Taxi Driver Online

Before reading this article I wish to point you at the reference to Taxiwise and their call for all hackney carriage vehicles to be of one national standard. For those who don't know, Taxiwise is the creation of LTI and it is no wonder that they advocate one National standard because we all know that they would like that National standard to consist of LTI type vehicles.

I have made a point of not publishing propoganda from LTI because in my opinion they are a company that has done more harm to the Taxi trade than good. I am sure many of you might take a different view.
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Evening News (Norwich)

August 21, 2007 Tuesday

Norwich has been highlighted as a city plagued with bogus taxi drivers. Today, campaigners called for more to be done to protect the public from rogue operators.

Campaign group Taxiwise - launched because of a growing number of attacks on passengers in unlicensed cabs - named Norwich as one of its areas of chief concern.

It has called for a national standard so all vehicles are instantly recognisable as taxis, rather than each council setting its own rules, which can lead to confusion.

The news comes three months after a man tried to abduct a woman at Norwich railway station.

Two women in their 30s were waiting at the taxi rank when a man pulled up in a silver Mercedes and offered them a lift. They refused and he became abusive. One of the women approached him to ask him to leave, and he tried to grab her and pull her into the car.

Steve Rush, chairman of Norwich Hackney Trade Association, said: "There have been incidents of bogus drivers trying to pick up fares at the rail station in Norwich.

"People should always use a registered taxi or minicab. Hackney carriages can be hailed; private hire vehicles have to be pre-booked and cannot ply for hire.

"There is also a problem in Norwich with taxis coming into the city from elsewhere and picking up fares. This happens on a fairly regular basis. The city council has got its enforcement policy, but how often they carry that out is up to them."

Celeste Clarke, of Taxiwise, said there were an estimated 30,000 unlicensed cab drivers operating across the UK and 5,000 women were attacked by them every year.

She added: "We want police forces to start keeping statistics on attacks by unlicensed taxi drivers. Only the Metropolitan Police currently do this. We would also back what they have done in Coventry, where clearly-defined rules apply on the type of vehicle that can be used as a taxi.

"Passengers can see clearly whether a vehicle is a taxi or not, as everyone knows what a black cab looks like. We would also like to see the authorities doing more to help taxi drivers in places like Norwich to protect their business and to protect the public from rogue drivers."

Three years ago a 19-year-old woman suffered a nasty experience at the hands of a driver she thought was taking her home after a night out in Norwich. The attacker, not a genuine taxi driver, drove off in the wrong direction before pulling over and trying to assault her in the car. She managed to struggle out.
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So if only the Met do this, where do the "UK wide" figures come from?

If they're just extrapolated from the Met numbers then I suspect they're nonsense.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Its just the usual bollox trying to flog TXs

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