Taxi Driver Online

Not sure what to think of this. 20% sounds pretty lenient as it is, at least compared to elsewhere.

And even Ford say it's officially only 18%. So to that extent you'd think they might offer a bit of leniency.

But then, where does it stop if you don't have hard and fast rules? Might be different if Ford was saying 21% and the council measuring them at 18%, or whatever, but they're both saying the tints are below the stated minimum.

And you'd think that any driver would have sufficient awareness such that they'd know a vehicle with such obviously blacked out windows would have problems

While since Charles has been quoted in the press, though


Wigan taxi driver forced off the road by tint in new vehicle's windows

https://www.wigantoday.net/news/politic ... ws-5088785



A taxi driver is calling for leniency from town hall bosses after being left unable to work due to a window tint.

Tracy Hibbert, who has been a taxi driver since 1991, bought a 2019 Ford Transit Custom van in August.

But the following month it failed a council test as the tint in the windows was deemed to be too dark.

Tracy was given six months to address the issue so the windows met Wigan Council’s requirement of letting through 20 per cent of light.

However, she was injured in a fall and unable to work, so could not raise £4,300 to replace the windows.

The van has now been suspended for use as a taxi. Tracy has to wait eight weeks before she can appeal and risks losing her taxi driver plates for good.

She is now claiming benefits and dealing with her career as a self-employed taxi driver hanging in the balance.

Tracy, who lives in New Springs, said: “It’s making me ill. My stress levels are going high all the time and I’m on the verge of going to see my doctor.”

While the rule is that tint should be 20 per cent or higher, multiple council tests have scored Tracy’s windows from 14.9 to 15.6 per cent.

She disputes these readings, claiming the device used had not been calibrated.

She says Ford report the tint is 18 per cent and while this is still below the requirement, she believes it should be accepted.

Tracy, 54, said: “They are just not being lenient at all. I’m not asking them to collapse the policy altogether, but give some leeway. I can’t help this vehicle coming with dark windows because they are made like that.”

Tracy has the support of two bodies from the taxi industry.

David Laurie, from the National Private Hire and Taxi Association, said: “With Wigan Council we have made many different offers and invitations to allow them to depart from policy and allow a five per cent tolerance. With five per cent, when you are looking at 20 per cent glass, the difference would be minimal. They said no.”

Charles Oakes, from the Hackney Drivers and Private Hire Association, said: “I think it’s absolutely ridiculous and unjust. We know they have got a 20 per cent policy, but there is absolutely no leeway on that. We have asked the council if Tracy can put a proper CCTV system in, which will not do away with the tint but will help.”

He added: “It’s taking its toll on Tracy. At some points, I have been extremely worried about Tracy’s health and state of mind because it’s really getting to her. The council is expecting her to change her vehicle or put new windows in.”

Julie Middlehurst, the council’s assistant director for infrastructure and regulatory services, said: “In line with standards in place across Greater Manchester, taxis and private hire vehicles in Wigan borough are required to have a minimum of 20 per cent tint on their rear windows, for passenger safety.

“Ms Hibbert’s licence was issued last September with the condition that she resolve this issue within six months. This has not taken place, so unfortunately we have had no option but to suspend her licence until this issue is resolved.”

She could probably plate a car in Wolverhampton for less than that

Easy for us on here to say, obviously, but her best option would have been to dump the car when the issue first arose. She would have lost money, but in the long-term it might have worked out the cheaper option.

Not the best photo for showing how dark the tints are, though.

(And particularly given the kick off about the rape gangs, I doubt this is the best time to look for any leeway on stuff like this, whether or not tints are actually a genuine issue rather than just easy box ticking and virtue signalling by police and councils. And, I mean, 20% )

Caveat emptor

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

The fact that the lady has offered to fit CCTV surely negates any safety issue the council might be concerned about.

I have never read any article or any council or police report indicating that tinted windows have aided an assault on a passenger, never ever never. Yet this safety myth has been repeated many times by ignorant and lazy LOs.

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IDFIMH

Agree, but common sense says should have checked with Council that the tint would have been within the limits before purchasing the vehicle.

Heathcote, agree to an extent, but in reality the vast majority aren't quite as switched on as readers on here, hence what happened above. She probably assumed that because the vehicle was road legal then all it required was the basic stuff normally required to plate it as an HC or PHV.

But this kind of stuff underlines the need for national standards - if there was a nationwide specification, it's probably pretty unlikely this would have happened

Sussex, I recall reading in one of the grooming gang reports about police somewhere having a policy of stopping any car with, er, brown-skinned men with young female passengers to check what's going on

Of course, effective racial profiling/targetting like that was never going to happen on any scale, but I suspect it's stuff like that that's the root of what's become a bit of an official fixation with tints.

And while there's maybe not much concrete evidence to suggest it makes a difference, instinctively it's an easy thing to understand in the very basic sense, so it then becomes a simple box-ticking/virtue signalling exercise. And even if some doubt the efficacy of the policy, they'll be reluctant to speak out against the groupthink

So it's maybe a kind of social/policy contagion like the trans stuff in the news this week. That's taken hold in particular because it's easy virtue signalling for those on the left of politics in particular, and once it's taken hold few want to speak out against it lest they're 'cancelled'

And the tints are probably a bit like the fire extinguisher thing - it's seems superficially good, so few councils will go against the groupthink, and the whole thing just becomes a box-ticking ritual that no-one will speak out against.

In fact, the most obvious example of this kind of thing is probably the tariff card - no one ever looks at them, never mind understands them, apart from maybe the extras, or whatever

But does anyone ever question them, or does any licensing authority do things any differently? I suspect not

Of course, tariff cards aren't directly a safety thing like tints and fire extinguishers/first aid kits, but they've all become box-ticking rituals that can't be questioned