Taxi Driver Online

UK Newsquest Regional Press - This is The Lake District

November 3, 2006 Friday

HEADLINE: New taxi signs designed to protect passengers

BYLINE: The Westmorland Gazette

DATELINE: The Lake District

New signs are to be fitted to taxis across South Lakeland in a bid to protect passengers from getting into un-licensed vehicles.

The clear signs will be issued to private hire cars and hackney carriages in the district once their licences come up for renewal to make them easily identifiable to the public and police.

The new system, launched this week, has been introduced because of concerns that few licensed vehicles in the area carry any form of identification other than the obligatory display of a small licence plate.

According to South Lakeland District Council licensing enforcement officer Steve Culleton, ghost drivers' - who are not licensed by the authority but who pick up passengers for a reduced fare - are operating in South Lakeland.

"You are literally taking your life into your hands if you get into one of these cars."

This week two cars, supplied by Hargreaves Vauxhall, which is supporting the scheme, have been on show in Kendal's Westmorland Shopping Centre.

They are carrying the large oval signs, with an SLDC logo, which will be introduced to the front doors of licensed vehicles under the new scheme.

This will have a white background for hackney carriages and green background for private hire cars.

Licence plates affixed to the rear of vehicles, as well as a disk attached to the front windscreen, must now include a serial number, registration number, seating capacity and expiry date of the licence.

Coun Sonjie Marshall, chairwoman of the licensing committee, said the main concern was for the safety and welfare of taxi users.
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