Taxi Driver Online

Looks like this guy thought that his blue badge meant that he could park for free for 45 minutes in the 'taxi' drop-off/pick-up point


Uber driver left fuming over £70 fine for parking in Addenbrooke's taxi bay

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/c ... r-17865640

"It's easier to find answers from God than them"


Image: CambridgeshireLive

An Uber driver has been left fuming after receiving a £70 fine for parking his cab in a taxi bay, with his disabled blue badge showing.

Raymond Young visited Addenbrooke's on Monday (March 2) to drop a customer off at her appointment, arriving at 10am. He was informed on a previous visit that he would need to park in the taxi bay.

However, upon arriving back at his cab 45 minutes after leaving the vehicle, he found he had been given a parking ticket.

He says the car parking attendant claimed he shouldn't have had his blue badge showing in the taxi bay. Raymond has also claimed that the warden was rude to him, and that his behaviour constituted "harassment".

Raymond, 61 and from Harston, tried to contact Saba, the private company who monitor parking at Addenbrooke's, but has struggled to find an answer as to why he received the fine.

He said: "When I saw I had a ticket, I rushed to find a parking attendant, and his behaviour left a lot to be desired.

"This guy was completely incompetent, I'd lost two hours of my time trying to find answers, and three hours worth of fares having to pay for a parking ticket I was previously told I wouldn't get for parking there.

"If you try to park in the outpatients' area with a taxi, they say you can't park there. And then they give you a ticket when you park in the place you're supposed to - I've tried to reach out and get an explanation, but it's easier to find answers from God than them".

Raymond was asked to follow the appeal claim on the back of his parking charge notice (PCN), but even this caused some difficulty.

He continued: "The instructions on the ticket are tiny, you can't possibly read them without squinting. When I mentioned this to Saba, they just told me that they were concerned that a taxi driver had difficulty with his eyesight - which is incredibly rude. You don't have to have bad eyesight to struggle to read the ticket, the writing on it is ridiculously small.

"I'd sooner go to prison that pay that fine."

A Saba spokesperson said: “Taxi bays are provided for on duty taxis to pick up and drop off patients and visitors to the hospital.

"The hospital provides dedicated blue badge bays and patient and visitor bays for those users who have appointments at the hospital. Customers at Addenbrooke’s currently have to pay for parking even if they are a blue badge holder and forms part of the hospital’s rules for parking.

"We would encourage anyone who feels they have been unfairly penalised to appeal a parking charge notice by following the instructions on the reverse of their notice.

"All Saba employees undergo many weeks of training before being able to carry out patrolled enforcement.”


Image: CambridgeshireLive

first, he hasn't been fined, he's been given a parking charge notice. Secondly, the man from SABA has admitted that those who feel they have been unfairly penalised" has now shot his case down in flames. People cannot be penalised for breach of contract. If I were the driver and got that reply, that would win any case in the parking appeals system.

Addenbrookes is always a parking nightmare but the big park and ride is only 2 miles away mind you that's normally rammed as well

On a wait and return i never try and park at the hospitals as car parking is very limited and expensive but I'm not surprised as many blue badge owners think they can use taxi ranks

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

I wondered whether he was actually waiting for the passenger to return, but that's not clear from the article, and there's no clear indication that the passenger returned at all.

All the article says is that he returned to the car after 45 minutes, which suggested to me that he left the car unattended to do something else

perhaps he was taking a coffee/lunch break hoping to pick up the return journey

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

That's kind of what I was thinking - if he'd been specifically waiting for the passenger he'd having been making a song and dance about that fact.

And he just says he returned to the car after 45 minutes, which also suggests it wasn't a wait and return.

The response from the parking company also seems to imply that he was simply parking there for his own benefit, which was where the blue badge thing came in

TAXI. When is a taxi not a taxi?

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Former taxi driver

nobody said he was a taxi because he is an Uber but not entirely clear from the pic if he is a Cambridge plated PH or a south Cambridgeshire saloon Hackney or even a Huntingdonshire plated hackney there are loads of them in Peterborough although that might be the edge of a sign about pre-booking only at the edge of the photograph

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

I think you’ll find that he thinks he drives a taxi, otherwise he wouldn’t have parked in a bay marked TAXI!

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Former taxi driver

The *top* photo quite clearly says Private Hire at top of the front door sticker, although not clear enough to see which council. The Uber sticker on the back door also looks like it says Private Hire Vehicle on it, although not so clear.

Anyway, the car park firm presumably defines taxi to include either HC or PHV.