Taxi Driver Online

Taxis are to be allowed dark tinted glass in Cardiff

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/loca ... s-14860917

But drivers will have to pay to have CCTV installed

Taxi drivers in Cardiff have been told they may have tinted glass on the vehicles - if CCTV is installed.

A Cardiff council public protection committee heard taxi drivers in the city are having to pay up to £2,000 to replace tinted glass on new vehicles to comply with council rules.

The committee was asked to remove a council condition for all Cardiff's private hire and hackney carriage vehicles - which stated windscreens must allow at least 75 per cent of light to pass through, with all other windows allowing 70 per cent.

Councillors have voted to allow tinted glass in new vehicles if it has been installed by the manufacturers.

The move would mean taxi drivers would no longer have to pay to replace tinted glass on new vehicles.

But taxi drivers must install CCTV in their vehicles if they want to keep glass which is darker than allowed currently.

Councillors passed the new measure put forward by committee member councillor Adrian Robson, despite some concerns about safety.

Councillor Sue Goddard said: "As a lone woman travelling I want people to see me and to see people around me at all times.

"Personally, I'm dead against tinted windows."

South Wales Police told the committee it was not aware of any safety concerns around darkened glass.

Councillor Robson said: "There has to be some pragmatism about this. The police have said there are no concerns they are aware of.

"I do have some sympathy. They buy a new car, it's up to spec, and then they find they have to spend the best part of £2,000 changing the windows."

The committee voted four for and four against the proposal. Chairwoman of the committee, councillor Norma Mackie, had the deciding vote and it was passed.

Following the vote councillor Joel Williams added: "(The windows) are going to be tinted more, which makes it harder to see out of the taxis The taxi drivers will go nuts because they will have to pay for CCTV."

Reassuring to see that a licensing councillor has such faith in the drivers she vets and licences.

to be honest I can't blame her knowing what drivers round here are like and what they get away with

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

Quite.

And since when has licensing law been based on personal views?

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IDFIMH

But she is in a position to improve the local licensing criteria.

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IDFIMH

It's not the criteria at fault usually it's the lack of willingness to deal with complaints of sexual assault, racial abuse etc. for fear of the race card

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

But if a licensing Councillor (and their licensing colleagues) aren't able to address the issues, then who is?

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IDFIMH

Don't think Sussex will be too amused about this

Taxis in Cardiff will not be allowed tinted glass after all

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/taxi ... d-15382921

It means some taxi drivers have to pay £2,000 on new vehicles to comply with council rules

Taxis drivers in Cardiff will not be allowed tinted glass on their vehicles after all - despite a council committee agreeing to it earlier this year.

In July the council's Public Protection Committee voted to allow taxis in the capital to have darkened glass if they first install CCTV systems in their vehicles.

But the committee reversed their decision on Tuesday November 6 after being told their decision could be open to legal challenge.

It means the original condition - that windscreens must allow at least 75 per cent of light to pass through, with all other windows allowing 70 per cent - will remain in place.

This is despite some taxi drivers having to pay up to £2,000 to replace tinted glass on new vehicles to comply with council rules, the meeting heard.

The decision comes in the light of legal advice that councils must have evidence that the use of CCTV is proportionate to the safety risks identified.

But the meeting heard the council has no evidence for requiring CCTV, so the decision in July is open to legal challenge.

A South Wales Police inspector told the council earlier this year: "I don’t believe that we have any evidence based or analytical work done on offences or safety concerns around darkened glass.

"I think because of this and that it will be fitted during the manufacturing stage it would be difficult to raise any valid objections."

Peter Renwick, director of Premier Cars which has 240 private hire taxis in Cardiff, told the council his company supports the use of darkened glass in private hire vehicles.

In a letter to the council he said: "It has been noted that at times passengers in wheelchair cars would like the option to have dark glass fitted to the vehicle, there are requests that we receive when operating at various events that take place within the city.

"We understand the concerns of passenger safety in relation to dark glass, however we have an office in Bridgend where we have vehicles fitted with this type of dark glass and have not has any issues whatsoever.

"It is becoming more popular in manufacturers supplying vehicles as standard with dark glass, this is now restricting the choice of vehicles available for use."

Councillors at the meeting said they were in favour of keeping the current condition due to safety concerns.

The committee voted three to two in favour of keeping the current conditions.

Councillor Ashley Wood said: "My feeling would be until there's clear evidence that there is no safety impact from darkened glass I would take the precautionary principle of retaining the condition."

Councillor Adrian Robson said he "totally understood" the difficulty taxi drivers have with the darkened glass condition, but he was in favour of keeping the licence condition.

Speaking after the meeting, he said: "They are having to pay a couple of thousand pounds to get the windows untinted to comply with our rules. A lot of new cars come with windows pre-tinted - it's not an option they have installed.

"The condition was there for a reason somewhere down the line as an option to try and keep the safety of the public. It's a slight concern that removing the licensing condition could increase the risk to members of the public."

Asked whether the current condition could be open to legal challenge given the lack of evidence of public safety issues as a result of tinted glass, councillor Robson said: "If it turns out that somebody goes down the road of challenging it and taking the council to court we would look at it."

So they can't use CCTV because there's no evidence of a risk from tinted glass, thus a possibility of legal challenge

But councillors consider that there's a risk from tinted glass, so it has to go, thus a possibility of a legal challenge because there's no evidence of a risk

And presumably they could mandate CCTV for the whole fleet anyway, so why not just for vehicles with tints?

I'm not, utter madness.

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IDFIMH

I bet she's one of them who goes to a pub and drinks Tonic water all night while her husband gets welded and knocks her about at home.