Taxi Driver Online

Crackdown on the rogue cabs


Bradford minicab and taxi drivers who break the speed limit, ignore road signs and trick their way out of speeding fines are being targeted in a new crackdown.

Police say some cabbies caught speeding on camera are claiming another driver was behind the wheel at the time of the offence. Others say the driver has moved away and left no forwarding address.

The force's Central Process Bureau, which issues speeding fines, is to tackle the rise in "deliberate deceptions" by boosting its Enforcement Investigation Team. A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "There's a general perception among the public that taxi drivers in Bradford are a law unto themselves.

"There are frequent complaints about taxis being driven at high speeds, not signalling, switching lanes, ignoring traffic lights and even doing U-turns without signalling."

Drivers of private hire cabs are the worst culprits and Bradford and Leeds are the worst-affected areas in West Yorkshire, according to road safety chiefs.

Philip Gwynne, of West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership, said: "We appreciate that taxi drivers have a living to make and that, sometimes, they are in a hurry to get to their destination or to pick up their next fare.

"But they are subject to the same laws as everyone else and if they break the law by speeding, they must expect - and accept - the penalty."

Last year, 36 people were injured while travelling in taxis in the Bradford district - a figure which police described as "disproportionate" when compared to the number of crashes involving other vehicle types.

Councillor Michael Walls, chairman of the Council's Hackney Carriages and Private Hire Panel, said: "If taxi drivers think they can get away with speeding, it's not going to improve their driving., so it's an excellent idea to back up the law.

"Presumably, they tell a pack of lies when they are caught or they say they don't know where the person who was driving has gone. They should not be treating the law in such a cavalier manner.

"We used to have a system where drivers came up before the panel if they had more than six penalty points, but we delegated that to officers because we were getting too many incidents."

look at this site www.thisisbradford.co.uk and go to 22nd feb 06 front page Bradford telegraph and Argus front page shows 3 pictures of cab going through red light into a box junction as people cross the road.