Taxi Driver Online

UK Newsquest Regional Press - This is Essex

October 9, 2007 Tuesday

Council proposals target taxi drivers

Ryan McCarthy

Braintree And Witham Times

Taxi drivers will need to be better prepared for the roads and better dressed if council proposals are given the green light.

Tonight members of Braintree council's licensing committee will discuss whether to adopt a penalty points scheme and a dress code for drivers.

The penalty point scheme will have no legal standing but will indicate if more action should be taken against drivers who persistently breach licensing conditions.

Cabbies will also have to smarten up their act in the fashion stakes if a second proposal is given the go ahead.

In August committee members supported the idea of introducing a dress code for licensed drivers and one of the changes could see drivers having to wear shirts and polo shirts, instead of T-shirts and collarless tops.

If drivers fall foul of dressing smartly and maintaining a clean and tidy appearance then they could receive penalty points under the proposed scheme.

You might expect cabbies to be up in arms over the proposals but Alan Smith, chairman of Braintree, Witham and Halstead Local Taxi Association, said he can see a logic behind most of it.

"Some of the proposals are okay and they are mainly for smartness.

"I object to the baseball cap proposal because sometimes in the summer wearing a baseball cap stops the glare of the sun in your eyes.

"There are one or two issues but there's nothing wrong with keeping drivers smart because they get a lot of bad press and could do with making sure everyone is smartly dressed," said Mr Smith, 56.

A council spokesman said the proposals would make the existing system of dealing with offenders more effective and serious offences will remain liable to regulatory action.

The committee will make their recommendations at tonight's meeting and consult with the district taxi association before any changes are implemented.
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Why should a council dictate what type of clothes a driver has to wear .

At the end of the day as long as we are clean in hygiene then what is the problem .

Do they tell a pub licencee or a licenced bookmaker how they should get dressed

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=z07K29Fc15U

Imagine if we had the power to tell them what to wear

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=z07K29Fc15U