Taxi Driver Online

Call for crackdown on rogue taxi drivers

TAXI drivers are calling for more licensing checks following a spate of incidents involving rogue cabbies.

Dave Burgess-Pearson, chairman of Stoke-on-Trent Hackney Carriage Association, believes the reputation of Hackney carriage and private hire drivers is being blackened by the bad behaviour of a few.

He is asking Stoke-on-Trent City Council to root out the problem by increasing the number of checks on drivers.

Last week The Sentinel reported how a teenager had been kidnapped by a taxi driver and forced to hand over £100 in a two-hour ordeal.

Another driver is currently awaiting sentence after being found guilty of beating up two of his customers with a baseball bat.

Mr Burgess-Pearson said: "We are asking for more checks on drivers across the board, both Hackney carriage and private hire drivers. When we hear about the incident with a baseball bat, and the kidnapping, it's very worrying for taxi drivers. Those incidents were absolutely disgusting."
Taxi driver Amran Khan faces jail after beating up two of his customers with a baseball bat.

Khan, aged 31, of Rushton Road, Cobridge, was last week found guilty of assaulting Phillip Booth occasioning him actual bodily harm on February 23 last year and causing grievous bodily harm to Adrian Dubiel with intent on June 15.

Stephen Chell, aged 18, of Bignall End, says he was kidnapped by a private hire driver after he and three friends got into a car in Hanley in the early hours of Sunday, February 15.

Mr Burgess-Pearson believes overcharging by rogue taxi drivers is also a problem.

He said: "I've heard about someone being charged £15 to go from Newcastle to Birches Head, which is ridiculous. These people are ruining the trade."

Mr Burgess-Pearson says there are steps customers can take to make sure they are not ripped off.

He said: "When customers get into a Hackney carriage they need to make sure the meter is on, otherwise they might get overcharged.

"And if they're using a private hire firm, they should stick to the firm they know, not just get one on the street."

The law dictates private hire cabs can only pick up pre-booked fares and not tout for business at the roadside.

Dave Currie, secretary of Stoke-on-Trent Private Hire Association, said: "The legislation is already there but the controlling authorities just don't seem to want to do anything about it. I don't know why, maybe it's too much trouble."

Councillor Joy Garner, Stoke-on-Trent City Council portfolio holder for the environment, said: "Enforcement and licensing officers carry out random spot checks on drivers to ensure they are licensed and have their licences with them – it is an offence for taxi drivers not to wear their badge.
"The vast majority of taxi drivers are responsible."

People reporting rogue cabbies should call the council on 01782 234234, quoting the licence number found inside the car and on the front and back number plates

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

he should know better..........

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

Defo more to this than meets the eye.

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/ne ... ticle.html

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IDFIMH

All that [edited by admin] is happening here also, I've heard at least 7 stories involving 5 different cabbies charging ppl double what the fare goes, and one of them is white English, one got caught charging my mates daughter £25 for an £11 ride, and guess what his punishment was? he had to return the extra money, no suspension, removal of licence etc, I wish our LO was a bookie, I could get all my losing bets back then couldn't I, and as the man says, it's ruining our trade.

There we go another victory for the thieves.....


Stood on the rank having a ciggy with my Albanian mate (slips that one in cos all us racists have a foriegn mate to claim as a friend, it's out excuse) anyway 7 young ppl are there wanting a cab, I hear one say I'm not getting one of them they're to expensive, I educate them that the PH 7 seater will also run the meter on the same tariff, I ask where they are going and it should be a £20-£25 trip, the girl says to me we had an Indian driver last week and it cost us £40, I get a job and am telling my punter about what had just been said and he replies, me and my 4 mates got one the other week and he tried to charge us £65, the fare in question max's out @ £40 normally, he said they told him he'd get a tenner each and like it, still he wanted £65 until they got out and started to walk away when (Banana Splits joke coming up) .... "size of an elephant" it dropped to £40, to which he got told to ....off, now you tell me is it racist to highlight a thief regardless of colour and creed?

I just get the feeling that the 'Pyjamas Pradesh' mob tend to charge a levy on top of the fare for the racial abuse that they invariably get on most journeys.

In your case £40 fare plus £25 for the inevitable racial abuse.

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

I'm not racist or at least I hope I'm not but it does seem that our ethnic drivers appear to have more complaints/crimes to account for than the non ethnic drivers It surely cannot all be blamed on "racial abuse that they invariably get on most journeys"

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

for £25 id stand some abuse..

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

I think it's more to do with their greedy nature myself, I've had business with them for over 20 years, if you find a good one they are as good as good gets, but the flip is they have this money issue and can't get enough of it however they get it, I'll only eat in one curry house these days because I got so fed up with the bill being ramped up with unpurchased extra's all the time, that's not to say they all do it because they don't, but the one place I use is owned by an old friend and the family itself is a respectful honest Indian family that has been the victim of Indian dirty tricks itself before, plus the curry slaughter's all but one curry house in town to which it is equal.


@ Toots, it's become a country where when you ask for a Foster's you must ask for a Carling instead so that you don't upset all the other pints of Carling sat on the bar.

I'm just glad it's not my job to go to the bar Having said that it's a shame things have turned out the way they have cos a true and honest multi cultural society would have been interesting. Instead we have the whites sitting on their backsides robbing the state and the ethnics replacing them in jobs and services supposedly robbing everybody even their own clan.

With regard to this thread rogue taxi drivers and cherry pickers will always do damage to the trade and the public would rather complain amongst themselves than bother reporting incidents to the relevant authority, as they seldom see anything done about it, so what is the point.

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Oh baby you've nailed it in one, a true multi cultural society, and yes the diversity and positives all mixing together to create a super country what a beautiful dream that would've been, instead it's lets be anti white and allow everyone else to do whatever they please and give them a get out of jail free card, well with the exception of the afro carribean ppl anyway, they just get to scream racism and still get banged up anyway, some justifiably other because of circumstance, I think you are the first person to see my point of it's not the colour that matter's it's who and what you are and how you contribute to the well being pot.

Top lass you are.