New taxi rules could force Dumfries drivers off the road as council wants to make cars "fully accessible" for disabled people Taxi drivers fear improving disability access in all cars wouldn't be sustainable for companies in Dumfries and Galloway as the council wants to introduce tighter guidelines for operators.
A shake-up of the region’s taxi licensing laws could force dozens of drivers off the road.
The council wants to introduce tighter guidelines for operators including improved disability access.
But drivers fear their jobs would become unsustainable if an option to make all cars “fully accessible” was introduced.
Margaret Brown’s family has run McLeans Taxis for more than 38 years and she feels tougher rules could be a disaster for the industry.
She said: “We don’t want to discriminate against disabled people but it’s not viable for all drivers to get brand new fully accessible cars.
“They cost around £30,000 each so it just couldn’t happen.
“People will go out of business and the number of unlicensed taxis would increase which would be really dangerous. It’s a scary thought and it’s something everyone in the trade is concerned about.”
The council’s licensing panel launched the review at the beginning of last year.
And this week councillors agreed to introduce a dress code – banning drivers from wearing baseball caps and trainers – English language proficiency testing as well as the use of CCTV in cars.
One driver, who asked not to be named, said: “On the whole we welcome a lot of the changes like the dress code to an extent and the knowledge tests.
“But if they make disabled access compulsory for all cars, the impact on everyone will be huge. About 95 per cent of the taxis and private cars on the road right now couldn’t be converted so everyone would have to buy new.
“In the past five years I’ve had two requests for a disabled access pick up, so those two hires would have cost me tens of thousands of pounds.
“It would put me and a lot of others out of business, no doubt about it, it’s already hard enough trying to make a living.”
A steering group of drivers was set up to advise licensing panel members.
The driver added: “There has been no proper communication with anyone in that group since last May so we are concerned they are just going to go ahead and put the policies through.”
Scottish local authorities are free to decide their own taxi and private hire policies. Out of 32 councils, only six require all cars to provide disabled access.
A council spokesman said the review was in the “initial stages” and proposals about disabled access policy changes were still to be fully explored.
Councillor Jim Dempster, who sits on the licensing panel, said: “The aspiration would be to have them all specially adapted but there would be no benefit in doing that if it were to put our taxi drivers out of business.
“I would be very surprised if any of the proposals included a blanket rule, I think that would mean over provision for a start, I think it makes more sense to require a certain number per fleet for example.
“It’s a case of being pragmatic and addressing the needs and demands of disabled people while also taking into consideration the needs of the drivers.”
source:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local ... ce-5283539
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