Taxi Driver Online

'Taxi rank ban is harming my livelihood' Feb 3 2005

By Nick Capehorn


A TAXI driver claims he is losing valuable school run contracts because licensing laws banning him from taxi ranks means he has to charge more for school contracts.

Errol Leeks, who has operated in Bracknell for 20 years, has not been able to work on the ranks since 2002, after his licence was revoked because his car did not meet access requirements

He is appealing against his ban on February 9, claiming a letter from the Department of Transport said plans to make all taxis accessible for disabled people were not achievable without taking trade from the drivers.

However, the letter also states local authorities have the power to make their own policies on disability access..

Bracknell Forest Borough Council demanded all taxis should allow disabled people access while remaining in their wheelchair, for drivers to get a Hackney carriage licence.

Any vehicles that had swivel seats fitted before 2002 could also get a licence.

The council said that Mr Leeks refused to fit a swivel seat in his car in 2001. His Hackney licence was refused because of this and he is not able to apply again.

Bracknell MP Andrew MacKay said: "I have taken this issue up on behalf of several drivers and their appeals have all gone to court, which is effectively where the matter rests.

"But I think it is a pity the council could not come up with a way of offering disabled access and comfort on the one hand while protecting the livelihood of taxi drivers on the other."

Bracknell Forest head of trading standards Rob Sexton said Mr Leeks had applied for a Hackney Carriage licence for his Vauxhall Omega which he says does not allow disabled people to access the vehicle while still in their wheelchair.

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

This should be an interesting one, one man against the world

Captain cab

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

And my very precious money is on the world.

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IDFIMH

Cant really understand this bit....

Why does he have to charge more?? Surely school contracts are tendered for at a price agreed?



Why wait 3 years? was it due to the council giving him time to change and the end of the appeals process? Or was it because he found a bit of DFT paper somewhere and chose to read the bit he liked?

Captain cab

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Its surprising to realise that an article about my Taxi driving ban on the net.
Does anybody think its right for people sitting in Council officees, have the right to make such harsh decisions and deprive a person off a livelihood, when the DFT are still considering the whole issue

Its surprising to realise that an article about my Taxi driving ban on the net.
Does anybody think its right for people sitting in Council officees, have the right to make such harsh decisions and deprive a person off a livelihood, when the DFT are still considering the whole issue

The council said that Mr Leeks refused to fit a swivel seat in his car

I always thought that swivel seats was banned due to dangerous problems with them
swivel seats are classed as lifting equipment

if you have to take out the original seat replace it with a swivel seat, where do the firing control for the belts go, also the airbag may have to be disabled,
Therefore to fit a swivel seat, removal or disabling of an air bag may be a necessity but it should be noted that doing so might infringe Construction and Use Regulations. this needs legal advise.

so there you are stuck first car on the rank, the swivel chair motor has been operated and turned so the passenger can seat, you hit the return to position button and hey presto, the motor stuck, or even worse the seat collapses because you misjudged the weight of the person.

Harsh maybe, but the decision I'm assuming was made by elected councillors, not officials.

As for the issue, I think if a council wants more WAVs then there are two ways of that happening;
a) they say all vehicles must be WAVs, or
b) they subsidise as many WAVs as is needed.

And b) will never happen.

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IDFIMH

If you are the real Errol Leaks and you would like to discuss the situation or you would like some advice, then it would be advisable to start from the beginning and tell us exactly how this situation came about?

Regards

JD

Yes JD I am the real Errol Leeks, and to cut a long story short my Granada met with an accident, when I went to replace this i was advised that i should fit my Omega with a Swivel seat, which I refused because of the Safety of my clients, because by removing my passenger seat it would disable the rest of the airbags in my vehicle as the Omega has airbags fitted in the side of the seat, I went to Vauxhall and they said not to remove any of the manafacturers specifications. i have written correspondance from them, there is a lot more and would take a long time to explain I started the petition in Bracknell regarding the swivel seat am sure I am being penalised for it. Loosing your licence after 20years is no joke, i went before the Democratic Appeal Panel and the hackney carriage officer baffled them that it was possible to remove my airbag???????.
EL

Surely you didn't lose your driver's license.

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IDFIMH

Errol, stick with it

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

I wasn't aware Bracknell had a TDO link on their licensing webpage. Thats very decent of them.

Regards

JD

I suspect the present disagreement came about because of the council's insistence that their regulations for Hackney and Private hire car vehicles be upheld? The particular condition, which is causing the problem, is condition 9, which is set out below.

Guidance Notes and Conditions for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire
Owners, Operators, and Drivers April 2004.

9. Type of vehicle

All replacement Hackney Carriages must be wheelchair accessible.

Licensed Hackney Carriage vehicles replaced prior to 31st December 2001 that have swivel seats fitted are required to be maintained in the Vehicle until such time as the vehicle is replaced by a wheelchair accessible type.

Private Hire Vehicles shall be of the four-door saloon or five-door estate type, with an engine capacity of not less than 1550cc and must be capable of carrying not less than four passengers. The internal measurement must allow not less than 16” (40.64 cm) per passenger along the narrowest part of the rear seat.

Where the vehicle is an estate car, a guard must be fitted to prevent luggage entering the passenger compartment in an emergency stop. Roof racks may only be used when excess luggage is to be carried. A Private Hire vehicle must not be of such design or appearance as to lead any person to believe it is a Hackney Carriage.

It would appear that the first paragraph in condition 9 is unambiguous.

All replacement Hackney Carriages must be wheelchair accessible.

Licensed Hackney Carriage vehicles replaced prior to 31st December 2001 that have swivel seats fitted are required to be maintained in the vehicle until such time as the vehicle is replaced by a wheelchair accessible type.

In order to successfully challenge this condition you would need to show that the condition is unreasonable.

I assume the swivel chair condition was already in place in 2001? If that be the case the court might enquire as to why you bought a vehicle that could not comply with the licensing conditions of Bracknell?

If your case it built on the grounds that Bracknell denied you a living by revoking your license, then the court might ask you why you took it upon yourself to present a vehicle that didn't meet the conditions of fitness as laid down by the council?

The court might take the view that it is up to you to comply with the licensing conditions and not up to the council to bend conditions to suit one individual?

This brings us to the reasonableness of the condition? You are probably going to have to prove that the condition is unreasonable or in your case it was unreasonable under the circumstances which were present at the time of revocation.

On the face of it from what we know of the case I think most people who subscribe to TDO will probably think your chances of getting a result in this case are pretty slim.

However you won't know until you have gone through the legal process. If you need any case law on the subject, you can try Bailii or here on TDO we have lots of case law one in particular you might wish to read is......
Regina v Manchester City Justices, Ex parte McHugh Manchester City Council (Intervening); Regina v Manchester City Council, Ex parte Reid

Regards

JD

JD, I am well aware of your comments, they are welcomed the most important thing to be considered is the entire principle or this story, I bought my car in July 2001, I applied for the renewal of my existing Hackney Licence, I was told by the council that unless i fit a Swivel seat in this vehicle I would not be granted a licence, I was given 14 days to appeal through a Solicitor(difficult) in the mean time I took out a Petition with the help of the Trade disagreeing with the sivel seat ruling also emphasising that the Council should ask the Home Secretary fir a examption certificate or stay till this Bill went through the House of Parliment, but the Bracknell Hackney Carriage Officer's said they were unable to do this as the Bill was not yet passed, according to the DDA Act we had the right to appeal for an exemption, after 5 months of bickering we were let down by our acting Solicitor, fortunate for us we found another good Solicitorand the trade with 28 or more drivers were given leave to appeal and were allowed to work until such time the case went to court, I did not meet that dead line of December 2001 , my licence was revoked> My disagreement with the Council is not about the WAV's but about removing of my front passenger seat, the Council did not bother to consider the Safety of my front seat clients, they stressed their ruling should stand, and I should remove my Airbag seat and fit it with a ordinary swivel seat, now dont you think that is redicilous, another thing is after numerous meetings a fellow colleague of mine was granted a licence to operate without a swivl seat, then why was I turned down, we
both applied at the same time now isn't that injustice, or should I call it victimisation. JD this colleague of mine had a C Class Mercedes I had a Vauxhall Omega, His Airbags were fitted in the Door Glove Compartment while mine were fitted in the front passenger seat, now which seat would be easier to remove and fit a swivel seat, as learned Gentlemen think about it, if his seat were removed his airbags would still operate as they are fitted in the door, and if mine were removed would the remaining Airbag operate, as a Gentleman quoted earlier it could go BANG. I wrote to Vauxhall for their advice and the strongly recommended that we do not interfere with Manafacturers specification as this would endanger our warrenty. The Council said they had a letter from Mercedes but no proof of it This case has always been one sided. There is more to be disclose