Taxi Driver Online

Taxi war of words over image of profession

Official figures released today showed that 90 per cent of complaints lodged with the council were against black cab drivers. The figures were seized on by private hire car drivers who had been accused by their rivals of being responsible for the biggest part of the problem.

The Scottish Taxi Federation (STF), which represents black cabs, recently claimed that the "vast majority of disputes" recorded by the council involved private hire cars.

But the official figures showed that 90 per cent of the 286 complaints investigated by the city council since 2001 were levelled against black cab drivers. Today, private hire operators condemned the remarks made by STF chairman Jim Muldoon.

The figures also show that more than a third of the complaints made against private hire firms were made by rival black cab drivers themselves. Kevin Woodburn, chairman of the Edinburgh Private Hire Association, said: "It’s time the public was made aware of the facts. We were upset about the statements made by Jim Muldoon as there was no evidence to back them up."

Mr Woodburn, who is also a director of Direct Cabs, said there were 800-900 private hire vehicles operating in the city. There are approximately 1400 black cabs in Edinburgh. Mr Woodburn said: "The majority of these stories are put about by the taxi trade who compete with us for business. They are trying to keep us down."

Local authority and police reports say more than 650 alleged offences involved cab drivers in Scotland in the past year. These included assaults, carrying weapons and possessing drugs.

But Mr Muldoon, who is also a director of City Cabs, today defended his claims that private hire companies cause the majority of problems. "When I talked about private hire cars tarnishing reputations, it was in a wider context than just complaints. We have concerns about private hire drivers picking people up on the streets, for example, which they are not licensed or insured to do."

The STF called for greater control of the private hire industry and raised fears that anybody with a valid driver’s licence, regardless of whether or not they have any criminal record, can apply for a private hire licence.

Mr Muldoon added that the council’s complaints report could not be taken as accurate. "The public do not make a distinction between private hire cars and black cabs," he said. "People lodging a complaint could make them against ‘taxis’ and not appreciate the difference. So I don’t think the figures can be trusted. "But I would say, over the whole of Scotland, more complaints are made against private hire drivers than taxi drivers."

The council report showed that 42 per cent of the complaints were for "bad driving" while 31 per cent were due to "bad language" and 11 per cent for "overcharging". However, Mr Muldoon added: "Taken in the context of the hundreds of thousands of journeys which have been made, I would say the total number of complaints is very small."

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IDFIMH

Oh dear, definitely a case of .

Clearly a graduate of the T&G school of scaremongers.

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IDFIMH

Must be something to do with capital cities.

Both have cab trades led by w****rs.

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Happy to be legit.

Ninety percent works out at 257 complaints against Hackney drivers. Leaving only 29 against Private hire drivers. I wonder how that statistic stacks up with the rest of the UK?

Regards

JD

In my most honest opinion, I think that the 10% number is far too high a %.

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IDFIMH

Well the report earlier said that the council's figures differentiated between black cabs and PH, so presumably Mr Muldoon thinks he knows more about how the figures are collated than the council.

I mean, are the council really going to record complaints made against a 'taxi' and leave it at that?

At the very least they are bound to ask whether it was a black cab or a saloon car, and if the person didn't know then would the council record this as a complaint?

Mr Muldoon clearly cocked up first time round and is just trying to dissemble his way out of it, but just digging a biger hole for himself.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

And in London, mincabs are driven by them . . . . . .

Tjhank god i'm as white as they come.