Call For 'Cabs' Colour Code
4th October 2008
Today the M.E.N. calls for ALL private hire cabs in Greater Manchester to adopt a united colour scheme to beat bogus drivers.
Licensing chiefs promised a crackdown on fake taxis following the tragic death of Salford university graduate Rachel Thacker more than a decade ago.
Manchester has already ruled that its private hire cars must be either white or silver and display prominent yellow city council branding.
Now safety campaigners say the colour rule should be expanded across the county, making it easier for the public to spot private taxis and make it harder for bogus cabbies to tout for business.
Although by law these private hire cars must display licence plates and cannot be hailed on the street, politicians acknowledge that both drivers and customers often ignore this rule.
Manchester made the move to standardise all 2,000 of its private hire fleet five years ago following the brutal murder of 22-year-old Rachel, who was killed following a night out in the city centre in 1996.
Manchester MP Tony Lloyd said : "What Manchester has done works. Private hire cars in the city are immediately identifiable and I think it should be extended so they have the same identity across the region."
John Byrne, the former Bury council leader who has campaigned for a region-wide colour scheme immediately following the student's death, said: "Councils across the region could put their heads together to chose a single colour with individual markings for each borough, or opt for a distinctive colour for each borough. Either way, it would make cabs easy to identify.
"It would improve public safety. And I think that any responsible cab firm would think it a good idea. If they did have to have their cars re-sprayed, then some financial help could be offered to offset the costs."
Safety charities also backed our campaign.
Ann Elledge, from the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, which campaigns for women's personal safety, said: "A large section of the travelling public still have difficulty recognising a legitimate, licensed cab from a tout.
"Most people do not realise that an illegal cab probably has no insurance and there is no recorded information about the driver. Any initiative that helps both locals and visitors to identify legal mini cabs should to be applauded."
According to Department of Transport figures, there are 8,000 private hire cars in Greater Manchester.
But private hire firms are sceptical that a single colour would make private hire vehicles more recognisable
Bryan Roland, general secretary of the National Private Hire Association, said the costs would be hugely probative for cab firms and that it could cost up to £3,000 each to re-spray vehicles.
He said: "If you ask people how they know that a vehicle is a private, then they will tell you it is because of the stickers, plates and other livery.
"There is no point changing the colour of a car, when it's quite clear that it already has a logo on the bonnet, the name of the firm on the windows and plates on front and back."
Bolton MP Brian Iddon said the responsibility for personal safety lay with cab-users.
He said: "Unless you're from out of the country, you should know that private hire cars should not be flagged down. If people are ordering them as they should and the cars are clearly identified and the drivers are displaying their ID, then there should be no need for them to be more recognisable."
However, one local cab boss Michael Thorpe, from Salford's TenTen cabs, said he would be open to the move in principle, but added a more distinctive colour should be chosen.
He said: "Silver is the most popular colour for cars. About 30 per cent of vehicles are silver. There would be no point making them that colour that wouldn't distinguish them from the vast majority of other vehicles."
None of the other nine Metropolitan districts which make up Greater Manchester, currently has a policy on the colour of private hire cars licensed by them, though Rochdale council stipulates that they cannot be white or beige, to avoid confusion with its fleet of hackney cabs, some of which are white saloon cars.
Licensing manager Beverley Wilkinson said: "Our current policy is working well and we don't have any plans to change it. Our Hackney fleet comprises black carriages and white saloon vehicles. Private hire vehicles can be any colour apart from white or beige.
"To make identification easier all vehicles in our Hackney fleet have roof signage with white plates at the front and rear. Private hire vehicles have red plates to the rear and clear door signs."
Licensing officers in Wigan have looked at the possibility of trying to standardise the colours of private hire vehicles within the borough, but head of licensing Maurice Dearden said: "We didn't feel in the end that there was any real justification for doing so. One of the factors was the cost element involved in many vehicle owners having to re-spray cars to comply with any such policy, and there is no real safety issue involved."
A spokesman for Bolton council said the idea of standardising the colour of private hire vehicles had been put forward for discussion, but there is no current policy.
Salford council currently has no plans to change to a standardised colour policy, but a spokesman said: "Private hire cars licensed by us have to fulfil a number of requirements which help make them easily recognised as legitimate operators.
"They include council taxi plates front and rear, the proprietor's name on the car, and stickers warning the public that they are not insured unless the car is pre-booked."
Oldham, Tameside, Stockport, Bury and Trafford say they currently have no policy on the colour of private hire cars they license, and at the moment there are no plans to introduce one.
Source; Manchester Evening News
ALSO;
Confusion Over Colour Of City's 'Cabs'
4th October 2008
THE M.E.N. found confusion when it went on to the streets of Manchester to find out if people knew the city council will only licence private hire cabs that are silver or white.
The authority introduced the policy five years ago, but many people using the cabs to get home after a night out are still unaware that those two colours are the only legitimate cabs registered by the council.
Other parts of Greater Manchester have not adopted the policy and confusion remains.
When the M.E.N. carried out a straw poll of 50 people, 29 said they didn't know the colour of the council licensed private hire cars. Sixteen said they were white and five said silver.
Steve Thompson, from Prestwich, who works for IBM said he wasn't aware that licensed private hire cabs in Manchester had to be white or silver.
He said: "Personally, I don't worry about safety in cabs but I generally ring a firm from home, where the people know me. I think it would be good if all the cabs were the same colour, yes, definitely."
Student Abbey Wrench, from Burnley, said she tried to avoid getting cabs because of the cost but that if she did use one after a night out it would be a Hackney Carriage black cab.
She said: "Black cabs are always there and you know you are getting into a taxi."
David Payne, from Burnley, who works as a chef in Manchester city centre, said: "I think it is a good idea for all the cabs to be the same colour.
"I won't let my girlfriend get into a taxi without me. Because of all the stories I have heard about bogus taxis there is not a chance I would let her get one alone. I always make sure there is enough time for me to meet up with her."
Burlesque artist Bella Taylor, from Whalley Range, said: "Without a doubt it would be a good idea for the cabs to be white, silver or whatever colour they decide upon but it is also important that people know about it, otherwise it won't make a difference."
She said it was important for employees to be able to ensure their staff got home safely after working a late shift in the city centre.
Blu Foichat, general manager at the Contact Lounge, who lives in the city centre, said: "I had no idea the cabs had to be the same colour. Most of the time I wait for the cab to stop, the first one with a badge I assume is my cab.
"The cabs should carry details about who is driving and the name of someone to refer to if you need to make a complaint."
She said there had been incidents where cab drivers had been abusive or bullying towards staff they had been called to take home and said it was important they were accountable.
Sandwich maker Vicky Moon, from Blackley, said she would not get into any private hire car, preferring to stick to a Hackney Carriage instead.
She said: "I go out about once a month and I always make sure I get a black cab because I don't want to get into a situation where security is a risk.
"It has to be a black cab even though there are not enough of them on the streets."
On numerous occasions she had seen men posing as private hire taxi drivers to prey on drunken women and that she told her friends to be on their guard and always get a black cab to be on the safe side.
Source; Manchester Evening News
Login
Register
FAQ
