britains prettiest town till SKDC ruined it
many years ago a local driver got forced off the road and crashed into a ditch on the Bourne road by one of the local boy racers.

At the time of the accident she wasn't wearing a seat belt BUT police said that her injuries were less as a result of NOT having it on. Seat belts in some cases can cause more injury not less :wink:

_________________
Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 23 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2

All times are UTC [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 14 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group