Taxi Driver Online

Some slightly odd phraseology in this piece, but looks like drivers claiming the problem is the size and prominence of the front plates helping to alert the stone throwers that a 'taxi' is approaching.

Similar issue in Bury a couple of years ago, but from what I can see the Oldham plates are slightly less 'in your face' than the Bury ones.


Oldham taxi drivers slam council policy after attacks rise

https://www.theoldhamtimes.co.uk/news/2 ... acks-rise/


Image: Oldham Times

Taxi drivers in Oldham have reported a huge rise in attacks to their vehicles in recent months which a representative for drivers has said comes down to council policy putting them at risk.

Basharat Hussain, who represents Oldham Private Hire Drivers (OPHDA), told The Oldham Times that drivers operating in the borough have faced an increase in attacks and criminal damage to their vehicles in the past few months.

He said members of the public have caused serious damage to a number of private hire vehicles, which includes throwing items at the taxis such as stones, bricks or “anything large enough that they can get their hands on”.

But while Mr Hussain said those in the trade have become accustomed to violent outbursts, the problem is that the attacks are becoming more frequent and more violent.

Mr Hussain said: “The police usually write the crime off as they struggle to find lines of enquiry.

“These attacks are often carried out after nightfall, leaving no witnesses or possible CCTV coverage and if CCTV is sourced, it’s usually very poor quality due to the lack of light.”

The Oldham rep also criticised Oldham Council’s licensing department for forcing drivers to list their licensing on the front plates of their vehicles in order to operate in the area.

He claimed it made them more easily targeted by vandals.

A successful petition by drivers in the area meant they were able to replace the licencing on their front plates with a small card in their windscreen, which saw a “considerable” reduction in the number of attacks for some time.

Mr Hussain said: “Drivers felt things were getting better."

Yet Oldham Council overruled the decision and reintroduced the requirement for licencing to be visible on the front plates.

He said: “We are back to square one.

“We feel it is only a matter of time before we see a serious injury or casualty, whether it being the driver the passengers in the vehicle or a pedestrian.”

Councillor Jean Stretton, Cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said: “The council are aware of three incidents of damage to licensed vehicles that have been reported since April 2022.

“The perpetrators of this mindless vandalism have no regard for the safety of those travelling in the vehicles they attack or the impact it has on passengers and drivers.

“We are aware of concerns escalated by Taxi Trade Associations and have been discussing ways of assisting, including reducing the size of the front licence plate.

“We encourage any driver to report antisocial behaviour incidents as soon as possible.

“Council officers have offered to meet trade representatives within the next week to discuss their concerns further.”

So does this mean lots of councils elsewhere are failing in their equality impact duties?


Councillors in equality spat over size of private hire car signs

https://www.theoldhamtimes.co.uk/news/2 ... car-signs/


Image: Oldham Times

The council has postponed a reduction in the size of ID plates on taxis after a councillor said it could have a negative effect on people living with visual impairments.

The plates, which are fixed to the back of private hire cars, were due to change until Cllr Louie Hamblett challenged the decision, pointing out that people who have impaired vision could be affected by the change.

Unlike taxis, private hire vehicles must be booked in advance.

Cllr Hamblett met with resident Mavis Berry, who lives with macular degeneration.

Mrs Berry said: “I use taxis to get to appointments or go to town regularly and I struggle to see so it’s important that they do display the ID plates properly so I can tell if it’s a genuine taxi or not.”

Cllr Hamblett said: “This just hasn’t been thought through – and I know that because the report to cabinet tells me that they didn’t look at this.

“It’s very simple – if this makes it harder for people with impaired vision to recognise taxis, it should not be going ahead.

“I’m glad that the council has postponed the change awaiting an equality impact assessment.

"However, this shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

“It’s very telling that no-one on the cabinet asked this question. It seems as though we have a council that talks about equality but doesn’t do the work to achieve it.”

Cabinet member hits back at ‘unfair’ criticism

In response, cabinet member for neighbourhoods, Cllr Hannah Roberts, said the criticism was "unfair", and that text size on the smaller plates would have remained the same.

She said: “Officers are examining the concerns raised by Cllr Hamblett at the latest licensing committee and will bring proposals back to the next meeting in February.

“I think it’s unfair for him to call out cabinet members for not questioning this matter when it hasn’t been to cabinet and the process is worked as it should.

“Cllr Hamblett had a concern about the impact of this, raised it at the licensing meeting - as he should - and then a decision has been deferred until February.

“It is important to highlight that, as part of this proposal the text size on the plate would have remained the same, but the overall plate size would have reduced, with some of the colour on the edges being removed.”

Even assuming every despatch office has that capability (certainly not the case here with our smaller offices of a dozen or so cars and two-way radios), I'd somehow guess the lady isn't booking via an app, or even with a device capable of receiving a communication from the despatch office with the car's registration number on it?

I used to have a regular customer with macular degeneration and for the last 15 years he can barely tell if it's night or day let alone see a license plate so I used to find getting out of my car and saying hello was far more effective !

As a matter of courtesy if you're picking up a visually impaired customer then helping them to the car is much better for them and quicker for you

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

and as for stone throwing there are a lot of visual clues to the vehicle being a PH particularly the door signs which are much larger !

also in the mill towns there is a lot of resentment towards the trade as a result of the large numbers of sexual predators and attitudes towards women exhibited by members of the trade which is possibly a major factor in the targeting of PH vehicles. It is wrong but people in these areas tend to have a more old fashioned value set

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector