Taxi Driver Online

Fife Council gives taxi licence to man caught speeding at 95mph

https://www.dunfermlinepress.com/news/2 ... ing-95mph/

FIFE Councillors have agreed to grant a taxi licence to a man previously caught speeding at 95mph.

Muhammad Saleem appeared before Fife Council’s Regulation and Licensing Committee after lodging a new taxi driver application.

He had to appear before the committee because a representation was made by Police Scotland with Sergeant Neil Ewing explaining at Tuesday’s meeting that it involved a speeding offence.

Councillor David MacDiarmid told Mr Saleem, who said he planned to move from Dundee to St Andrews if successful in his application, that driving at 95mph could end “very badly”.

The applicant said he accepted he was at fault and had accepted it.

“It was a lapse of judgement. I totally accept it was my fault,” he said. “I was wrong. After that, I promised myself I would never try to over-speed.

“I can ensure you that if I get my taxi licence, I know public safety is my responsibility and I will take the responsibility very seriously.

“I want to support my family. I will follow rules and regulations and will never do the over-speeding again.”

Cllr Lea McLelland moved to grant the licence with a warning while Cllr MacDiarmid put forward an amendment to refuse the license.

“I think driving at 95 miles an hour on that particular road is absolutely insane,” he said. “It could well have ended up with people being killed.

“You said it was a lack of judgement. I don’t agree with that. If you are driving at 95 mph it is not a lack of judgement because you know you are doing it.

“You have now said you are going to try your best not to speed. That is not good enough in this committee.”

The committee agreed to grant the licence with a warning with a vote of eight to three.

Committee convener Councillor Tom Adams told Mr Saleem: “Your application has been granted but with a warning. Hopefully we will never see you again but your licence has been granted.”

Driving around in a rust bucket Land Rover could 'end up with people being killed as well'. Not to mention grossly hypocritical while making taxis with a missing sticker or workaday fault that anyone could miss sound like they're some kind of threat to humanity

Anyway, not sure which 'particular road' he's referring to. Nor what time of day it happened etc. Which would all be relevant to the seriousness of the offence, but I suppose a headline 95mph does the trick from the press reporting perspective


I'll believe that when I see it. Most of them live in Dundee and drive through to St Andrews daily (as indeed I did for quite a few years )

Anyway, maybe it's just me, but as usual there seems to be a bit of a contradiction between this sort of thing and the committee's ludicrously judgemental approach to vehicle stuff.

Spoke to one driver last week, who's been in the local trade almost as long as me, and is very switched on. He was one of the first of the annual inspections earlier in the month (they test about 200 cars over a two-month period ending in April).

He'd just bought a newish, low-mileage-ish replacement vehicle, which had just been MoTd. He took it to the council for its inspection, and, voila, three tyres 'cut to the cord'

Then took car to Halford's, and they thought the tyres were fine

Anyway, that's three new tyres, a £100 retest fee (for quick visual inspection) and a future suspension appearance before the licensing committee (probably in a few months' time, during which he'll be 'fit and proper' in the meantime).

But basically a carbon copy of what happened to me last year, although I only had two tyres with 'cuts to the cord', as opposed to three...

And I didn't have to appear in front of councillors to explain myself. Which indeed is another strange thing last year. Although that was (supposedly) the worst year ever for failures, the way it worked out meant that those actually failing were dealt with a bit more leniently than in other years.

In previous years I think those failing would have to go through some sort of, er, individualised process, such as an appearance before the convener and vice-convener (as opposed to a suspension hearing before the full committee). But all that happened last year was a sort of group meeting and verbal warning for the several dozen who failed the test, and effectively the 'punishment' was delayed and imposed on failures in future years. Make it make sense

Crazy, innit?

I wonder if this was the first council this driver applied to be licensed in.

And if other councils had refused him.

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IDFIMH