Number of cabs failing annual safety checks is 'staggering', warns Bradford councillor A SENIOR councillor has said the number of minicabs and taxis failing the Council's annual safety checks, despite passing MOTs, is "quite staggering".
Councillor Andrew Mallinson, the Conservative group's spokesman for taxis and cabs, said it raised serious questions about the quality of the testing at some MOT garages in the district.
Cllr Mallinson, who worked in the garage trade for more than a decade, spent a day with Council testers at the authority's Shearbridge depot.
He watched three private hire cars get their annual check-up, each having only recently passed its MOT.
But two of the three vehicles failed the test, one because of a broken suspension component and one because of a faulty brake component.
He said: "One of the things that was quite staggering was the fact that two out of the three vehicles tested while I was there failed - and also that the owner-driver of the vehicle was unaware of the defects."
Cllr Mallinson said while cabbies were responsible for their own cars, the MOT garages who had passed the vehicles "must shoulder some of the blame".
About 30 per cent of cabs fail their annual Council check, Cllr Mallinson said.
If staff suspect a garage had not done an MOT thoroughly, they report it to the Government's Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency for further investigation.
Cllr Mallinson said: "There have been reports that not all MOT certificates have been obtained lawfully. Within the garage trade, I believe that if you pay the right amount of money you can get an MOT certificate without the vehicle even going in to the garage."
He said drivers should be encouraged to use reputable dealerships for their MOTs, and also suggested the introduction of interim six-monthly council checks.
Councillor Val Slater, portfolio holder in charge of taxi and minicab licensing at Labour-led Bradford Council, said: "It is worrying to know that of those who failed, we found they had recently had an MOT."
She agreed it "would be helpful" if they could direct drivers towards getting MOTs at main dealerships.
On the idea of a six-month mandatory test, Cllr Slater said: "That's something we can discuss with the trade, but I wouldn't like to impose it on them."
Khurram Shehzad, of the Bradford Private Hire Liaison Service, praised Cllr Mallinson for seeing the situation for himself.
But he said rather than imposing more tests on cabbies, it would be more helpful for the Council to advise them which garages to avoid.
He said it was not their fault if garages were not up to scratch.
source:
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/n ... ouncillor/
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FAQ
unfortunately faults can develop almost over night with the mileages we rack up with the best will in the world the only way to have zero faults is to have your vehicles checked by a garage daily can you afford that i certainly can't !!!!!!