D-Day For 6-year Age Limit On Leeds Taxis Plan
7th July 2009
A crunch meeting of licencing bosses today was expected to push through a controversial new six-year age limit for Leeds's taxis.
Bosses want to drop the age limit for private hire and Hackney carriage vehicles to six years from eight.
Cars over six years old would have to go through rigorous annual tests to be allowed back on the road.
Drivers must also keep pristine service records.
They face prosecution and huge fines if they don't comply with the tougher safety rules.
The proposed overhaul has led to a chorus of disapproval from the trade, with one consultation meeting last month turning into chaos as more than 500 drivers turned up. The meeting was eventually abandoned,
A petition signed by 600 drivers has now been presented to the council.
Many drivers believe the new restrictions are harsh compared to other cities and fear increased costs could send many of them out of business.
However as reported in the YEP last month, hundreds of Leeds cars failed rigorous council-enforced safety tests, which led to the new proposals being drawn.
Today, despite the objections, licencing bosses were due to rubber stamp the proposals. However they have conducted a minor u-turn on the original plans.
The post-six-year tests will now be done once a year rather than twice, and the cost will drop from £60 to £30.
Despite the change, taxi representatives are determined to halt the overhaul process.
Javed Akhtar, who chairs the Leeds Private Hire Association and was due to speak at today's meeting, urged licencing bosses to "use common sense and reject this policy".
He insisted the standards being applied in Leeds were unnecessarily harsh and said a passenger survey of 700 people, done by drivers, had resulted in a 100 per cent approval rating.
Despite the ongoing debate, licencing chiefs say safety is paramount and are warning drivers they will be prosecuted if they don't comply.
Officers insist the new rules are "not a big change in respect of drivers" adding: "We have often prosecuted them whilst on the roads but have become alarmed at the dangerous state of vehicles being presented for inspection".
The YEP reported last months that just 138 of 740 private hire cars which were ordered to attend the council-enforced MOT-type test had passed first time.
Just 27 out of 115 Hackney carriage cabs were declared fit for service and 859 'fail' marks were recorded on 473 cars.
Council leader councillor Richard Brett said the figures were "frightening" and defended the licencing overhaul.
If pushed through, the new procedures will come into effect immediately.
Source; yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk
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