Taxi Driver Online

Partnership operation with Swansea Council ensures city centre taxis are roadworthy and safe

A joint operation by South Wales Police and Swansea Council’s Taxi Licensing Division inspected the roadworthiness of taxis and taxi drivers in Swansea.

The operation, which took place on the evening of Friday 15th December, saw marked Police vehicles patrolling Swansea city centre and taking taxis to an inspection point, where they were checked for defects. Taxi drivers’ licences were also checked, alongside numerous other checks using Police systems. These checks were conducted by both Police and Council staff.

During the operation, fourteen vehicles, including eleven taxis and three private hire vehicles, were subject to inspection. Of these, three vehicles were immediately suspended from road use:

• One vehicle suspended for a defective tyre, a defective rear light and an inoperable rear sliding door
• One vehicle suspended for a defective brake light – this was fixed on-site
• One vehicle issued a tyre advisory

Advisories or warnings were also issued to three drivers, one of which was a licensed driver working without ID and not displaying two required badges.

Sergeant James Ponting of South Wales Police said:

“This operation was run to ensure that the taxis used were in safe working order and that we could be assured that those taxi drivers using them were licensed to do so and operating within the law.

“This would therefore hopefully bring reassurance and peace of mind to members of the public using taxi services during the festive period, in addition to improving the safety of other road users and pedestrians.”

Cllr David Hopkins, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Performance, said:

“Members of the public should righty expect all taxi services to be safe, which is why operations of this kind are so important.

“This should act as a reminder to all taxi drivers in Swansea to ensure their vehicles and licences either reach the standards we expect, or they will run the risk of facing inspections and action.”

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IDFIMH

You don't suspend someone for an advisory.

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IDFIMH

Noticed that one as well, Sussex

Would guess there's an error there - either there were only two suspended, or the third suspended motor is missing from the list.

I mean, if you look at the three in the bullet list, if the third one had actually been suspended, to be consistent with the first two it would also specifically say it was suspended for the tyre advisory. But it doesn't

and if the brake light was fixed on site how is that one suspended ?

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Probably just playing it by the book, Edders, when perhaps a more informal approach and a bit of discretion might have sorted it out.

It's a bit like maybe taking your car for an MoT, and it fails on something that could be fixed there and then. Chances are that it'll still be recorded as an MoT failure.

Sure we've all been there - in fact, have experienced council vehicle inspectors taking very different approaches to stuff like that.

One factor in the report might be that police stopped the cars and they were 'taken to an inspection point'.

If the checks had been LOs only and one-to-one, face-to-face style of thing, then the vehicle might never have been suspended.

On the other hand, the fact that the inspections were presumably a bit more than roadside checks means it's surprising that not very much was found for 14 motors

Which in turn is mabye why they felt the need to suspend for the fixable brake light, and to make it sound worse than it actually was with regard to the car that got the advisory.

I suspect he was suspended for the two minutes the driver took to replace the bulb.

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IDFIMH