FOURTEEN TAXIS TAKEN OFF THE ROAD - AYLESBURY
(MONDAY DECEMBER 18)
FOURTEEN taxis were taken off the road during a partnership operation last week to make Aylesbury's roads safer during the Christmas season.
The initiative was a joint operation between Thames Valley Police roads policing, Aylesbury Vale District Council licensing officers, Bucks County Council Fleet Management staff (who use the taxis to run children to and from school) and VOSA (Vehicle and Operator Services Agency).
Sgt Dominic Mahon of Thames Valley Police, who led the operation, said: "A total of twenty vehicles were examined by VOSA inspectors, of which 14 were issued prohibitions from further use until repairs have been carried out. Two drivers were issued fixed penalty notices and one was reported for summons."
"This operation was intelligence led, focusing on older vehicles and those where offences were visibly apparent to the officers stopping the cars.
"The majority of taxis and private hire vehicles provide a high quality service to their customers and are a vital segment of Aylesbury's transport infrastructure. We want to support the majority of reputable and law-abiding taxis and private hire operators and therefore make Aylesbury's roads safer."
Graham Groom, fleet management and enforcement team leader for Buckinghamshire County Council, said: "The standard of taxis that we examined was generally disappointing, and of the taxis we found problems with, 75 per cent of those had major defects. This joint exercise proved very helpful for all agencies involved."
Peter Seal, Licensing Services Manager for Aylesbury Vale District Council, said: "Until we start to see a reduction in the number of failures we will continue to support these initiatives and look to penalise those responsible for those failures."
_________________ Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that. George Carlin
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