Taxi Driver Online

Driver used unlicensed vehicle as taxi



A private hire driver has been fined £600 and ordered to pay £600 costs for using an unlicensed vehicle as a taxi without valid insurance to transport school children.

Hadi Azwar Salih (34), of Loire Court, Peterborough, appeared before Peterborough Magistrates’ Court today (Thursday 6 September 2012) and pleaded guilty to using an unlicensed vehicle for hire or reward, driving without insurance and failing to comply with a lawful request.

The court heard that on 5 January 2012 Salih used an unlicensed vehicle to transport two Peterborough pupils to and from their home address. As payment was made for the journeys the vehicle should have been licensed and tested as a private hire vehicle and insured accordingly.

The incidents came to light when the grandmother of the pupils contacted the city council to check whether Salih was allowed to use his own vehicle under the terms of the contract. An investigation carried out by the city council’s Licensing team discovered Salih had used his own unlicensed Chrysler Seabring on at least two occasions to undertake the journey. In addition to the fine and costs, Salih also received eight penalty points on his licence due to the seriousness of the no insurance offence. 
Councillor Peter Hiller, Cabinet Member for Housing, Neighbourhoods and Planning, said: “In order to carry out private hire work a driver is required to hold a private hire driver’s licence.

“Any vehicle should also be tested and licensed and all work must have been booked in advance via a licensed private hire operator. As Salih had used an unlicensed vehicle he invalidated his insurance.

“As a professional driver Salih had a duty of care to his passengers and on this occasion he failed in that duty, allowing the pupils to be carried without valid insurance.

“Licensing the private hire trade protects the travelling public, ensuring that drivers and operators undergo the appropriate security checks and the vehicles tested and checked to insure they are appropriately insured.

“A decision will now be made regarding the driver’s private hire licence.”

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news ... -1-4232031

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

I wonder how many 1000s of times that happens throughout the country.

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IDFIMH

Doesn't make it right

ive SEEN it happen but its hard to prove "after the fact"

parents and schools need guidelines for checking

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

What happened to the passenger assistant/escort?

My point is not a justification it's an indication of how widespread this abuse is.

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IDFIMH

Not all school runs have escorts.

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IDFIMH

as for saloon work, id say less than 25% need an escort, probably 50% of WAV work needs them

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

What makes you think that any escort would know that it was a private car? many people don't know the rules or even care about the rules.

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Grandad,

in about 75% of cases the escort is related to the driver (keeping it in the family) are well aware if the car they are sitting in isnt the one that SHOULD be used...

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Because they are usually a bunch of old nagging nosebags.

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IDFIMH

quite a few, if not most, have been hit with the ugly stick too, must be a qualification

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most