Taxi Driver Online

Taxi drivers and police row over casino parking

A row has broken out between Dundee taxi drivers and the police over the collection of fares outside the new G Casino — with some drivers threatening to boycott the entire city centre at kicking out time.

Graeme Stephen, chairman of the Dundee Taxi Association, hit out at the road policing team's policy of moving drivers on from picking up punters outside the casino, on West Marketgait.

Mr Stephen complained that officers are telling drivers not to park in the clearway outside the casino but move to the other side of West Marketgait where taxis traditionally pick up the hordes of party-goers leaving Fat Sams and Liquid nightclubs.

However, Mr Stephen pointed out that that side of the carriageway is also a clearway and criticised the police for not operating a consistent policy. He said, "We're getting told you can't sit outside the casino because it's a clearway but my opinion is the police are there to uphold the law, not make it. If they are going to say stop it on one side, they should stop it on the other side for Fat Sams.

"There's some weeks go by and nobody tries to move you but every third week or so they tell us you can't sit here. "Taxis sit on double yellow lines at Deja vu and the DCA. If they are going to move us on from one place, they should move us on from other places. They keep changing their mind and they are not consistent."

Mr Stephen said moving taxis to the other side of the road is extending the queue right down West Marketgait as far as the petrol station, while encouraging people leaving the casino, often intoxicated, to cross the dual carriageway.

"Surely the situation of people crossing the road with a drink in them is far less safe than us sitting outside the casino at a time of night when taxis are about the only traffic about," he said.

Many drivers have become so frustrated with the situation they are now threatening to boycott the city centre in the early hours of the morning. Mr Stephen said, "A lot of taxi boys are talking about not coming into the centre of the town for a few hours and letting the people walk to them at the bottom of Lochee Road, the bottom of the Hilltown and the bottom of Perth Road, which is going to make trouble for the police."

Inspector Alan Szwec acknowledged how much more difficult the city centre management team's job would be were taxis to stop picking up punters in the town centre. He said, "The taxi drivers provide a good service and we are not looking to drive them out of the city centre.

"They help us disperse people from the city centre and I'm grateful to them for getting people home safely but we have to keep the roads safe not just for taxi drivers."

Inspector Szwec said far from placing a stringent ban on taxis picking up fares outside the casino doors, the police are exercising a bit of common sense. "Officers have used a bit of discretion at the casino," he said. "They have got to manage the road. Once it starts building up, taxi drivers will actually be on the carriageway, which is a danger to other motorists.

"It's not just taxi drivers using the roads at that time of night. There are also people coming down to pick up their friends and relatives after a night out. "When the nightclubs start kicking out we need to look at the safety of people who run across the roads. We are in a Catch-22."

Responding to Mr Stephen's assertion that it was better to collect drunk punters from the casino door, Inspector Szwec said, "We can't start saying it's better to pick up people because they've had a drink. "The premise should be to look at selling alcohol responsibly to people. We look at the full picture."

Mr Stephen ruled out the option of taxis picking up punters from the courtyard to the rear of the casino as, being private ground, his insurance policy would not cover him in the case of an accident there. Instead, he called for a reduction in the hours that the carriageway actually qualifies as a clearway.

Inspector Szwec said a more likely solution would be another taxi rank in the area. He said, "It's not that police have anything against taxi drivers. They are trying to enforce the law. I would love to be able to allow them to do their business how they see fit but we must do so within the parameters of the law.

"What we are looking at is some provision of a taxi rank, which I would probably guess is something on the agenda with the city council."

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IDFIMH

Wot a load of old boll***s.

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IDFIMH

when they sit on the opposite side of the clearway to pick up from fatties the traffic aproaching them can see them from a distance, they are also visable when sitting outside the DCA and by deja vu
when they sit outside the casino they are not visable to the traffic aproaching from behind as they park on the clearway just after a roundabout

perhaps this is why the police are inconsistent, and i bet Mr Stephen would be the first to complain if someone came flying round the corner and went up his arse

suzib76 i see you have been a member for two years and this is your first post,i take it you dont have the usual qualifications for posting on this site,
a / a very angry taxi driver
b/ full of drink and went on the internet
i sometimes have both qualifications
you are of course right about the casino situation,last fri i was in the fat sams queue and was watching a cabby pull onto the casino line,i think he was the sixth cab,as soon as he stopped he turned his head watching for vehicles coming around the corner,he sat like this for over 10 mins before moving up and then facing forward,even if a car did come around the corner sharply their is nothing he could have done,i think the answer is a three cab rank with any other cabs sitting there being charged ,its only a matter of time before an accident happens ,all the cabbys know to come around the corner at a wide berth but the public dont

Besides all that, welcome to TDO.

CC

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