Taxi Driver Online

Great concern’ about taxi safety in north-east Fife


Taxis in north-east Fife came under fire as the most dangerous in the region when operators were hauled up before councillors to explain why their vehicles had failed safety checks.

Serious concerns were raised about public safety — with one case involving a minibus that has a contract with Fife Council to transport schoolchildren — after defects were found on vehicles.

North-east Fife had the highest percentage of test failures and those with faulty vehicles were threatened with suspension of their taxi licenses at a special meeting of the regulation and licensing committee.

Chairing the meeting, Councillor Bob Young said there was “great concern” about the area’s taxis, which had a fail rate of 11% compared with the Levenmouth area, which was 1%, and west Fife, which was 6%. Police roadside checks found more defective vehicles on the roads on Tuesday.

Mr Young told the committee: “We went out with the police in St Andrews, Cupar and Leuchars and, once again, we caught taxis running with bald tyres, ripped tyres, but (the drivers) still thought they would run.”

He also described the dress code of drivers in St Andrews as being more suitable for doing gardening.

A total of 17 east Fife operators were pulled up for mechanical faults, with some of the most serious including brakes, steering, tyres and broken exhausts, while there were only four from west Fife.

Most were given a warning and will face another a random test to make sure repairs have been carried out, though one St Andrews operator had his license suspended for a month because of suspension problems which also caused the vehicle to fail last year.

The owner of a minibus used by pupils was found with a fault in the load sensing valve that could have affected braking distances when fully loaded, as well as a broken indicator.

One driver had vehicles fail every year for the last three years, while another driver admitted he may have caused the mileage in his speedometer to fail by knocking something loose when he “shoogled the dashboard” in an attempt to fix another problem.

Councillor David MacDiarmid said: “In three parts of Fife, the percentages are over 90% but in the north-east pass rates are shockingly below that.

“We are very serious about the failures, especially in north-east Fife. We have passengers in Fife, including schoolchildren, being driven about and we need to make sure we get the pass rate up.

“I hate to see the north-east failing year after year.”

Last year the failure rate was even worse, with 13% of vehicles failing the council’s taxi safety test.

Councillor Andrew Rodgers suggested there may be an issue with MoT testers in the area, as many taxi operators claimed not to have been made aware of problems after taking their vehicles to the garage.

Another noticeable difference between east and west Fife was the quality of daily and weekly maintenance checks recorded.

The council sent best practice information and sample maintenance sheets out to all operators in the area but councillors said it was worrying not one of the people brought before the committee showed any evidence of having ever used them.

One taxi company owner in west Fife was even praised by councillors, who took no further action after he impressed them with his detailed maintenance records and assurances about public safety.

source: http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/ ... e-1.102073

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

‘Kangaroo court’ claim as north-east Fife taxi drivers defend safety test record


a “kangaroo court” that left taxi drivers “living in fear” of losing their licences


Taxi drivers in north-east Fife have moved to defend the safety of their vehicles by claiming more rigorous examinations are behind the area’s poor pass records.

The area was branded the worst in Fife for public safety after defects were found on 11% of taxis, compared with 1% in Levenmouth area and 6% in west Fife.

Last week operators who failed the safety checks were hauled before Fife Council’s regulation and licencing committee and threatened with losing their licences, although most were made subject to one random safety check.

Now, Patricia Robertson, whose husband David had his licence suspended for one month due to suspension problems, has hit out at the committee, describing it as a “kangaroo court” that left taxi drivers “living in fear” of losing their licences.

Michael Vansittart, who also failed the test but avoided suspension, said the area’s lower pass rate could be explained by the test being more rigorous in north-east Fife.

He said: “If that was the case, the conclusion to be drawn would be that the taxis operating in north-east Fife after passing the test would be less dangerous than those in the other areas.”

But councillor Bob Young, the chairman of the committee, said this was “just not true”.

“Tests are carried out to identical standards and are looking for the same criteria to pass. If people don’t look after their taxis and keep them up to a good standard then it is quite right they will lose their taxi licence.

“At the end of the day, the system is there to protect the public.”

Gillian Love, committee administrator for Fife Council, said the annual safety checks are based on a normal MoT with a few taxi-specific checks on roof signs, metres and paintwork.

“Following a disappointing set of results from the annual safety inspection tests, we organised a special meeting of the regulation and licensing committee to meet the operators from the area whose vehicles had failed the test.

“The day before this meeting a number of spot checks were carried out by a council mechanic and Fife Constabulary’s safer transport liaison officer and, again, some of the results were very disappointing; for example, highlighting issues with tyres which would not pass an MoT.”

source: http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/ ... d-1.104267

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

Yes, 'shockingly below 90%' was 89%

And that's the same daftie who was last week threatening to 'knock sense' into the trade.

And don't forget he's the one who fell foul of the Scottish standards commission for calling a licence applicant a bully, and was suspended from the licensing committee for a few weeks.

But was so litigious that he appealed that, and got a QC to argue in court about his right to free speech etc

And he lost that appeal


Fife councillor suspended for calling taxi driver a bully loses legal battle

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/fi ... l-refused/

A Fife councillor who was suspended for making inappropriate remarks to a taxi driver seeking to renew his licence has had an appeal against his sanction rejected.



Any other council in the UK convene a special licensing committee meeting over an 11% failure rate, before which everyone who fails the test has to appear?

I'll wait




Slight contradiction there, surely?

No, just your basket case of a council.

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IDFIMH