stationtone wrote:
TAXI drivers have blamed an overcrowded industry for the town’s overworked and sometimes drowsy cabbies.
The comments came a day after the Adver published the story of a private-hire driver who fell asleep at the wheel of his car, killing his passenger.
The incident occurred on October 19 last year when the vehicle smashed into a tree in Queens Drive. The driver, Shehzad Akbar, 33, was sentenced in his absence, and is suspected to have fled to Pakistan.
Now drivers have said that passengers’ lives are being put at risk because cabbies are working double shifts to make up for higher petrol prices and fewer customers.
They also said that since the industry was deregulated in 2006 cabs have flooded the town’s roads.
The council said there are 676 private taxi licensees in town. Meanwhile the number of black cabs in Swindon has jumped from 138 in 2006 to 159.
Speaking to the Adver anonymously a 45-year-old black cab driver, who has worked as a driver here for 10 years, said: “It has become very bad since the recession. There are too many private hire cars and black cabs on the roads.
“Black cabs cost between £170 and £200 to rent so the drivers have to make that back – and then some – just to survive. That can mean working a lot of hours.
“We are all struggling, there are too many cars, not enough business and petrol is much more expensive. Put that all together and you have a problem.
“People’s lives are being put at risk by these guys who are working 12-hour shifts, that’s clearly not safe.”
Another 63-year-old, from Stratton, who asked not to be named and who has been driving a taxi in Swindon for 20 years, said taxi line-ups had grown a great deal around town.
He said: “Numbers started piling up in 2006.
“I come in at 7am usually and I know there are drivers in before me and working until at least 10pm, and that is both black cabs and private-hire taxis.”
Mike Wykeham-Martin, of the Swindon Private Hire Drivers’ Association, said the body, which represents drivers, had asked the council for help on the issue.
But a council spokesman said it was not allowed to restrict the number of cabs.
He said: “Councils are not permitted by law to restrict the number of taxis, either hackney or private hire.
“The legal change followed a 2003 report from the Office of Fair Trading which found that restricting taxi numbers led to a poorer service for the public, increased waiting times, and encouraged illegal unlicensed taxis to fill the gap.”
He added that there was Government legislation on driving hours for lorry, train and bus drivers but not cabbies
http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news ... i_drivers/
The comments came a day after the Adver published the story of a private-hire driver who fell asleep at the wheel of his car, killing his passenger.
The incident occurred on October 19 last year when the vehicle smashed into a tree in Queens Drive. The driver, Shehzad Akbar, 33, was sentenced in his absence, and is suspected to have fled to Pakistan.
Now drivers have said that passengers’ lives are being put at risk because cabbies are working double shifts to make up for higher petrol prices and fewer customers.
They also said that since the industry was deregulated in 2006 cabs have flooded the town’s roads.
The council said there are 676 private taxi licensees in town. Meanwhile the number of black cabs in Swindon has jumped from 138 in 2006 to 159.
Speaking to the Adver anonymously a 45-year-old black cab driver, who has worked as a driver here for 10 years, said: “It has become very bad since the recession. There are too many private hire cars and black cabs on the roads.
“Black cabs cost between £170 and £200 to rent so the drivers have to make that back – and then some – just to survive. That can mean working a lot of hours.
“We are all struggling, there are too many cars, not enough business and petrol is much more expensive. Put that all together and you have a problem.
“People’s lives are being put at risk by these guys who are working 12-hour shifts, that’s clearly not safe.”
Another 63-year-old, from Stratton, who asked not to be named and who has been driving a taxi in Swindon for 20 years, said taxi line-ups had grown a great deal around town.
He said: “Numbers started piling up in 2006.
“I come in at 7am usually and I know there are drivers in before me and working until at least 10pm, and that is both black cabs and private-hire taxis.”
Mike Wykeham-Martin, of the Swindon Private Hire Drivers’ Association, said the body, which represents drivers, had asked the council for help on the issue.
But a council spokesman said it was not allowed to restrict the number of cabs.
He said: “Councils are not permitted by law to restrict the number of taxis, either hackney or private hire.
“The legal change followed a 2003 report from the Office of Fair Trading which found that restricting taxi numbers led to a poorer service for the public, increased waiting times, and encouraged illegal unlicensed taxis to fill the gap.”
He added that there was Government legislation on driving hours for lorry, train and bus drivers but not cabbies
http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news ... i_drivers/
Well we all know that......Don't hold your breath mate, nothing will happen.... Thanks to the Equality act which is only equal to those that can afford it or are more equal than others!!
