Minicabs taken off road in signs dispute
Saj Akbar, of Broadway Luna, with his minicab sign displayed on the doorSaj Akbar, of Broadway Luna, with his minicab sign displayed on the door
Eight minicabs have been taken off the road in the last month for not displaying new mandatory door stickers which show the name of the private hire firm and that the vehicle can only be pre-booked.
The enforcement action by Bradford Council follows changes which were agreed in April last year.
The Council initially gave operators until the beginning of December to comply and allow time for the new permanent decals to be designed and fitted, which was then further extended by a month until January this year.
Council bosses believe it is important that the public should be able to easily recognise the specific firm they are using, and that they are less likely to flag down private hire cars, which is illegal, if they clearly state they are “Pre Booked Only”.
But a petition signed by more than 350 drivers has now been gathered objecting to the permanent nature of the stickers, which they claim will damage paintwork, incur additional cost and be of no greater advantage to public safety.
The new rules state that private hire vehicles must: l display side decals of a maximum A3 size and minimum of A5 which are fixed on either each front or rear doors l the decals must indicate the name of the private hire operator and the words PRIVATE HIRE and PRE BOOKING ONLY l the decals must also be approved by the Council’s hackney carriage and private hire service and comply with the Council’s advertising policy.
In a report, Carol Stos, the Council's fleet and licensing manager, states that other neighbouring authorities operate similar policies and that permanent stickers were much cheaper than the magnetic variety.
They also found that the use of permanent stickers minimised the chance of a vehicle being suspended for failure to display the required stickers, and the magnetic ones were much more likely to be lost, stolen or forgotten.
“The petition has caused confusion amongst the private hire trade through promulgation of factually incorrect information,” she states in the report.
“In the interest of fairness, the licensing department therefore decided that as long as an approved door sticker was displayed, permanent or magnet, then enforcement action would not be taken until the petition was resolved at committee.
source: http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/n ... s_dispute/
Passenger safety must come first
Having mandatory door stickers imposed upon minicab drivers which set out the rules under which they can be legally engaged might well feel like an imposition to them, but the arguments they raise against complying with this ruling do not really outweigh the benefits to the public.
There is still confusion in the minds of many people about the differences between private hire cabs and hackney carriages: only the latter can be flagged down and used for journeys without any pre-booking.
Thus Bradford Council instigated a campaign of mandatory notices fixed to private hire cab vehicles which sends a message out to the public that they cannot be hailed in the street and must be booked in advance.
Too many times unwary travellers have flagged down what they believe is a taxi only to be hitching a ride with an unlicensed driver. At one end of the spectrum, this may mean there can be insurance issues if the vehicle is involved in an accident.
At the other, if a driver is masquerading as a licensed driver they might have far darker motives than simply making some tax-free money.
Having a distinct system of liveried hackney carriages and private hire cars with clear mandatory notices on them solves any confusion and increases the safety and well-being of the travelling public.
While the drivers say they are not against the idea of notices fixed to their cars and that the debate is over the actual format of these stickers (apparently there are concerns over damage to vehicle paintwork), it is in everyone’s interests to have the matter satisfactorily concluded for the benefit of public safety.
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/n ... ome_first/
And how would someone flagging down an approaching vehicle see the stickers on the side anyway ?
