Taxi Driver Online

Blackburn with Darwen taxi drivers 'easy target for vandals’

TAXI drivers have called for help from the town hall to stop their vehicles being vandalised. Cabbies say measures forcing them to display stickers identifying their cars as taxis are making them a target to vandals and thieves.

The signs, introduced in 2006, are displayed on the back doors of the cars, and include the vehicle’s registration number in order to distinguish them from ordinary private cars.

But more than 250 private hire drivers have signed a petition to Blackburn with Darwen Council calling for the stickers to be replaced by a magnetic version which could be removed when the driver is not on duty.

In a letter to the borough’s licensing committee, Nawaz Khan, chairman of Blackburn with Darwen Private Hire Association, said: “The permanent stickers have been in place for three years now, and drivers have encountered more problems by displaying them permanently than they ever did before.”

Mr Khan said taxis were seen as ‘an easy target’ by thieves, and were deliberately targeted and damaged in some parts of town. He said: “Drivers without driveways or garages spend sleepless nights worried about their vehicle, and off-duty taxi drivers are approached for a taxi, and abused when refused.”

Another driver said he had stones thrown at his car when driving into town on his own. A report by the council’s principle licensing officer Donna Riding said around 90 per cent of local authorities insisted on permanent signs.

She said they had been introduced for the benefit of members of the public, who could be certain they were using a properly-licensed taxi, and to inform punters the vehicle had to be pre-booked. According to the report, the number of thefts from taxi drivers had fallen since 2006, with 27 reported in 2008/09.

In 2007 the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of a council in Hampshire to find it was “not unreasonable” to insist on permanent signs, partly to allow people to distinguish between private hire and Hackney carriage vehicles.

The licensing committee will make its decision on Thursday.

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IDFIMH

Permanent signs means you have to go by bus to sign on, as well

I've always had the view the more signage the better. If a vehicle is a licensed vehicle then why hide it?

Thieves will only steal from a car if they know there is something worth stealing that can be re-sold for drugs.

In other words take valuables out of the motor when not working, and none of us should buy second hand radios/sat/navs/CD players from those thieves.

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IDFIMH

This is A contraditory post....It says its Taxi drivers complaining about vandalism because the door signs make them look like Taxis...well...surely the obligatory roof sign Saying taxi would be a dead giveaway with our without door stickers!

Surely its all about PH and nothing at all to do with Taxi drivers...after all...the whole Idea of being a Taxi is that it gets you noticed as being available for hire!

Its PH Bloodnock......and damned poor reporting.

CC

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

I have magnetic signs for my executive car. They are useless. When the weather is a bit cold they go a bit stiff and wont sit flat on the doors. The wind then gets behind them and pulls them off and in doing so scratch the paintwork.

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Grandad,

boo hoo hoo private hire so what

I've had magnetic strips on my vehicle for 9 years and never had any problems with them at all and not lost any either. A simple solution is to warm them up first before applying them to the vehicle if they are cold

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

How often do you take them off Toots?

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Grandad,

Permanent signs means the wife can't use it either.

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Wishing I was in Greenhall Whitley Land.

Mine can!

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Grandad,

On a weekly basis or whenever I don't want to be spotted

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Mags are good if you use them correctly, we're not allowed them anymore, but I will watch this carefully to see how it plays out, anyway, as mentioned if you lay them on a dirty panel you will scratch the paint, although any good paint renovating polish will remove them as it's a laquer scratch, to use them best you should wash the back of them regularly and the panel they go on, roll them up from time to time so the signage is on the outside, this helps keep the corners down, and most important, press them down after fitting and they won't fly off, ours were road tested by the Police, they stuck em on a 5 series and did 130mph up the motorway to make sure they stayed on, unfortunately user error does come into play, we had one lad lost a bonnet crest which flipped up and cut his top light in half, and another who had a hairy as it slapped across the windscreen at 70mph, or so he says anyway, neither of them rubbed them down, simply chucked em on and drove off.

Bang on!!

And that is exactly why they want magnetic signage!!

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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