| Taxi Driver Online http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/ |
|
| City council to act on bogus taxi plates after Herald probe http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9565 |
Page 1 of 1 |
| Author: | captain cab [ Mon Sep 29, 2008 12:50 pm ] |
| Post subject: | City council to act on bogus taxi plates after Herald probe |
City council to act on bogus taxi plates after Herald probe Tommy Gorman, president of the National Taxi Drivers Union, said signs can be bought easily for a couple of hundred euro. DUBLIN City Council is to table a discussion on bogus taxi plates and decide what action can be taken to tackle the problem. Cllr Edie Wynne (FG) said she will be asking the city manager "to investigate the use of taxi signs that can be purchased by anybody for €200, especially in view of the obvious dangers that could occur for unsuspecting taxi clients and with particular regard to the fact that we are moving towards the busy Christmas period". "When you hop into a taxi, you don't look for details at first. "If you're cold, wet and waiting to get a taxi at night, you're relieved when you see a taxi sign. I consider it a potential danger for people," she said. The councillor is hopeful that the Dublin city authority might be able to play a role in tackling the problem. "I'm hopeful that we can raise it in the Joint Policing Committee with Dublin City Council. We will see what other steps we can take to highlight this and protect citizens," she said. Cllr Wynne will be tabling her question at the next monthly meeting of Dublin City Council in October. Her move comes less than a week after the Herald revealed that bogus taxi roof signs were being bought by people who don't have a licence. Obtainable Tommy Gorman, who is president of the National Taxi Drivers Union (NTDU), told the Herald the signs can be bought in some Dublin shops for just a couple of hundred euro, without professional taxi identification. "Anybody can buy a taxi sign for €200. They don't always ask who you are," says Mr Gorman. "There are eight outlets around Dublin selling these taxi signs." Mr Gorman says that he was outraged after he himself bought a sign without hassle. "I told them I had a driver on the M50 who was in a crash and a truck driver drove over the taxi sign and destroyed it. "They told me it'd be ready in an hour for €200. They're selling signs and you require no ID to buy them," he said. "It's an unfortunate thing. God knows what's going on." Mr Gorman says he was amazed that not even other taxi drivers at ranks noticed when the signs he bought had the exact same licence numbers as each other. "I bought two taxi plates with the same number and we paraded them around Dublin, one of them on a private car, and no one noticed." Disc Meanwhile, the Commission for Taxi Regulation has said that each licenced taxi, hackney and limousine has a "tamper proof disc on its front and rear windows confirming the vehicle". "This disc is fitted by the National Car Testing Service as part of the licensing process," said a spokesperson, who added that they, "along with the gardai, carry out regular checks." |
|
| Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC [ DST ] |
| Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/ |
|