Sussex wrote:
Blackburn with Darwen taxi drivers 'easy target for vandals’
TAXI drivers have called for help from the town hall to stop their vehicles being vandalised. Cabbies say measures forcing them to display stickers identifying their cars as taxis are making them a target to vandals and thieves.
The signs, introduced in 2006, are displayed on the back doors of the cars, and include the vehicle’s registration number in order to distinguish them from ordinary private cars.
But more than 250 private hire drivers have signed a petition to Blackburn with Darwen Council calling for the stickers to be replaced by a magnetic version which could be removed when the driver is not on duty.
In a letter to the borough’s licensing committee, Nawaz Khan, chairman of Blackburn with Darwen Private Hire Association, said: “The permanent stickers have been in place for three years now, and drivers have encountered more problems by displaying them permanently than they ever did before.”
Mr Khan said taxis were seen as ‘an easy target’ by thieves, and were deliberately targeted and damaged in some parts of town. He said: “Drivers without driveways or garages spend sleepless nights worried about their vehicle, and off-duty taxi drivers are approached for a taxi, and abused when refused.”
Another driver said he had stones thrown at his car when driving into town on his own. A report by the council’s principle licensing officer Donna Riding said around 90 per cent of local authorities insisted on permanent signs.
She said they had been introduced for the benefit of members of the public, who could be certain they were using a properly-licensed taxi, and to inform punters the vehicle had to be pre-booked. According to the report, the number of thefts from taxi drivers had fallen since 2006, with 27 reported in 2008/09.
In 2007 the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of a council in Hampshire to find it was “not unreasonable” to insist on permanent signs, partly to allow people to distinguish between private hire and Hackney carriage vehicles.
The licensing committee will make its decision on Thursday.
TAXI drivers have called for help from the town hall to stop their vehicles being vandalised. Cabbies say measures forcing them to display stickers identifying their cars as taxis are making them a target to vandals and thieves.
The signs, introduced in 2006, are displayed on the back doors of the cars, and include the vehicle’s registration number in order to distinguish them from ordinary private cars.
But more than 250 private hire drivers have signed a petition to Blackburn with Darwen Council calling for the stickers to be replaced by a magnetic version which could be removed when the driver is not on duty.
In a letter to the borough’s licensing committee, Nawaz Khan, chairman of Blackburn with Darwen Private Hire Association, said: “The permanent stickers have been in place for three years now, and drivers have encountered more problems by displaying them permanently than they ever did before.”
Mr Khan said taxis were seen as ‘an easy target’ by thieves, and were deliberately targeted and damaged in some parts of town. He said: “Drivers without driveways or garages spend sleepless nights worried about their vehicle, and off-duty taxi drivers are approached for a taxi, and abused when refused.”
Another driver said he had stones thrown at his car when driving into town on his own. A report by the council’s principle licensing officer Donna Riding said around 90 per cent of local authorities insisted on permanent signs.
She said they had been introduced for the benefit of members of the public, who could be certain they were using a properly-licensed taxi, and to inform punters the vehicle had to be pre-booked. According to the report, the number of thefts from taxi drivers had fallen since 2006, with 27 reported in 2008/09.
In 2007 the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of a council in Hampshire to find it was “not unreasonable” to insist on permanent signs, partly to allow people to distinguish between private hire and Hackney carriage vehicles.
The licensing committee will make its decision on Thursday.
This is A contraditory post....It says its Taxi drivers complaining about vandalism because the door signs make them look like Taxis...well...surely the obligatory roof sign Saying taxi would be a dead giveaway with our without door stickers!
Surely its all about PH and nothing at all to do with Taxi drivers...after all...the whole Idea of being a Taxi is that it gets you noticed as being available for hire!
