Taxi Driver Online

Last night the traffic police decided to check all the cabs on the rank and all those that could not get on
They where checking the cab 2 up from me when I got a fare, so pulled off and they stopped me, and told me to turn my meter off and pull into a space that had become available in front of the one they where checking.
They checked all docs, tyres, and first aid and fire extinguisher, and all lights, this took 10 Min's they then told my passenger she should have used the 1st cab on the rank as that was the law, I told the officer that the customer can take any cab off the rank and he should go and read the 1982 act before making any more stupid comments, he just waved me on as everything was in order.
She told the officer to feck off in Polish, that she wants the cheapest one, not some dipstick who smells, I asked her what she said after

When I returned to the rank I found out several had been red carded for minor issues like bulbs out 1 never had his fire extinguisher so went and got it so they lifted his red card, and 3 or 4 had received fines for tyres just below the limit

Was Mr Murdoch at the Scene Skip?

No none of the taxi inspectors where there, and I have never seen these traffic police before either, as I know the ones who work locally, this all happened between 4 PM and 6 PM

It all happens in Skippy land.

Bet the copper appreciated you telling him the law.

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IDFIMH

Make a formal complaint.

Particularly make the point that these officers were applying a law they clearly did not understand and demand an apology.

It's also worth asking what law the officers were applying to interfere with, and impede, a citizen - your passenger - going about his/her lawful business.

Point out the arrogance of the officers and make the point that you don't want to live in a police state.

Copy the complaint to your MP, councillor and the head of licensing, and the local press.

A copy on here would be useful too.

BTW You can always count on a quiet Monday or Tuesday night for fascist cops, with nothing better to do, to get a few notches on their belt and take the easy option to get their arrest stats up so as to keep their box ticking superiors happy.

Finally, remember these antics the next time the cops ask the trade for help with any matter. They treat you like scum, isn't it only fair for you to treat them equally?

BTW2 We have ID cards, so do cops. Whenever you are interviewed always require them to formally give you their number, and make a point of writing it down, for the complaint you are going to make. They are required by law to give you this.

You are also entitled to ask to see their warrant card which they should carry at all times. You are not bound to assume that anyone in a uniform or driving a police car is a bone fide officer.

They will not allow you to hold the card to record information, but you are entitled to a reasonable period of sight of the card to record the information you need. Sensing a complaint, cops will flash you their card to show they are complying with the law, but this is insufficient. If they fail to allow you to record the information then you are entitled to assume that they are not bone fide officers and you are therefore also entitled to insist that the duty officer attends the incident. Allow them no other course of action until the duty officer does attend and advise them that you are recording all details for your formal complaint.

Finally again, when you are stopped with a passenger on board, try to persuade your customer to also make a formal complaint. Try to impress on them the importance of doing so.

Remember, these are random checks, they are not the consequence of a specific complaint. Cops do not have the same rights of Nazis in pre-war Germany or the South African suss laws. If we don't want them to have such draconian powers we have to make a stand now.

FFS is it any wonder your stopped by them

He was trying to give you advice skip, and I think he has a point.

CC

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

Just out of interest skip, those that got fines for under the limit tyres - how did they reach this conclusion ? Did they actually measure the tread depth using a gauge or did they 'look' under the limit based on an officers judgement ?

No idea how they came to that judgment, but the drivers where not amused, I did witness one of them shining a torch at a tyre and looking, when he checked mine
If they got red carded for one reason or another its there own fault, I always keep a copy of all my docs and make sure my cab is always road worthy and being a one man band that's the way it will stay
What I don't understand is though, both taxi inspectors checked every cab about 3 weeks ago and they all passed, but they always send letters out to owners giving the date of the checks, and if you dont turn up they phone you to get it done

Checking the tread depth on a tyre is not rocket science. Tyres have a moulded in "gauge" of their own. If you look at your tyres you will notice that there is a raised bit at the bottom of the tread at various points around the tyre. This raised bit is 1.5 mm high. If the tyre is worn down so that the raised bit is coming into contact with the road then your tyres are illegal. Some tyres also have another raised bit set at 3.0 mm because that is the recommended tread depth at which to change your tyres.

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Grandad,

Checking tyres is fair enough.........but to be Checking Fire Extinguishers and First aid kits would be a matter for the LA and bugger all to do with Plod.

I'd forgotten about that. Wonder how accurate it is though, is it exactly 1.5mm or 1.5mm +/- 10% ? I'm being pedantic I know but the law is 1.5mm not 10% either side of that. Also if your tyres are 1.5mm they're legal, it's below that they are not, so if the wear indicator is in contact with the road all it means is the tyre is at 1.5mm (legal) not necessary below. I doubt a copper with a torch could tell if a wear indicator is at 1.4mm or 1.6. Two tenths of a mm is a very small amount !

Notwithstanding that I'd say the wear indicators were a guide only and for a successful prosecution the tread would need to be measured with a proper gauge. I can't see tyre manufacture being a precision science with accuracy of .x's of a mm. Although neither can I see tread gauges with this accuracy either !

legal limit is 1.6mm

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Not really sure how they do it, but I suspect if it's borderline then they'll give you the benefit of the doubt, and will only give you a ticket if it's self-evidently under.

And anyway you're skating on pretty thin ice if you're getting into the realms of a tenth of a millimetre - most people will probably replace their tyres way before a tenth of a millimetre really becomes an issue. Isn't there around 8mm of tread on a new tyre? Surely it should be replaced before you start quibling about 0.1mm?

Also, you only need the tread over a certain proportion of the tyre, and since no tyre will wear completely evenly once you start talking in tenths of a millimetre then it all becomes very messy.

By the way the markings are called 'tread wear indicators' and this picture from Dartford Tyres shows them well:



http://www.dartfordtyre.co.uk/page009.html