Taxi Driver Online

South Tyneside taxis are among the safest in the UK, according to a recent survey.

Results of swoops on cabbies across the UK last year have been compiled by trade magazine Private Hire and Taxi Monthly.

And coming out on top was South Tyneside, with the lowest percentage of vehicles deemed as not meeting the standards set by licensing chiefs.

Of the 50 cabs checked during 2011 by enforcement officers only one vehicle failed to meet the criteria and none were taken off the road.

Bottom of the list was Selby, with 90 per cent of its 21 vehicles stopped and checked failing to meet the standards set by licensing chiefs.

Owner of Biddick Hall and Whiteleas Taxis Mark Wood said: “Being named as the district with the safest taxi vehicles is a credit to the drivers who operate in the borough and to the council.”

Coun Tracey Dixon, lead member for leisure and community safety at South Tyneside Council, said: “The council has an extremely good relationship with local transport operators and we know that the licensed operators in the borough place great importance on the safety and quality of their services.

“This result shows that they are maintaining the highest of standards.”

http://www.shieldsgazette.com/news/our- ... 1-4331270#

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Don't know the details of PHM's survey, but I'd be very wary of drawing any conclusion from it in the way that the article seems to do.

A lot will be down to whether the stops were really random or if they targeted vehicles with obvious faults (blown bulbs etc)

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

When they did our area the results of which are included in the PHTM survey they went up and down the rank visually inspecting taxis first and only sent those with a defect such as a bulb or minor accident damage to be inspected so as gusmac says if the south tyneside results were random checks then its a case of comparing apples and pears as the approach to checks (or compiling of stats) could be very different

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector