Taxi Driver Online

Borough taxi crackdown planned in run-up to Christmas


A TAXI crackdown between police and Dudley Council is being planned in the run-up to Christmas to improve customer safety.

Council licensing enforcement officers and cops will be hitting the streets on covert operations to ensure hackney carriage and private hire vehicle drivers are operating within the rules of their licences.

The planned pre-Christmas operations follow a successful operation held on October 11 in the Stourbridge and Lye areas where around 20 vehicles were checked.

The checks ensure private hire drivers are only taking pre-booked customers and not collecting people who hail them down without making a reservation.

Hackney carriages will also be checked to ensure they are running their meters appropriately from the start of all journeys.

In the October operation all eight hackney carriages checked used their meter appropriately.

Only one of 12 private hire vehicles inspected collected passengers without a reservation - the driver of which is currently the subject of an investigation before any action is taken by the authority.

Councillor Richard Body, chairman of the taxis committee, said: “The hugely successful operation this month showed the vast majority of taxi drivers are obeying the rules of their licence which is very pleasing and reassuring for customers. “We will be looking to carry out similar operations in the run-up to the busy Christmas period to help maintain these high standards and enhance the safety of the public.”

Private hire vehicles in Dudley are white vehicles with a roof sign. If members of the public do not pre-book them before travelling they will not be insured for their journey.

http://www.halesowennews.co.uk/news/107 ... Christmas/

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

Only one vehicle found to be operating unlawfully, yeah HUGELY successful operation. They make it sound like they'd just liberated a small country.

Certainly needs another operation as there seems to be a massive problem with drivers obeying the rules in Dudley.

Why is there a presumption that insurance will not cover a ph car that carries a passenger that is not pre-booked? My ph insurance cover me all the time, no stipulations about how or when the passenger books or not.

That would be the same as these insurance companys saying that they will cover the wife to drive even if she doesn't have a badge. You know that they can't.
I think you will find that if you are not acting in accordance with your licensing comditions, ie. picking up a fare that has not pre-booked, your insurance company will not pay out for any damage to the vehicle. However, the passengers will be covered.

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Grandad,

What exactly is the minimum amount of time required to qualify a job as being pre-booked....if a man booked me for a run tomorrow evening as I met him on the pavement in passing then that would be ok..he pre-booked. would it still be a pre-booking 2 hours, 2 minutes or even 2 seconds before that same man requested a run home in a PH..

In Paris it will be 15 minutes.

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Grandad,

Oui.

Goodness me, such a in-depth mass check will have drivers quaking in their boots.

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IDFIMH

Because they are thick.

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IDFIMH

0 mins, 0 secs.

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IDFIMH