Taxi Driver Online

TAXI drivers are being forced to carry around the paper part of their driving licence after one Worcester driver managed to ferry passengers around for two years despite being banned.

Worcester City Council licensing committee voted to add the stringent condition to the taxi driver handbook at a meeting on Thursday after learning that one driver – who was not named – failed to tell officers that he had been disqualified.

The new rule means that all drivers who are stopped must produce the paper counterpart of their valid licence on the spot or within seven days.

If they do not, penalty points will be endorsed.

The handbook already makes it clear that drivers should notify the council within seven days of incurring any motoring convictions, including fix penalties.

In his report, licensing officer for the council Carl Phillips said: “Regrettably, it has come to the attention of the licensing sub-committee and officers that numerous licensed drivers do not adhere to his particular condition, and as a result, these drivers appear before the sub-committee for determination of the renewal application.”

Officers hope the slight, albeit strict, change in rules will help stamp out the problem.

Speaking at the meeting a lawyer for the city council said: “This comes out of a case where a DVLA licence had been revoked and it wasn’t found out for two years because we hadn’t had sight of the counterpart licence.”

Before this change, officers inspected drivers’ DVLA licences when they applied to become taxi drivers and when the licence was renewed every three years.

This new condition states that licensed drivers must keep their current counterpart licence within the licensed vehicle when carrying passengers.

A copy of Worcester City Council’s Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Handbook, which sets out rules such as all drivers must be Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checked, is available to view online at worcester.gov.uk


http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/825 ... f_licence/

so then.................

he was driving while disqualified, lets see, wouldnt the police ANPR cars know (its almost unbelieveable he hadnt been seen in 2 years), its also hard to swallow that no other driver in the town hadnt seen his court case in the papers, or maybe he was a "jockey" meaning his gaffer/car owner hadnt checked his badge+licence for 2 years?

the driver was guilty of offences for sure, but i think the LA were equally at fault for failing in quite a few areas.....

(i have to produce my 2 part DVLA licence to rebadge each year)

Does ANPR know who is driving a car at any given time? I thought that ANPR checked if the vehicle was stolen, taxed or insured.

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Grandad,

True...Automatic Number Plate Recognition would not in iself prove who a vehicles driver is.....you would require FCR's ..Face Recognition Cameras..which some police apparently use in Conjunction with ANPR systems..

if the DisQual was the owner id have thought the ANPR would throw it up, plus theres the "markers" that intel will place on vehicles

ANPR will throw up insurance, MOT and "info"

Surely other drivers in the same area saw the guys disqual in the paper?

if he was a jockey his HC/PH badge (paper section) should have been lodged with the owner of the vehicle, if the LA issued a badge not having seen his DVLA licence we know who to blame

It was always my understanding that all drivers had to carry their docs. They were just given 7 days to produce because it was more sensible not to carry them

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

To do routine checks that would pick up a disqual driver?

Doubt it - as Mr T said the other night, some people believe there are fairies at the bottom of their garden

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Caledonian Cabbie

Never heard of that one before. I thought owners generally just looked at the badge?



Well I think the LA had seen the DVLA licence, problem was he didn't inform them of what happened subsequently.

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Caledonian Cabbie

May I refer you to section 48 of the 1847 Act?

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IDFIMH

My apologies. The Scottish legislation only goes back to 1982

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Caledonian Cabbie

1 thing i do object to is that should i cease driving a cab/PH i must hand my badge in to the LA, even if ive just paid for a new one, if they want a whole new fee/CRB if i decide to drive again in 6 months i guess they want paying again...

so i hope im never ill..............

Speaking at the meeting a lawyer for the city council said: “This comes out of a case where a DVLA licence had been revoked and it wasn’t found out for two years because we hadn’t had sight of the counterpart licence.”

so tell your LO that hes sacked then.........

Edit

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Caledonian Cabbie

I wonder about these things;

Firstly, I can't see their byelaws being updated therefore wtf legal standing has a handbook?

Secondly, They must do 3 yearly licenses, which makes a point I made many years ago about three years being a stupid period to issue a license for.

Thirdly, So much for the courts and police all working together!

CC

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

It's called the multi-agency approach or something like that. It means that there are lots of different government departments waiting on each other to actually do something.

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Caledonian Cabbie