Taxi Driver Online

York's taxi drivers to be trained and checked on disabled passenger safety



TAXI drivers in York are set to be trained and checked on how they cater for disabled passengers in an attempt to stave off potential tragedies.

The move has been proposed by City of York Council’s licensing bosses following the death of a 14-year-old wheelchair-user in Birmingham which led a coroner to rule that she might have survived a taxi crash if extra safety measures had been in place.

The authority is now set to recommend that drivers of a wheelchair-accessible hackney carriage and private-hire vehicles in York undergo additional assessments of their ability to transport disabled people and giving them the opportunity to take extra training.

At an inquest in July last year, Birmingham and Solihull coroner Aiden Keith Carter said Ramzan Begum’s death “may well have been avoided if her wheelchair had been secured in the taxi” and that he hoped Birmingham City Council would give “serious consideration” towards stepping up safety.

In a report on the issue, which will go before York’s licensing and regulatory committee this week, Richard Haswell, head of licensing, said: “Currently, we do not require drivers to have any relevant training, nor do we have any assessment of their competence to safely transport passengers in wheelchairs.

“The Birmingham incident highlights the necessity for the licensing authority to ensure all their drivers are suitably trained and skilled to transport their passengers safely.”

He said the Driving Standards Agency’s wheelchair exercise would be available at its York test centre from April and that licence requirements for taxi drivers should be amended to ensure they have passed both this test and a council-run disability equality training assessment.

The city currently has 37 hackney carriages and 27 private-hire vehicles which are wheelchair-accessible, and the report says taxi associations are backing the proposals. If approved at Friday’s meeting, the new licence rules would come into force in June for hackney carriage drivers and November for their private-hire counterparts.

source: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/

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

I thought York had the NVQ?

CC

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

In potty training....?

The NVQ isn't training tho is it

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

With a BTEC attachment ffs

CC

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

That's not training either

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

OK.....then this just proves that the NVQ & BTEC are not fit for purpose.

CC

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

http://www.york.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2008/december/PR392

York's Taxi Drivers gain NVQsPosted on Wednesday 10 December 2008
York's Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Drivers are celebrating this month after 22 drivers gained an NVQ Level 2 in Road Passenger Vehicle Driving.

The drivers took part in a ground breaking training programme at York Rail Academy earlier this year on a course designed to improve the professional image and skills of the city's taxi drivers. Since the course started in January, over 100 drivers have taken part.

The course covers issues such as customer care, disability awareness, dealing with awkward customers, health and safety legislation and route planning. It has been provided by City of York Council, the Yorkshire Rail Academy and York College and has been funded by the Learning and Skills Council's Train to Gain Scheme.

John Lacy, Licensing manager at City of York Council, said: "City of York Council is committed to working with the taxi trade to raise the standard of service provided by York's taxis and improve the quality, performance and image of the taxi trade.

"I'm delighted that the first 'graduates' from the course are being presented with their awards."

The first 'graduates' from the course will be presented with their awards by the Lord Mayor of York, Councillor Brian Watson, at the Mansion House on Thursday 11 December.

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

You can put it in bold all you like but talking about it and not doing anything is hardly what I'd call training

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

Still think the council have sold the trade a pup, then again, maybe the trade sold the trade a pup, either way, were talking pups.

CC

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

Even as an NVQ assessor I still think drivers should be trained and not NVQ'd. If they put practical in with the Btec it may be a worthwhile course. Oh yes and change that pi$$ easy test at the end of it

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

A number of drivers did the NVQ & Btec here and said, while it was ok and raised some obvious points here and there , only did it because it was free, panicked as there was a rumour went around that all drivers had to have the Qualification by 2012...... When funding ran out would have to be paid by the drivers!! Driver's here have enough trouble paying their license fee's!!
The council here have still not adopted it because one group (NVQ) argued against another group (B tec), one was better than the other!!? Seems to me is who ever gets government money (our taxes!) to give so called "driver training" is really money for old rope. Lets face it ....it's really a test for the really thick headed imbeciles that somehow have managed to get into the trade.....
Since then the drivers who were hoodwinked into doing it, have admitted that it was probably a waste of time as it hasn't got rid of the drivers they had hoped for. It doesn't require much imagination to why the rumour was put around..... English and numeracy tests.... nudge nudge!!

And as for calling those that have passed it "graduates" you would think they were getting a ruddy degree or something..... Honestly what a load of B******s!!!

Different councils in different areas have adopted different tests and some haven't adopted any. Some councils have replaced a knowledge test with a Btec ffs. It's another one of those things that doesn't seem to go across the board with regards to what is required to become a taxi/ph driver.

As I've said before as soon as something becomes mandatory the funding dries up. The funding for the Btec dried up years ago in most if not all areas and that's when the NVQ band wagon was rolled out. Funding for the NVQ was readily available and although most areas don't require an NVQ drivers are doing the NVQ so they get the Btec free (which is more often than not thrown in). The Btec costs approx. £150 although in some areas it's as much as £250.00 which the driver would have to pay for if they didn't undertake the NVQ at a cost of £1,800 via the tax payer.

If drivers are genuinely concerned about the cost of the NVQ on the tax payer and it is not required by their council then don't do it. Just do the Btec and put your money (as little as it is) where your mouth is.

Personally I think if drivers are that disgruntled about the current provision of training they should do something about it instead sitting there and complaining to each other and achieving nothing.

Here endeth my rant

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

As if

CC

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

Ok. Here endeth my rant for now

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