Taxi Driver Online

If deregulation works - visit Durham on a Saturday evening!

URGENT talks are planned to tackle traffic chaos plaguing a city centre.

Durham Police say Claypath, Durham, has been “like the Wild West” late at night for months now, with thoughtless taxi drivers blocking the road while competing for trade.

Early on Sunday morning, officers took the unprecedented step of closing Claypath to taxis for an hour from 1am, after an ambulance became blocked in.

Today (Monday, October 13), Chief Inspector Andy Huddleston defended the move, saying it was a last resort and the police had “genuine concerns for public safety”.

Further talks have been called for later this week in the hope of finding short and longer-term solutions.

Adrian White, Durham County Council’s head of transport and contract services, said it was unacceptable for cabbies to cause disruption on highways and urged them to adhere to guidance and principles on where they can and cannot wait.

“We will work with the police to find the best possible solution in the long term and will continue to support them in their efforts to tackle these issues,” he added.

Two drivers were given fixed penalty notices for causing an unnecessary obstruction with a motor vehicle and police are trying to trace a third driver who they say failed to comply with the instructions of a police officer.



Adrian Fets, of Durham Independent Taxi Association, said the closure was immoral and unlawful – “victimisation in its clearest form”, but Graeme Mountford, an ambulance driver, backed the move, saying it was a nightmare attending an incident around Claypath.

Cabbie Clare Stewart said the culprits should be stripped of their licences and Lee’s Taxis, of Sacriston, said both the council and the police were to blame for the problems.

Taxis in Durham have been a problem since at least 2011 when the council liberalised the trade, allowing huge number of cabs to operate in the city.

Numerous traffic schemes have been tried. Currently taxis should park on the A690 sliproad near the Prince Bishops car park, but many illegally stop on Claypath, waiting for revellers to flood out of the nightspots of Walkergate.

source: http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/

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

Why is it that when taxi drivers act like utter f***wits they blame deregulation, or there are too many cabs?

Drivers act like f***wits because they are f***wits.

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IDFIMH

A lack of enforcement is the problem, not deregulation.

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

Is 'liberalised' another word for fecked !!

Waterloos always been a mare.

you say that like there's no waterloo in durham

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

I do not know what the deregulation affect has had in Durham but if it is like in Cardiff then I can understand the position.

10 years ago there were something like 450 hacks in the City = plenty for everyone. Today we have something like 967 hacks! We have more per head/pro rata than London. The problem being is that the proverbial cake has been cut in half - and then we have the so called recession biting even more into the cake, basically less than half of the cake being left that was there before the greed of the councils took over. We then had one a.hole of a councillor wanting to licence even more, but was shot down by the association, an Asian councillor or two & the police themselves who finally realised that the City centre is constantly the same as Durham.....blocked up/gridlocked because it is dog eat dog regarding whatever trade is out there, you can disperse them - but as soon as the police are gone....the bees return to the jam/honey pot - the blockage/gridlock continues. This situation, and make no mistake, is caused by deregulation having the effect of reducing drivers earnings.

This is not the time to point the finger at the drivers who have had their lives decimated - this is the time to point the finger at greedy L.A's/Councils who have built nice careers out of the drivers licensing fees.

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Common sense........is just not that Common.

I've witnessed the problems in Durham only the other month when visiting relatives. It's carnage to say the least.

If there's a busy rank it will be like a magnet to drivers. You can't blame them for working the busy ranks.

I hate to say it but in Cardiff drivers are consistently in areas that are zig zagged, in one case outside a big "Burger King" that does cause problems. Literally the whole of the City Centre is yellow lined outside of the ranks that hold around 6/8 cabs at any one time, so what are the drivers supposed to do ? as they (The Council), have made it impossible to do the job lawfully. The problem being is that the majority want to do it correctly, unfortunately without the proper layout to do the job the rag bags have won the day by consistently flouting the Highway code, by being prepared to put their licenses on the line - but! picking up job after job ( a risk reward situation). The consequence being is that the police who are stretched, hang around for a while, as soon as they are gone.........the cabs are back to now what is basically the norm.

The finger of scorn should be pointed at the Councils/L.A's.

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Common sense........is just not that Common.

Personally I'd have said sh*thole

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

Like you I don't want to get into the pro anti deregulation issue on this matter, but when you say taxis doubled where did all those new owners come from?

I suspect many were existed taxi journeymen or ph drivers, who were meeting a demand of sorts at the time.

The reason why it's grim in many areas is because the world has run out of money.

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IDFIMH

They came from the likes of Consett, Crook, Stanley, Bishop Auckland - little towns that have little work on a weekend but swarm into the City on a Saturday night - these vehicles were previously in different boroughs, but the council went unitary - and did away with the zones.

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

In our particular situation it was a case of deregulation, and then it was.........come up with a WAV, and we will give you a plate, as opposed to paying 15/20K. Year one was very good, year two was not too bad, but by year three the numbers had started to filter through and were making a difference/a bad difference. Ever since then coupled with the so called "Recession" it has been difficult to say the least.

The bottom line is that when you hear of drivers behaving like Tw*ts.....it is because they are desperate...caused by the Tw*ts at Council/licensing.

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Common sense........is just not that Common.