Bristol cabbies meet as anger builds over drivers from outside city taking their tradeA MEETING is due to be held this weekend as tensions build between taxi drivers in the city. As the Bristol Post has previously reported, hackney carriage drivers are angry at taxis registered in numerous other districts operating illegally in the city.
Drivers claim that many of these 'outside' licence holders actually live in Bristol but have bought a licence from another authority because it is far easier to obtain one with the sole purpose of operating in the city.
In Bristol cab drivers have to pass a local geography test and the rules surrounding MOT tests are also much tougher.
Drivers claim in other authorities it is simply a matter of handing over the cash.
However hackney carriages licensed outside of Bristol and all private hire companies must only pick up fares that have been booked prior to the pick up.
Any of these drivers picking up a fare from off the street is acting illegally and putting themselves and their customer at risk because they are uninsured.
Tim Lloyd, who has been a taxi driver in Bristol City Centre for 16 years, said tensions and resentment are now set to boil over.
Now he says a meeting has been arranged by the Bristol Taxi Association at the Sikh Resource & Community Development Centre in Queen Anne's Road, Barton Hill, at 3pm on Sunday so drivers can air their grievances.
Mr Lloyd said: "This is a big issue. It's not just about our livelihoods, it's about the safety of the public. We don't blame the public because when they have been out and had a few drinks they just want to get home and will get in anything resembling a taxi. What they don't realise is that by taking that cab they are uninsured."
Mr Lloyd said in all the time he has been working as a taxi driver this was the worst he had ever seen it.
"What I see happening in Bristol is nothing short of a scandal," he said.
"There are people who live in Bristol and for whatever reason can't get a Bristol licence so go to another authority and buy one to masquerade as a Bristol taxi.
"These guys are operating on a sat-nav – my sat-nav is in my head. No Bristol taxi driver needs a sat-nav.
"The most precious thing to me is my badge. It is my licence to earn and have a livelihood. They have not earned it. Having the badge is a privilege, not a right."
He added: "It's a problem now and in 12 months it will be an epidemic. It's a question of when things come to a tipping point.
"In years gone by we were fearful of being checked and it kept us on our toes. Now they just don't care."
Nick Carter, Regulatory Services Manager at Bristol City Council said: "We appreciate the frustration of local drivers and are happy to look at what we can lawfully do about these issues. However it seems the majority of their requests are about nationally set regulations. Even if we could lawfully impose different rules we'd have to look very carefully at if and how such restrictions could realistically be enforced.
"Vehicles cannot legally operate as hackney carriages outside their own area, but it is legal for them to work as pre-booked Private Hire Vehicles wherever they wish.
"Currently councils have no power to apply restrictions which would prevent where they operate as private hires, and even if we did it would always be up to the council which issues the licence to put these in place."
Read more:
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristol-ca ... z3B0yVTjHw
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