Taxi Driver Online

28 Feb 2008

Private Taxi Drivers Given Warning

Private taxi firms illegally plying for hire will be the target of a Derby City
Council crackdown.

In Derby, only the yellow hackney carriages are allowed to pick up
passengers who have not booked journeys.

Private firms, most of whom have saloon cars, are not permitted to pick
up passengers from the street who have not booked.

If they do, the driver's insurance is invalid, which means passengers
would be unlikely to receive compensation in the case of an accident.

A monitoring operation was launched last summer by the council's taxi
licensing section using mobile CCTV, and recently two licensed private hire
drivers were fined £200 each after pleading guilty at Southern Derbyshire
Magistrates' Court to plying for hire without a hackney carriage licence.

They were fined £100 each for driving without insurance, ordered to pay
£100 towards the council's prosecution costs, and each received eight
penalty points.

Councillor Hardial Dhamrait, pictured, chairman of taxi licensing and
appeals in the city, said the council would carry on clamping down on the
illegal activity.

"The council takes the issue of public safety very seriously and will
continue to crack down on private hire drivers who illegally ply for trade,"
he said.

"Although it is reassuring to note that only two drivers were charged as a
result of the exercise, I hope that the penalties imposed will act as a deterrent.

"It is vital that members of the public do not risk getting into private hire
vehicles without first making a booking, as there is no insurance."

Source: Derby Evening Telegraph
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