Taxi Driver Online

Er, I'm being a tad sarcastic, obviously. Which isn't like me at all

But there are numerous sources for this, and the trade angle is totally overblown. Here's the Shropshire Star's version, which in my opinion is hugely misleading from the off:


Taxis stopped and 27 reported for offences after roadside spot check operation in Wellington

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/202 ... operation/

A joint road side operation that saw a number of taxis stopped and checked has been branded a success by the council and police.

A total of 27 traffic offences were reported. Officers from Telford & Wrekin Council’s licensing team also pulled over a number of taxis as part of regular spot checks to make sure they are maintained and up to a high standard.

Officers checked the condition of vehicles, insurance, that the correct signage was displayed and that the driver’s badge was visible.

The operation, led by West Mercia Police, was carried out in Wellington in partnership with the Council’s road safety team, to reassure the public who have raised concerns about anti-social driving in the area.

Drivers were dealt with for a variety of offences including driving without insurance, driving without a seatbelt, using a mobile phone while driving and ignoring the bus lane signage in Haybridge Road for which a number of fines were issued. Four vehicles were also seized.

A number of taxis that were stopped were licensed by neighbouring authorities. One vehicle was found to have a defective tyre and two drivers were not wearing their driver badges.

Councillor Richard Overton, Telford & Wrekin Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Highways, Housing and Enforcement said: “Our top priority is the safety of our residents. By supporting West Mercia Police, we are demonstrating our commitment to keeping our roads safe for all users.

“Ensuring that every road user respects the traffic signage, such as bus only lanes, is essential to help keep traffic moving and reduce the risk of accidents. These lanes are restricted to buses, emergency vehicles and cyclists and encourage public transport use and safer travel options for cyclists.

“It is pleasing that no taxis licensed by us were found to have faults and is a clear demonstration of the high standards we have when it comes to taxi licensing. These checks ensure that taxis meet the Council’s rigorous standards and legal requirements.

“Telford & Wrekin Council will continue to work closely with West Mercia Police, local partners, and residents to ensure our roads remain safe and welcoming for everyone.”

Pc Ryan Davies from West Mercia Police added: “Reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads is a key priority.

“We continue to work with our partners on multi-agency operations such as this one to tackle incidents of dangerous or anti-social driving and we know these are issues that cause concern to residents in the area. We are looking to conduct more operations together, like this one, in due course.”

The latest operation took place on Wednesday and followed a successful initiative in the same location the previous month.

So all the local 'taxis' were fine, and only one defective tyre was found on the cross-border cars

Yet you'd hardly get that impression from the headline above, and you need to read quite far into the article to get to the facts, and in fact I'd guess that in view of how the whole thing has been framed from the off, many readers would simply not realise that they found next-to-nothing with regard to the trade

Some people won't even read beyond the headline, or will maybe just read half the article. Or half-read the whole thing

There are numerous sources for the rehash above (Facebook etc) but this looks to be the main one, from the news section on the council's website. But the framing below is totally different, although the main text has simply been pasted from this into the piece above.

This below isn't the whole news release - I've missed out the councillor soundbites


Joint road safety operation in Wellington hailed a success

https://newsroom.telford.gov.uk/news/jo ... -a-success

Telford & Wrekin Council has worked with partners to tackle dangerous driving and improve road safety in a targeted operation.

A total of 27 traffic offences were reported. Officers from the Council’s licensing team also pulled over a number of taxis as part of regular spot checks to make sure they are maintained and up to a high standard. Officers checked the condition of vehicles, insurance, that the correct signage was displayed and that the driver’s badge was visible.

The operation, led by West Mercia Police, was carried out in Wellington in partnership with the Council’s road safety team, to reassure the public who have raised concerns about anti-social driving in the area.

Drivers were dealt with for a variety of offences including driving without insurance, driving without a seatbelt, using a mobile phone while driving and ignoring the bus lane signage in Haybridge Road for which a number of fines were issued. Four vehicles were also seized.

A number of taxis that were stopped were licensed by neighbouring authorities. One vehicle was found to have a defective tyre and two drivers were not wearing their driver badges.

And, predictably enough, TaxiPoint has also been doing the usual PR job on behalf of the authorities, and in view of the fact that it's a trade publication, the framing here looks a tad suspect - it makes it sound like a huge number of 'taxis' were stopped, but that's more to do with the broader operation, and I'd guess that in fact not many 'taxis' were stopped in the context of the operation as a whole. But we're not actually told the numbers anywhere:


Telford taxi drivers checked during huge targeted police traffic operation

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/telfo ... -operation

Multiple taxis operating across Telford and surrounding areas were stopped and checked during a traffic enforcement operation led by West Mercia Police.

It's not clear where, precisely, TaxiPoint got its info from, but there seems to be other details not in the official press release, but by now I can't be bothered looking for the source. But the details in question aren't really important, except perhaps for this:


So now it's 'several' defective tyres, and the 'defect' is now specified as being beneath the legal tread limit. But where that particular nugget has been sourced from, I don't know

Here's another interesting official take on it all, and interesting because it reads like it's written by a police officer for official/internal cosumption rather than for the great unwashed to read.

But did particularly notice this:


PR, eh? Who'd have guessed

https://www.neighbourhoodmatters.co.uk/ ... -Operation

Of course, I should also have underlined that two of the out-of-area drivers weren't wearing their badges

Not that that's much to get worked up about in the grand scheme of things. But considering that most Wolverhampton Council spot checks don't even find that, then it just goes to show how well regulated Wolves-plated cars are, and how law-abiding their drivers are

round here Zero drivers wear their badges they are sometimes hung over the rear view mirror or on the centre console but never worn

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