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Safety Courses For Northampton Private Hire Drivers Who Break The Law


Private hire drivers who break the law in Northampton will be made to attend a Safety Awareness coursePrivate hire drivers who break the law and pick up passengers illegally in Northampton will be made to attend a Safety Awareness course


Safety Courses For Northampton Private Hire Drivers Who Break The Law
Northampton's licensing committee will next week (30 April) be asked to introduce safety awareness courses for private hire drivers who pick up passengers illegally.

Unlike black cab drivers, it is against the law for private hire vehicle drivers to pick up people who flag them down on the street. Any who do are breaching the conditions of their licence and are not insured to drive.

At the moment licensing enforcement officers seek to prosecute offenders through the courts, but such prosecutions take time and are expensive. Recent court closures have also had an impact on the length of time it takes for cases to be heard.

Education courses, similar to speed awareness courses run by the police, are considered to be an effective alternative to prosecution.

A course to re-educate offending drivers was piloted by licensing officers between October 2012 and March 2013. Offenders caught picking up passengers illegally during this period were offered the opportunity to accept guilt, a caution and pay a £200 fee to attend a safety awareness course. As well as testing their awareness of the law, knowledge of the Highway Code, offenders were confronted with the possible consequences of their actions. All those who took part in the pilot found the course of value.

Adopting safety awareness courses would bring the town's licensing authority in line with other enforcement agencies that already offer an educational alternative to prosecution. Far from being a soft option, the courses are seen as a way to change attitudes and behaviours and speed up the time it takes to bring offenders to task. Any drivers committing another flagging offence after completing the course would also face immediate prosecution and the possible loss of both their driver's and private hire vehicle licences.

Licensing committee will consider whether to introduce safety awareness courses at its meeting on 30 April. The meeting starts at 6pm at the Guildhall. Anyone wanting to register to speak on the issue is asked to telephone the council's democratic services department ahead of the meeting on (01604) 837722.

http://www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/Northampto ... ak-The-Law

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

Safety awareness courses!!!! What has that to do with illegal touting? Surely a big fine and a course in the law with regards to who can and who can't ply for hire would be more use.