Taxi Driver Online

Cambridge taxi drivers fight street pick-ups by hire cars


Nearly 150 taxi drivers have signed a petition accusing private hire cab drivers of “tarnishing the name of all taxi drivers in Cambridge” by picking up passengers illegally from the street and knocking over a pedestrian.

Taxi associations in the city, Cambridge Hackney Carriage Drivers Association (CHCDA) and Cambridge City Licensed Taxis (CCLT), have written to the council calling for them to take action over what they claim is an increase in private hire cabs taking on-street bookings despite not being licensed to do so.

Glenn Hall, chairman of CCLT, told the News: “What they are doing is illegal, it is endangering the public and it is taking away the trade of licensed drivers.”

Amjad Sheikh, a night taxi driver for CCLT who put the petition together, said the problem also included overcharging on small fare jobs, not allowing emergency vehicles to get past quickly enough and getting customers to ‘book’ the job after they have been picked up.

He said: “We are appealing to the city council that a handful of wrongdoers are tarnishing the name of all taxi drivers in Cambridge.”

On the knocked-over pedestrian, a spokesman from Cambridgeshire Police confirmed they were called to a collision between a car and a pedestrian outside Cineworld at 11pm on January 27, where a woman suffered minor injuries.

He added: “The driver, a 30-year-old man, was sent on the National Driver Improvement Scheme as an alternative to prosecution for careless driving.”

Rowhi Nemer, the owner of Camcab, a private hire cab company in Cambridge, said it was the case some private hire drivers were picking up fares from the street.

He said: “It’s happening and it should not happen – for the safety of both the drivers and customers.

“We have been told some of our drivers have been doing it and we have had a chat with them.”

He said his company supports the licensing officers in any action they take and said while CamCab trained its drivers, all newly qualified private hire drivers needed training to avoid them breaking the rules through ignorance.

Taxi drivers are allowed to pick up passengers on the street but their private hire peers can only accept bookings.

A spokesman for the city council said: “Nine drivers are currently under investigation for taking customers without pre-booking and are being considered in line with the council’s enforcement policy.”

Jas Lally, head of refuse and environment at the council, said: “We will always begin with educating the licensed taxi trade and provide guidance on appropriate practices, but where this fails, formal enforcement action will be considered.”

source: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cambrid ... 032012.htm

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

Bet that took a lot of persuading.

And a taxi driver has never hit a pedestrian?

Absolutely f***ing pathetic.

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IDFIMH

Wasn't Cambridge deregulated so that this type of stuff didn't happen??

After all this is one of the argument put forward by the deregulationists that in a free for all market, ph would not do illegal pickups?

Aren't we supposed to look up to our peers?

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Grandad,

Can't remember anyone saying that. Did you make this up?

I recall that too.

CC

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

Yes, no doubt you recall that, but the truth of the matter is likely to be a lot different

Now your just being nasty at 7.30 in the morning.....it'll stay with you all day y'know.

CC

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

Dodge the issue, why don't you.

Looks like it's left to Mr 187ums to substantiate his claim then

The search facility of TDO isnt working correctly ffs.

CC

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

What stuff?

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IDFIMH

No excuse

As I said last year you can use the Google site search, whic is in fact a better search tool than the forum's search facility:

An alternative is to use the Google site search function, which in a way is better than the search function on here, even assuming it was working.

For anyone who doesn't know it, if you wanted to search for threads on the Bristol blue colour code, for example, type this into Google:

site:taxi-driver.co.uk bristol blue

Or you can use the usual Google refinements at the same time.

For example, to search for posts containing only the exact phrase "bristol city council" and the word blue type in:

site:taxi-driver.co.uk +"bristol city council" +blue

making journeys safer – removing quantity restrictions and increasing the number of licensed taxis will reduce the need for illegal taxis where neither the driver or vehicle have been subject to appropriate quality and safety checks. Last year around 1.8 million people used an illegal taxi, exposing themselves to potentially serious safety risks

the OFT said it.

CC

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

Isn't that obvious.

If more vehicles are licensed to pick up from the street then less illegal hirings will take place.

However ridding the world of taxi quotas doesn't mean illegal hirings wont take place, just fewer will.

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IDFIMH

You miss the rather large elephant in the room which is London.....the bastion of the free market - there's more illegal hirings there than anywhere else.

CC

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