Taxi Driver Online

Perhaps they dont trust him, after all he campaigned for Ken!

I'm PH.
TBH I think twice a year mot's for london PHV's is a good thing, it keeps the drivers on thier toes and helps keep the vehciles safer. TBH before the testing came in alot of PHV's were complete buckets!

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stressed controller!!!

nothing new up here anyway (for PH or HC,s)

though the "mid-term" inspection/test could be 3 months into the year or almost at the end of the year.....................

It could be my paranoia here but it's just rare to find things going our way; we lose the 6 monthly but the PH have to retain their 2 MOT's a year. Could this be the perfect excuse for PCO/TfL to pull over more taxis yet ignore the PH as they still have "2 inspections a year" ?

Excuse me if i'm cynical but the way things work in London you would think that the PH guys are the professionals the way they are lauded by the PCO/TfL and the Taxi drivers are the 2nd raters!!



And can anyone give me a definative answer on how many PH/Taxi drivers have lost their licence because of touting ?

I agree, what has really surprised me is the way the so-called best can't handle a twice yearly check.

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IDFIMH

nothing to do with "not handling a twice yearly check" but ask yourself why should we have to have a second inspection when for years one inspection sufficed ? The additional cost was never factored into any fare increases, it was just assumed that we would find the extra money for any extra costs resulting from these inspections.

Check for yourself our record regards road safety both before and after the mid year inspection was introduced, i would imagine (i have no official figures) that there wasn't a sudden reduction in fatalities because of the mid year and equally i'm sure that there won't be as a result of having it removed...........rest assured dear friend that TfL and the PCO are already working out a plan to ensure that we will pay for this somewhere along the line.

What % of cabs do you think would pass a full MOT 6 months after their one annual inspection.

If your answer isn't 100%, then that's your reason.

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IDFIMH

Why stop there, why not have a monthly inspection and we will see SGS rig the results as they have before to show it is needed.
Last year Peter Hendy at a transport committee meeting said the mid term inspections were vital, as 29% failed. As soon as Boris mentioned he wanted to scrap the mid term the failure rate suddenly shoot up to 40%.
The fact that almost 25% failed through not having their meter certificate with them, or failing the smoke test because the drivers arrived early and switched off thier engines, he left out. As this was meant to be a "safety check" they had no right issuing stops on these vehicles.
Mechanics at garages said it was easier to pass the yearly overhaul than the half yearly safety check.
This is something the LTDA, LCDC and Unite should have sorted out long ago.
It does not matter how efficient or safe your cab is, they can always find something wrong.
Most drivers are now thrilled at the news, just a few odd balls who don't think it is justice.

Maybe they should have compromised, like in Dundee, where taxis are tested from once to three times a year, depending on age.

I think quite a few councils do this these days.

And before anyone states the obvious, I know age isn't necessarily a good indication of vehicle condition etc, but nothing in life is perfect.

Seems like common sense to me.....however I think the testing regime in London is a little more taxing than the provinces and they dont do the miles.

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

That's no reason at all, of course you wouldn't get 100% pass rates 6 months after; you get brand new cabs off the production line failing their overhauls and as thomas has said you get a fair few failing because of non-mechanical faults such as wrong tarrif sheet showing, misplaced paperwork and wrong insurance certificate on show, none of which, i'm sure you would agree are life threatening!

None life threatening....but basic fails nevertheless.

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

So what exactly is an 'overhaul' - it doesn't sound like the kind of thing a new vehicle would fail.

When i bought my TX1 (10 years old now) it went up to the PCO to be plated but failed the inspection because of an overtightened wheel hub (there may be a more technical name but i'm not that mechanically minded). It was a simple case of returning to Mann and Overtons on the Holloway Rd and getting the fault remedied before re-presenting at the PCO for plating.

I wouldn't say it's a common occurance but it does happen from time to time, lets face it, not every vehicle that comes off a production line is 100%.



Sure they are fails but are they really worthy of an additional expense to a driver ?

As i've said i'm, glad to see the mid-term inspection go, both my cabs have been up for them and both have passed, indeed i haven't had a cab fail an overhaul or 6 monthly for many years now as i'm very strict with my maintainance and use a good mechanic.

how do you work that out?

monday 1 job 350 miles round trip
last night 1 job 100 mile round trip
2 weeks ago 1 job 180 mile round trip

so in just 3 jobs i did 630 miles....

(did others too)