Taxi Driver Online

Why were taxi drivers honking their horns in Cheltenham this morning?

Taxi drivers are angry and they let everyone know about it

The tree-lined Promenade in Cheltenham was turned for a short while into a street in Manhattan - gridlocked and full of angrily beeping horns.

The only thing missing was the steam rising from the pavements.

About 50 taxi drivers from the town’s Hackney Drivers Association took to the streets in protests over claims a council policy is damaging their livelihoods.

Cabbies drove from Cheltenham racecourse in convoy, honking their horns, until they reached the Promenade, where they circled around and then tried to enter the side street outside the Municipal Offices which runs parallel to the main Promenade.

Gridlock ensued: As taxis queued to get into the narrow street they backed up along the Prom, and around the corner by the Royal Bank of Scotland into Crescent Terrace. This meant cars trying to get out of the side street couldn’t exit, so the cars backed up trying to get in couldn’t move forward.

All the while honking their horns.

Garry Knight, spokesman for the drivers, said: “We are protesting about the fact that Cheltenham gives licenses to too many drivers. There are 243 in this town compared to Gloucester, which is a city, which has 107 taxi drivers.

“It’s too many and we are not making minimum wage. The town has a need for a lot of taxi drivers for one week of the year but the rest of the time there is not enough work.”

Mr Knight said the drivers did not want to annoy members of the public: “They pay our wages after all. But feelings are very strong about this issue and half an hour disruption was worth it to raise how we feel about it.”

But not everyone was entirely in sympathy.

Chris Smythe, 68, from Cheltenham, said: “I understand why the drivers are upset, but I don’t think what they did was particularly helpful. I think most people just thought 'what’s all this about'. Perhaps it would have been better to protest to the people who can do something about it.”

And Roy Smith, 78, from Eldorado Road, added: “I was caught up in the jam. I think it was all a bit silly and not helpful. Luckily I wasn’t in a hurry.”

GloucestershireLive has contacted Cheltenham Borough Council for its reaction to the protests.

source: http://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/ne ... rns-257187

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

And how does a local authority lawfully restrict the number of taxi drivers?

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Former taxi driver

I think you know the answer to that one

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

Well making entry criteria a lot harder is a start, but then hackney owners and PH operators start moaning there's not enough drivers.

And in London they are trying to limit the mass increase in PH drivers and PH operators are crying like babies over the English tests.

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IDFIMH