Taxi Driver Online

Killer taxi driver put passengers through “pure hell”, inquest is told


Taxi customers described a journey as “pure hell” and made a complaint about their driver just hours before he ploughed head-on into a Mansfield motorcyclist and killed him, an inquest was told.

Mark Buckley, 34, died when a taxi smashed into his Yamaha 125cc bike on the A611 Derby Road in the early hours of the morning.

Kevin Wiesztort is thought to have fallen asleep and his Fiat Doblo careered into the path of the bike ridden by the father-of-three who had been heading to work in Annesley.

However, the inquest into the death of Mr Buckley, held at Nottingham Coroner’s Court today, heard that a couple who had used the taxi in the hours before had even phoned the cab operators, Aaeron Cars in Mansfield, to complain about him.

Wiesztort had taken the pair, who are from the Mansfield area, to Birmingham Airport where they quickly rang the company.

Statements taken by David and Michelle Newton were read out at the inquest and had described his driving as “erratic”.

They said his speed fluctuated, he was fidgety and weaving in and out of lanes on the motorway, even crossing the rumble strips at one point.

The couple suspected he had either been drinking or was on drugs, and told the cab company that they did not want him picking them up when they returned from holiday.

Mrs Newton said: “I could not get out of that taxi fast enough. I told him he was not fit to drive and a danger.

“He had no right to be behind the wheel.”

The inquest was told how the cab radio operator, Stephanie Dudley, had taken the call from the angry passengers and she had contacted Wiesztort shortly after he had dropped them off.

He had stopped off at a garage to get an energy drink before heading back to the Mansfield area, but assured her he was fine.

Coroner for Nottinghamshire, Mairin Casey, asked Stephanie Dudley if the police had been contacted over his driving, to which she said they hadn’t.

Following the fatal smash, Wiesztort, 36, was found to have no alcohol or drugs in his system, but said he only had nine hours sleep in the three days previous to the accident which happened at around 5.30am on Sunday, March 30, 2014.

Wiesztort said he had no recollection of the incident, which happened near to Notts Golf Club.

Forensics suggested the taxi had veered completely over to the wrong side of the road, while conditions were described as being “extremely foggy”.

For his part, Wiesztort was jailed in February, 2015, for 45 months after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.

Earlier in today’s proceedings, Mr Buckley’s partner of seven years, Rachael Price, read out two heartfelt statements.

She said: “I would like to say it’s got easier, however, it hasn’t.

“In fact, at times, things have got much harder.

“We put our trust in taxi driver and expect certain standards to be in place.”

She told the coroner that she wanted to know what happened to the complaint made by the couple in the hours before her partner’s death and if any policies were put in place to prevent drivers from taking to the road if they were unfit through drink, drugs or even tiredness.

The inquest is expected to be completed tomorrow, Tuesday, October 25.

source: http://www.chad.co.uk/news/killer-taxi- ... -1-8197872

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

Didn't I PM you about this a good few months ago?

cant remember

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

I'm sure I did because our Licensing officer phoned me up and asked me about it. The coroner is going to say something about driver working hours.

I may have nodded off

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

Let's hope there is a corporate manslaughter prosecution against the operator.

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IDFIMH

Rents to high,to many drivers, drivers having to work to make ends meet

In a nutshell Skip yep.

Following the fatal smash, Wiesztort, 36, was found to have no alcohol or drugs in his system, but said he only had nine hours sleep in the three days previous to the accident which happened at around 5.30am on Sunday, March 30, 2014.

I think the working time directive recommends a minimum 12 hours between shifts but in my experience as long as a driver has had 6 hours break they are Ok as a ONE OFF but not 3 days running. I leave it to my drivers to decide most of the time but if I think they are tired usually persuade them to go home because the one thing uppermost in my mind is that if a driver is working hard because they have big bills to pay they don't want to come off the road due to an accident

I'm not sure if the company could be prosecuted because the driver would presumably be self employed but questions need to be asked

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

If he was allowed to stay on the system then they are partly responsible.

If he booked off and just worked the ranks or path, then they in the clear.

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IDFIMH

This article doesn't make good reading - it will see regulations on drivers hours being introduced imo

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

I believe I'm right in saying that the EU looked at imposing the working time directive onto our trade but realised it was a minefield maybe it will pop it's head over the parapet BUT I'm sure those mates of the government at Ufail will persuade them it's not in the publics' (or Ubers) interest

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

Corporate prosecution is always a risk whether you employee,subcontract or use proper self employed persons and the so called self employed.The company or employer carries every risk.

They don't have a system it's a pen and paper company.

Taxi company owner to have licence reviewed after driver caused motorcyclist's death


The owner of a taxi company that failed to act upon a complaint against a dangerous driver who killed a motorcyclist is to have his licence reviewed, an inquest has heard.

Hayley Barsby, deputy chief executive of Mansfield District Council, told coroner Mairin Casey that the authority will review Dennis Lamb's operator's licence within 28 days as a result of evidence heard in the inquest into Mark Buckley's death.

The 34-year-old was killed in the early hours of March 30, 2014, when taxi driver Kevin Wiesztort collided with him on the A611 Derby Road at 5.30am

Wiesztort admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed last year for 45 months.

On Monday, the inquest heard that a dispatcher at Mr Lamb's company Aaeron Cars, in Mansfield, received a complaint about Wiesztort's driving and reported the issue to his wife Edna Lamb.

Mrs Lamb failed to act upon the complaint and just hours later Wiesztort hit Mr Buckley's motorcycle.

The inquest heard that the company had no formal complaints procedure at the time of the accident but Mr Lamb said that he has since introduced a complaints sheet where employees can document them formally.

The hearing heard that Mr Lamb is subject to a "strict 12 month warning" until February next year to assess his fitness to hold an operator's licence.

Miss Casey told the inquest that, following his evidence, Mr Lamb "concedes" that he failed to implement a complaints procedure or train staff in how to deal with them.

As a result, Mrs Barsby said she was concerned that Mr Lamb had been unable to adhere to the requirements of his notice.

She said: "Mr Lamb was to implement a complaints procedure and he was to train staff.

"I think it's very clear on the evidence that Mr Lamb gave yesterday that that has not been put in place."

Mrs Barsby told the court that the review of Mr Lamb's operator's licence would be a priority.

She said: "We will be requesting him to attend a panel hearing in order to satisfy that he is fit and proper to hold that licence."
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Police family liaison officer Helen Neaverson told the inquest that efforts could have been made to stop Wiesztort from driving if a complaint had been made to the police that day.

She said: "There's a chance that we would have been able to find the vehicle - it wasn't a particularly busy time of day - we would have known the route back to Mansfield and we would have been able to, potentially, put vehicles out looking for the taxi driver."

Samantha Yates, licensing team leader at Mansfield District Council, told the inquest that a letter was sent to Mr Lamb following a hearing with the authority in February, requiring him to implement a complaints procedure.

She said the council believed that Mr Lamb had fulfilled the requirement, however he admitted that that was not the case during the inquest proceedings.

Miss Yates said future checks will have to go further to find out "is this a reality or a piece of paper".

Mr Buckley's partner Rachael Price was also able to the witness.

During her questioning, she stated that Wiesztort continued to work for Aaeron Cars after the accident.

Coroner Miss Casey interjected and asked Miss Yates when Mr Lamb reported the incident to the council.

Referring to a report, Miss Yates said that he notified the council that one of his cars had been involved in an accident on April 1, 2014.

Miss Casey said that Mr Lamb had given a "partial account" and had left out crucial information relating to Mr Buckley's death.

As a result, the council only investigated whether or not the vehicle involved in the accident was fit to be on the road.

The coroner asked Miss Yates what action would be taken if the council received a similar call now.

She said that a full investigation, including questions relating to any people involved in the accident, would be carried out.
The inquest continues.

Read more at http://www.nottinghampost.com/taxi-comp ... L8AeDso.99

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