Taxi drivers' fury at 'draconian' penalties Nov 6 2003
A TOUGH new 'three strikes and you are out' policy will see taxi drivers who ignore basic rules of the job in the royal borough barred from practising their trade.
The new rules, confirmed at Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council's licensing panel on Monday, will see drivers facing a three point penalty for not having a fire extinguisher or displaying their licenses properly.
Nine points would mean a suspension.
Angry taxi drivers have attacked the new measures as draconian.
Driver Asghar Ali who was at the meeting said: "A lot of drivers now feel dismayed and intimidated. This has given the council a loaded gun to shoot us whenever it likes."
But the borough's leading enforcement officer Alan Barwise said: "We just want to make sure that people who get into a taxi in the royal borough know they are safe. Maybe a driver won't have a fire extinguisher despite the rule that he must. We want to make sure he does have one. We aren't going to be targeting people for no reason and we are not going to be judge and jury. Any driver will be able to appeal if they feel unfairly treated."
He said that the previous system had been weak and had led to shocking cases, such as one driver who was caught for driving without a license or insurance and then turned up again almost at once plying his trade.
He said there were problems outside Windsor's late night venues which had to be tackled.
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Another council that doesn't read the trade press.
The recent 'Bylaws' case, said that only the Secretary of State can vary HC driver's conditions.
But clearly Windsor and Maidenhead Council don't need to bother with such niceties.
