Taxi Driver Online

Private hire drivers caught out in stings



A CRACKDOWN has seen a dozen private hire drivers fined hundreds of pounds for illegally plying for hire in Oxford.

Only black cabs, known as Hackney carriages, can pick up customers in the street.

Ignoring the rules – brought in during the 1960s – invalidates private hire drivers’ insurance.

Oxford City Council’s licensing team launched its first crackdown on the practice just over a year ago.

It sends officers out across the city several times a year to try to catch drivers in the act.

Since enforcement operations started in November 2011, 12 private hire drivers have been caught.

They were fined between £60 and £610, were ordered to pay costs of up to £200 and seven of them received six points on their licences.

The city council refused to give details that would have allowed the public to know the identities of the men fined.

Private hire driver Richard Barlow, 59, said he felt the team did valuable work.

He said: “It’s important for them to do it because private hire drivers aren’t supposed to pick up unless they’ve been booked.

“It does annoy me when I see drivers doing it. I try to report it when I can, but you need to be able to prove it.”

City council enforcement officer Allan Hibberd said the crackdown was to ensure public safety.

He said: “Private hire drivers work through an operator, and if you want their services you have to phone up and book the vehicle and it will be dispatched to you.

“That is the only way you can use a private hire vehicle legally. They are not allowed to stop if someone hails them, and the drivers know the difference.

“This whole operation is about private hire drivers who operate illegally by operating as an unlicensed Hackney carriage.

“If they do that, they’re also committing a second offence, which is more serious, because their vehicle is only insured to operate through a pre-booking system – if they are not pre-booked, they are driving without insurance.”

No reported accidents have taken place while a driver was uninsured over the past year.

In plain clothes, the council officers attempt to hail private hire vehicles or approach them if they are stopped.

If the driver takes the fare, the officers secretly record the vehicle’s and driver’s details on a mobile phone, and then meet Mr Hibberd at an agreed location.

Potentially, taxi drivers can lose their licence, but so far none in Oxford has for illegally plying for hire.

Customers cannot necessarily call up and book the private hire car in front of them if they refuse the fare.

Mr Hibberd said firms allocated their drivers based on availability and fairness, to ensure all drivers get fares, so passengers are not guaranteed to get the one they have flagged down.

source: http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/101738 ... in_stings/

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

COMMENT: Cabbies flouting the law need to feel a tougher justice



TIMES may be hard and, but there is no excuse for private hire drivers who flout the law.

By plying for hire and picking up fares without a booking, they are violating the terms of their licence and breaking the law by driving without insurance.

That’s why the work of Allan Hibberd and his anonymous team is so vital. They are out protecting Oxford’s fleet of black cabs, but they’re also working on behalf of those private hire drivers who obey the letter of the law.

But the question the Oxford Mail wants to ask is are the penalties tough enough? We are told these drivers get points on their driving licences and fines, but are not always banned from working in the city.

The council should not give these drivers the benefit of the doubt. As Mr Hibberd says, they know the rules and choose to break them, which should automatically put them out of work in the city. Customers, council staff and law-abiding drivers should be vigilant, to ensure rule-breaking cabbies learn from their mistakes the hard way.

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/101737 ... ce/?ref=rl

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

and the sad thing is most of these stalkers work for Royal Cars, who like to boast that they have over three hundred cars, yet dont have the work for that many, so the ph drivers just stalk for a living hoping to get that the big fish.

royal cars last had a fare rise in 2006 when it was around £0.90p a litre for fuel, these days its £1.40 and has he put a fare rise in place? nope, he's just busy expanding his fleet.

That is common practice of most ph operators, it is up to the drivers to do something about it if it's not acceptable, but, sadly most don't.

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

by "most" you really mean all

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

No, I mean most. Some leave, I did

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Why?

Those convictions where gained in an open court, so there is nothing confidential about this issue.

Of course if the lazy press attended court a bit more then they would have known first hand.

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IDFIMH

Doesn't look like a plying issue, more an unlicensed hiring issue.

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IDFIMH

typical brain dead mugs thats the drivers, typical PH ponce e of a proprietor with one thought in mind "NEVER GIVE A MUG AN EVEN BREAK"

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All posts by this contributor are made in a strictly personal capacity

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