Hull taxi driver's anger as he's pulled over by police because baby was sitting on mum's knee in car
https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hu ... es-1931027
Steven Leadley was driving on the A63 with a one-year-old sitting on their mother's knee
Image: Hull Daily Mail
A Hull taxi driver was told he would be prosecuted for something that is “completely legal”.
Steven Leadley, 64, was driving a female customer and her one-year-old child across Roger Millward Way on the A63 on August 15, when a police officer on a motorbike pulled the private hire car to the side of the road.
After the officer told him he was breaking the law for carrying an unrestrained child in the back seat, Mr Leadley was then told he should expect notification of his prosecution in the post within 28 days.
“I’ve been a taxi driver for 39 years and I think I know what the laws are,” said Mr Leadley.
“The baby was sat on the mother’s lap in the back of the car, and the law states that can happen up until the age of three.
'The law was never broken'
“The officer knocked on my window and told me it was an offence, and I told him it wasn’t. Then he told me he would ring me within 24 hours if he was wrong, otherwise I would be facing prosecution.
“I still haven’t received that phone call and nobody at Clough Road police station can get hold of any traffic officers.”
Mr Leadley went straight to the licensing department of Hull City Council, which oversees the rules and regulations of taxis and private hire cars.
They provided him with a copy of the laws stating taxis and private hire cars are allowed to drive with unrestrained children under the age of three if they are held by an adult.
He said: “I took the sheet of paper straight to Clough Road police station and they said they couldn’t get hold of anybody in traffic because they’re based in Welton.
“I went back the next day and they still couldn’t get hold of anybody, so now I’m awaiting prosecution for a law that was never broken.”
A summary of the seat belt laws for cars, taxis and private hire cars states for children under the age of three a correct child restraint must be used.
However, if one is not available in a taxi then the child may travel unrestrained in the back.
What the police say
A spokeswoman for Humberside Police said: "Our first consideration is always for the safety of those using and travelling on the region’s roads and our Roads Policing Unit have understandably stopped to speak to the driver on this occasion.
"On considering the circumstances of this particular case, there appears to be no specific offence under the road traffic legislation, or any contravention of the taxi licence conditions, of carrying a child under three years of age in the rear of a taxi and we will be contacting the driver to advise him accordingly."