Taxi Driver Online

Another slightly long-winded one from Stockton


Businessman who caused other motorist's death by dangerous driving applies for taxi licence

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/businessman-c ... 00696.html

A businessman who caused the death of another motorist in a head-on crash has failed in a bid to gain a taxi driver's licence.

The driver's conviction, four-year prison sentence and driving ban for causing death by dangerous driving showed on a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate when he applied for a private hire driver licence from Stockton Council. The head-on collision killed the driver of another vehicle in September 2013.

The taxi applicant claimed he "drifted into the other carriageway" while driving from Whitby at about 70mph, and "now accepted that the collision was his fault... he fully understood that he caused the collision in 2013 and was remorseful". He had denied causing death by dangerous driving and a jury found him guilty after a trial in 2015.

He said he was hospitalised for about three weeks after the crash and spent about two years in rehabilitation learning to walk again. He regained his driving licence in April 2019 after taking an extended driving test.

He told councillors he had no other accidents, dealings with police or penalty points on his licence. Minutes of Stockton Council's general licensing committee show the driver said the 2013 crash "was not an intentional collision, he did not know the victim and if the victim had not passed away, he would not have gone to prison.

"[The applicant] expressed his regret that the victim's family lost a loved one, and stated that he felt lucky to be alive, having survived his injuries."

Accepted responsibility

At the time he said he thought it was "purely an accident", and "learned to accept responsibility" when he completed courses in prison. According to the minutes, he still seemed to dispute an account that he was trying to overtake, saying he only remembered the other vehicle being in front of him just before the fatal crash.

Now he said he wanted to become a taxi driver to provide for his wife and two children, having worked in retail businesses since he left school and finding sales opportunities increasingly difficult. He said he was fit, healthy and a "confident driver", with experiences of driving vehicles including a 7m box van.

The committee unanimously refused his application, saying they did not believe he was a "fit and proper person" to hold a private hire vehicle driver's licence. They said they would normally refuse a licence to someone with such a conviction, and they found no exceptional circumstances to depart from council policy.

In two other separate cases, the committee decided to grant private hire driver licences. One of the drivers had a conviction for driving or attempting to drive with drugs levels over the limit.

Councillors understood this happened at a "difficult time" in the applicant's life, and he since took a negative drugs test. They said the driver "came across well", was "honest and candid" in answering their questions, "had sought help for his issues and appeared to have turned his life around".

They also considered the case of a driver who had operated a vehicle without insurance. However they accepted his failure to insure his vehicle was a genuine mistake, entering incorrect details on an insurance standing order.

On the face of it this sounds like an unfortuanate accident but was possibly caused by driving tired suggesting that he might be the sort of driver who would put in excessive hours to chace the money.

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

You do not get charged, let alone convicted, of dangerous driving by merely drifting.

I'm all for giving people second chances, but a four-year prison sentence is quite a hurdle to jump.

I think the committee made the right decision.

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IDFIMH