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PostPosted: Fri May 22, 2020 8:34 pm 
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Ok so now seatbelts has been covered. Thanks all for the help.

My patch of area I work has pretty much ignored the lockdown in many ways so far.

Now I am sick to death of people thinking 4 of them can go shopping and then think it is ok to sit three in the back and one in the front.

Octavia. No screen up. Normal private hire for 4 passengers.

Can I refuse the fare when I arrive? Or could I lose my badge if council were told about it.

I am not in a position to spout the law to these people. I don’t get paid for that crap. They should know better.

I really don’t want a passenger in the front with me during this current climate.


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PostPosted: Fri May 22, 2020 8:52 pm 
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I would imagine you can refuse, I can’t see your LA having a problem with it or taking any action against you. I think your company should have a policy stating no front seat passengers and tell people on the phone when they call or book online if they have that facility. I certainly wouldn’t allow a front seat passenger.


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PostPosted: Fri May 22, 2020 9:16 pm 
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westgatelad wrote:
Can I refuse the fare when I arrive? Or could I lose my badge if council were told about it.

As X-ray says, your company should really have a policy on this.

But, more to the point, councils should have a policy on this as well, and made this known, but as with the likes of screens, many are simply doing the usual bumbling/buck-passing bit.

But, as regards your licence, you can refuse hires for any reasonable excuse, and refusing front-seat passengers in the current climate doesn't seem unreasonable, so the chances of losing your badge over it would seem remote.

In fact, in the past wasn't there are standard condition forbidding driver from taking people with contagious/communicable diseases, but this gradually disappeared after such conditions became less prevalent?

In fact our conditions in Fife still state that you shouldn't take someone with 'vermin on their person', which I suppose is similar in principle.

So I wouldn't worry about losing your badge, but councils and operators should really be doing more, because it makes refusals more difficult when you turn up for a job (or, for public hire, when people roll up to a rank).

You could try asking your council, but I'd guess they won't give you a concrete answer one way or the other.

And even if councils and operators did have a policy, it might well be optional and up to the individual driver, which in turn could actually worsen possible confrontations with passengers, or lead to other problems like cherry-picking.


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PostPosted: Fri May 22, 2020 9:46 pm 
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I have been on the council website. Nothing showing.

Rang them and there is just an answer phone message stating to email them. :?


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PostPosted: Fri May 22, 2020 9:50 pm 
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westgatelad wrote:
I have been on the council website. Nothing showing.

Rang them and there is just an answer phone message stating to email them. :?

Sounds about right.

But I try to avoid contacting my council at the best of times.

And in fact email is better than phone, because it's better to get these things written down (or at least to have some kind of permanent record) just in case there's, er, any confusion about things sometime in the future.


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PostPosted: Fri May 22, 2020 11:14 pm 
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westgatelad wrote:
I have been on the council website. Nothing showing.

Rang them and there is just an answer phone message stating to email them. :?


Does your plate say licensed for up to 4 passengers


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PostPosted: Sat May 23, 2020 12:47 am 
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westgatelad wrote:
Ok so now seatbelts has been covered. Thanks all for the help.

My patch of area I work has pretty much ignored the lockdown in many ways so far.

Now I am sick to death of people thinking 4 of them can go shopping and then think it is ok to sit three in the back and one in the front.

Octavia. No screen up. Normal private hire for 4 passengers.

Can I refuse the fare when I arrive? Or could I lose my badge if council were told about it.

I am not in a position to spout the law to these people. I don’t get paid for that crap. They should know better.

I really don’t want a passenger in the front with me during this current climate.



You have the right to refuse passengers under certain conditions ,I think staying alive is one.

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PostPosted: Sat May 23, 2020 8:40 am 
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You wont find any help on your Council website about it. The law is quite clear, people should stay at least 2 meters apart "WHERE IT IS POSSIBLE". Clearly it is not possible in a saloon car anyway so there is no law that says that there should not be a front seat passenger. As has been stated, your company should have a policy on this and inform passengers at the time of booking, it is to late to tell them on arrival because that can only cause conflict. Of course you can still refuse if you think it is a risk because in theory you, as the driver, have to carry out a risk assessment before the passengers get in. Now one possible problem I can see with such a policy could be in the case of passengers with assistance dogs that are trained to sit in the front passenger footwell.

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PostPosted: Sat May 23, 2020 6:45 pm 
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Yeah Grandad.

I do not pick animals up at all in my car. It is on the office system.

I will never object to anyone with a disability or assistance dog. No matter what.


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PostPosted: Sat May 23, 2020 7:48 pm 
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Quote:
Can I refuse the fare when I arrive? Or could I lose my badge if council were told about it.

If you are running as a PH you can do what you like, or in this case take as many as your license allows, or not as the case may be.

The only provisos are refusals that go against the Equalities Act.

For the record I also think you could refuse if you were running a hackney, as clearly not wanting to die is a very justified reason for not allowing four people in your car.

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PostPosted: Sat May 23, 2020 7:50 pm 
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Quote:
You have the right to refuse passengers under certain conditions ,I think staying alive is one.

Is the correct answer. =D>

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PostPosted: Sat May 23, 2020 8:54 pm 
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Location: Lincoln
Maybe you should all buy a stretch limo.

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PostPosted: Sun May 24, 2020 8:42 am 
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If it is say a woman with 3 children all related would it really be an issue ?

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PostPosted: Sun May 24, 2020 5:02 pm 
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edders23 wrote:
If it is say a woman with 3 children all related would it really be an issue ?

I think the issue for some is having someone sit in the front seat.

Maybe if they had masks on some of those drivers might reconsider refusing them.

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