Taxi Driver Online

Man who represents Crawley cabbies loses his own taxi licence

THE chairman of Crawley's Hackney Carriage Association has lost his own taxi licence and a subsequent appeal against the decision.

Amin Mirza appealed a decision by Crawley Borough Council to revoke his licence but at Horsham Magistrates' Court last Thursday (February 18) the appeal was dismissed.

Mr Mirza, from Langley Green, had been chairman of the group since September 2014.

It has not yet been revealed why Mr Mirza lost his taxi licence but a spokesman for the council said they would be releasing information shortly.

The Crawley News understands that a number of other drivers accompanied Mr Mirza to the appeal on Thursday to show their support.

Mr Mirza has spoken out on a number of issues affecting taxis in Crawley in his role as chairman of the association. These include expressing concerns about a Government proposal which would allow unlicensed drivers to use private hire taxis when they are not in official use; concerns about illegal touting by taxis in Crawley; and concerns around the relocation of the taxi rank at Three Bridges station when the refurbishment took place.

He has also, in the past, as an active member of the community, led a fundraising effort to help victims of flooding in Pakistan.

The Crawley Hackney Carriage Association represents all council-licensed taxi drivers in the town, all of which have an illuminated 'taxi' sign on them.

The association does not represent private hire cars in Crawley.


Read more: http://www.crawleynews.co.uk/Man-repres ... z41DDGmrBQ

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

Crawley taxi driver loses licences after locking woman in car



The chairman of the Crawley Hackney Carriage Association has lost his licences and been ordered to pay £5,799 after he locked a woman in a car.

A Crawley Borough Council spokesman said Amin Mirza, of Langley Green, lost his appeal against the council’s decision to revoke his hackney carriage and private hire driver licences, and its refusal to renew his private hire driver’s licence..

He appeared at Horsham Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (February 18) after the council received two complaints in 2014.

A council spokesman said: “The first when driving a hackney carriage, Mr Mirza refused a fare at the front of the rank without reasonable excuse; and as a private hire driver, he locked a female passenger in the car for several minutes at the end of a journey during a dispute over the fare.

“After investigating the complaints and concluding that they were substantiated, the council revoked both his driver’s licences.

“The court heard evidence from the woman who alleged she was locked in the vehicle, her husband and from Mr Mirza. At the end of the hearing the court dismissed his appeals and ordered Mr Mirza to pay the council’s costs of £5,799.”

Councillor Brian Quinn, Chair of the council’s Licensing Committee, said: “We take incidents like this very seriously and will only grant or renew licences to applicants the council deems to be a fit and proper person to hold a driver’s licence.”


Read more: http://www.crawleyobserver.co.uk/news/l ... z41DDznokL

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

how many times have we heard stories of drivers locking passengers in and driving to police stations in fare disputes ?

have they all been stripped of their license ?

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

What do these councils tell drivers that they should do if the customer wont pay? They must have a policy on it.

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Grandad,

I can't recall anything in our "guidance" about that but haven't read it for 5 years

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

And I bet you wont find it. Councils are very quick to tell you what you can't do but struggle to tell you what you can do.

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Grandad,

I suspect there is more to it than what appears in that article.

I would never advise locking punters in, but I understand why in many cases drivers do.

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IDFIMH

What would you advise that they do?

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Grandad,

I guess his first bit of advice would be to have a decent camera system installed recording events - if that was the case here - and the driver was innocent - I think he'd still have his license

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

A driver here arrived at the destination to find that the punter had no money. He didn't lock the doors but just drove the customer back to where he picked them up. He was hauled before the Council and given penalty points on his Council license.

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Grandad,

James Button covered this at one of the NTA conferences cant remember which one though

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

You should pay more attention to the speaker instead of trying to compete with Chris the fish to see who can buy Toots the most frothy coffee.

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Grandad,

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

Wobbly Coffee, a whole different thing!

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Chris The Fish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdlyi5mc ... re=related

Apologies, my mistake.

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Grandad,