Non D. Plume wrote:
I'm T&G. And while I've got your attention somewhere else on the forum you pulled me up for under-valuing a Manchester plate; why should I know or why should I care what the value of a plate is outside my area, who gives a toss how much a plate is in Manchester or Plymouth. Obviously you do; why?
No you're wrong, I personally do not care what plate values are in restricted authorities but I embarked on an exercise to cut out the Myth by some that plate values do not exist. Are you saying you haven't read the database that Mr Casey featured in your latest Edition, or the 2003 OFT report? Don't you enquire of your Journalists the authority on which their information is based?
I suspect you know very well what the plate value is in Manchester, just as you know what it is in Liverpool. Some might think you intentionally quoted twenty grand but if you say it was a figure off the top of your head then so be it. For future reference the next time you quote Manchester the figure is 50 grand.
Quote:
Secondly, you criticized an article I did in Taxi talk, nothing wrong with that except that the fact you see my interpretation as ‘warped’ is laughable. You might disagree with me but law is down to interpretation, that’s why we have law courts.
My criticism is of your interpretation of Section 64. For those who have not read what you wrote I will append the Text to the end of this post. Your interpretation as everyone will see is fanciful.
Section 64 relates to the obstruction of drivers, the emphasis is on "Wilful Obstruction" of drivers. That means if another driver wilfully commits any obstruction mentioned in section 64, then it is an offence.
You made light of section 64 by suggesting any vehicle not giving way to another vehicle exiting from a side road was an offence under section 64. You also suggested that a vehicle overtaking another vehicle and picking up a passenger someway down the road is also an offence. It might be poor etiquette but I can assure you it is certainly not an offence as you suggest under section 64.
Quote:
I had a conversation with 3 SLO’s about this and two of them took the view it was impossible to enforce, but all agreed that it was still active, but none of them knew of a case going to court. Just a debating point really. But for the benefit of all the ‘gullible’ members of the forum how would you interpret it
Perhaps you should have had the conversation with the LO's before you wrote the article.
My interpretation of section 64 is exactly what it implies, "Wilful obstruction of another driver".
The offence is set out as follows.
"Improperly standing with carriage, refusing to give way to, or obstructing, any other driver or depriving him of his fare"
The circumstances to which this offence might apply are explicitly set out in section 64 as follows.
Any driver of any hackney carriage who suffers the same to stand for hire across any street or along side of any other hackney carriage, or who refuses to give way, if he conveniently can, to any other carriage, or who obstructs or hinders the driver of any other carriage in taking up or setting down any person into or from such other carriage, or who wrongfully in a forcible manner prevents or endeavours to prevent the driver of any other hackney carriage from being hired, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding level 1.
The pivotal point as anyone can deduce from reading this section is that it infers, in order to commit an offence the action must be one of a wilful nature.
Wilful obstruction.
Wilfully depriving another driver of his fair by intimidation or force. That means in this modern age if I over take you and pick up a flagger and you pull in front of me blocking me in, then tell me to eject the flagger because you feel it should be your job and you get stroppy about it, then that is intimidation and obstruction. Get the picture.
Quote:
But for all you invective, you’ve side-stepped my main accusation of you, TDO Sussex (that’s if you’re not the same entity) that what you’re about is getting a free plate knowing that one day the issue will be stopped leaving you with something worth whatever amount the going rate is.
I don't know what you've been reading but I already have my own plate and have had for quite some time so has TDO the only person of the three you mentioned who doesn't have a plate is Sussex. What you can't seem to grasp is that some people couldn't give a chit about retaining numbers for whatever reason. My reason is based on equality and the fact that people who represent the Taxi trade have one preocupation and that is restriction. You said to Sussex that it pizzes you off when people get the Wirral facts wrong well it pizzes others off when you get Taxi drivers and Taxi organisations spouting bull chit and lies just to feather their own nest.
Quote:
The reason I know this is I’ve been in 2 authorities delimited and know or know of hundreds of JD’s or TDO’s who change their tune the minute they are issued with a plate.
You better read the last paragraph I wrote, TDO and I already have a plate so your observations are unfounded and misguided. You believe restrictions should be maintained at all costs that’s why you went to court and tried every conceivable avenue to stop Wirral council implementing their chosen policy. Yet you hide behind the sound bite that a council knows best. You think a council knows best because you think you can persuade or intimidate them into your way of thinking. Well what does it feel like to know that there are 73 councils who have yet to decide on their future policy and so far out of the 343 licensing authorities in England Wales only 37 have decided to retain some form of restriction. That’s 10% so far. Makes interesting reading doesn't it. Do you still subscribe to the theory that councils know best?
Quote:
In Wirral there have been demonstrations (I didn’t attend by the way) by drivers wanting to block roads tunnels etc to stop the issue, the demonstrations are almost exclusively made up of new licence holders.
You were at the wirral committee meeting when all hell broke loose, I can't say you were at the demonstration that tried to block off the Town Hall but its nice to hear you acknowledge that this type of intimidation takes place.
Regards
JD
Taxi Laws And You
By D Cummins
Gentleman's Agreement? I think not
Wherever the authority or area there are rules of the road or a code of conduct in place, and a general rule of thumb is, the more taxis, the more the rules are open to interpretation. Overtaking a cab plying for hire, whilst plying for hire is a universally recognised no-no, and giving way to an oncoming cab is widely practised. Letting a taxi out of a side street or letting them in to a side street (sometimes risking a rear-end shunt) are less well observed in larger Metropolitan areas, but in my area, Wirral it is still the rule rather than the exception.
Less well known, is that the code of conduct has a legal framework and by rights should be part of your licensing conditions. Section 64 Town Police Clauses Act(1847), which is the main legislation regarding taxis, under the heading: Improperly standing with carriage; refusing to give way to, or obstructing, any other driver or depriving him of his fare.
States 'Any driver of any hackney carriage who suffers the same to stand for hire across any street or alongside of any other hackney carriage, or who refuses to give way, if he conveniently can, to any other carriage, or who obstructs or hinders the driver of any other carriage in taking up or setting down any person into or from such other carriage, or who wrongfully in a forcible manner prevents or endeavours to prevent the driver of any other hackney carriage from being hired, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding level 1. -Now that's what I call a sentence!
I understand the somewhat tortuous syntax of Victorian England might look and read like a foreign language, but stick with it.
In a nutshell it is stating that any drivers who prevents another driver from progressing, refusing to let him out of a side road etc, or who deprives him of his fare or even endeavours to do any of these things is liable to prosecution, a penalty not exceeding level 1,which is a maximum of £200.
So the next time you are plying for hire and a taxi passes you at warp factor 5, then picks up half a mile down the road, as they say, don't get mad, get even.