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TODAY’S TAXI PROBLEMS HEAD ON
Mike Shingler, who for the last five years has been the secretary of the Birmingham and Solihull Taxi Cab Association tells there are all manner of problems which needed addressing as soon as possible. The association was founded in 1920 and the elected members have made it their business over the years to look into and try to solve the many issues which occur in the cab trade.
Drivers Safety and Low Level Crime clarification.
“We look into the underworld of the taxi trade in the region. We go beyond the usual issues of finding enough ranks and trying to get higher fares agreed for our drivers. With 85% of our drivers belonging to the Asian community in Birmingham, we do have some issues to address there, but mainly our concerns at the moment cover six key areas. These include driver’s safety, policing, drinking hours and loutish behaviour, taxi marshals and the on-going problem of Broad Street in Birmingham.”
“We always have to wait for the local authorities or acts of parliament to change anything, but we feel that if we can bring some key issues to the media we have a chance of influencing the eventual outcome”.
“Just looking at the problem of criminal offences against taxi drivers, we need the legal and police position to be clarified. Various bodies have been looking into this, including the Police Reform Act of 2002, but nothing concrete has been decided and the official attitude has been luke warm, to say the least. Violence against taxi drivers is on the increase and is part of a rising national statistic. In Birmingham we have between 1,300-1,400 black cabs as well as four times that number of private hire vehicles. After London and alongside Liverpool, we have the largest fleet of cabs in the country, so it is vital that it is established categorically just what does constitute legally punishable violence against cab drivers".
"At present, it is generally classified as low-level crime and unless a taxi driver is actually murdered, it is not considered a top-level crime at all and rarely warrants a media mention. This is just not acceptable, as violence against our drivers in on the increase all the time – and nobody seems to care. We need to know what weaponry our taxi drivers can legally use against an attacker. Is there anything we can carry to defend ourselves? Is it OK to use a hair spray or air-freshener spray? There was a scheme in Birmingham some time ago, which toyed with conditional cautions (to avoid prosecution by promising to pay for damage) against violence or against non-payment of fares. Now we want that scheme to be operational officially and nationally. Any damage to a cab should be an arrest able offence, as should non-payment of fares. It is illegal to leave a restaurant without paying, so why should the same rules not apply to leaving a taxi without paying? What we need to know is what constitutes low-level crime and when does a crime become a more serious offence?”
Binge drinking and related violence
“We have yet to see how the extended licensing hours will affect the situation in the long term, but the problem is bad enough at present and is getting worse. Our taxi drivers are convinced that mixing “Red Bull” in drinks is extremely dangerous. It makes people more aggressive, physically more powerful and belligerent and fires up the young people who drink it to feel that they can do anything they want. They feel invincible. Red Bull is banned in many European countries, including France and we would like to see the same legislation here".
"The binge situation across the country is getting worse and the fact that people can get drunk very cheaply and adding Red Bull to their drinks is a major worry. Students in Birmingham can get a double vodka and Red Bull for as little as £1.99, which means that for £10 they can have 5 Red Bulls – and get extremely drunk for very little money. It is not how much people drink now, particularly young girls, but what they mix into their drinks in order to get drunk faster. The level of aggression and violence from potential fares after they have been drinking in this way is frightening and my drivers simply do not want to pick up these fares, particularly late at night. After a night drinking of Red Bull mixed with spirits these youngsters are looking for a fight and the girls are simply not capable of looking after themselves, except to refuse fare payment using their own brand of violence. No wonder rape and other violent crimes are on the increase".
Motorised wheelchair problems for cab drivers
“Since 2000, all our cabs have the statutory wheelchair access and all our new applicants attend the Council Endorsed Day Course which costs them £50. The law is well known in that you are obliged to carry dogs belonging to a disabled person and to see that they are safely strapped in and that their wheelchair is also secure".
"The problem is that a motorised wheelchair can weigh up to 250 kilos without its passenger, but if you add to that the often considerable weight of the disabled owner, then it needs a terrifically strong restraint to hold everything in safely in place. Unfortunately, they cannot be secured properly and in Europe there is no strain test in place at present for testing the restraints which are in use. This is a major issue for us. If a cab has to brake hard at even 25-30 miles per hour, these restraints are simply not strong enough to ensure passenger safety".
"There are over 250 different types of motorised wheelchairs on the market and we are not happy to have the responsibility of having them in our cabs, as it puts not only the passenger but also the driver and others at risk. But we are not allowed by law to refuse to take a disabled person in the motorised wheelchair as a fare, so what is to be done? There have to be some legal and safety answers soon, before there is a major accident".
"A report is being prepared by The Department of Transport but it will not be completed for some time – and certainly not in time to solve the immediate problem for our drivers. We need to know what are the implications in law on this subject. Who is culpable in law and are our drivers within their rights to refuse to take a motorised wheelchair and passenger until the retraining straps have been fully tested and approved"?
Touting and illegal plying for hire
“On this issue we need councils to enforce the law against bogus taxi drivers. At Heathrow there are dedicated teams who can arrest illegal touts and we need that sort of policing in Birmingham. It is very difficult to prove touting and it takes time and patience to collect enough evidence to prove a private hire vehicle is picking up a fare illegally and not just giving a member of his family a ride"!
"Plying for hire illegally is notoriously difficult to be sure about, so we need more official backing to put a stop to it now. There is a Birmingham “Name and Shame” web site which is working well, but there is still more which can be done. We are encouraging people to give us the evidence we need to nail these illegal drivers. There is not enough being done with enforcement of this particular law”.
The problem of the notorious Broad Street in Birmingham
“Broad Street, along with Arcadia and Hurst Street which is in the Gay Quarter of Birmingham, has long been a difficult area, as has nearby Chinatown. Along with the problem of binge drinking, marshals were introduced into Broad Street and then withdrawn. However, the marshals have now been reintroduced, but we feel that more measures need to be taken to protect our cab drivers if they are to continue to risk their safety in these almost no-go areas of the city".
"Our drivers are being encouraged to work the city centre at night, but even though the money is enticing, I feel disinclined to ask them to risk violence just for a few more pounds in their pockets. The price is just too high without more safeguards. The position is Broad Street and surrounding areas is complete mayhem at present and it remains to be seen whether the introduction of the marshals again will improve matters enough for our drivers to feel it is safe to work there after dark. There are taxi marshals in Solihull which are working successfully, so we are hoping that 2006 will see an improvement in Birmingham’s main trouble spots too”.
"The new Super Ranks recently introduced in Birmingham and Solihull are cordoned-off areas managed by Taxi Marshals employed by the respective councils, wearing highly visible uniforms, who are experts in crowd control and have direct radio links with the police. This hopefully will mean safety for revellers getting home between 10pm and 4am on Friday and Saturday nights from now on – and a easier ride for the taxi drivers".
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