Taxi Driver Online

Crackdown on taxi touting

A new blitz on private hire taxi drivers illegally touting for trade is to be mounted in Wolverhampton.

The rogue cabbies are to be targeted in scores of enforcement swoops mainly in the city centre over the coming months.

The latest in a series of crackdowns was unveiled at a meeting today of the council’s licensing committee, which is responsible for issuing permits to the trade.

Over a 12-month period, 17 drivers have been successfully prosecuted for plying for hire in Wolverhampton and fined an average of £179, apart from court costs.

More recently, three cabbies were fined between £200 and £500 by city magistrates for the same offence, and a string of prosecutions are in the pipeline.

It was also revealed that even tougher sanctions could be on the horizon for council-registered drivers caught flouting the law.

Apart from court action, their taxi licences could be immediately revoked and not renewed for at least five years under proposals being considered by council officers.

At present, permits are suspended for just two months.

Councillor Keith Inston said: “This demonstrates that we mean business in tackling this serious and long-standing problem.”

A new campaign to alert the public about the serious risks of “flagging down” is also to be launched.

All any council needs to do to stop this is to add a charge of driving without the correct insurance.

Usually the min penalty is 6 points. So catch them twice and the courts will remove their license.

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IDFIMH

As if by magic, a court has taken note of my thoughts.

http://www.whitehaven-news.co.uk/news/v ... ?id=484277

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IDFIMH