Taxi Driver Online

Another one who'll be a model citizen after three months

And there's arguments to be made either way about this kind of thing anyway

I suspect he could have handled it better, though...


Private hire driver 'locked' woman in car as he waited for her to pay fare

https://news.stv.tv/west-central/glasgo ... o-pay-fare

The woman was left in tears after Jakir Hossain refused to let her go into her house to get the remaining £5.20 he was owed.

A private hire driver ‘locked’ a woman in his car as he was waiting for her to pay the remaining journey fare.

A complaint was made about Jakir Hossain’s behaviour to Glasgow City Council, which was heard at the licensing and regulatory committee.

The committee was told how the woman was left in tears after not being allowed to leave the vehicle.

She had paid £10 towards her fare and wanted to go into her house to get the remaining £5.20 owed.

A council taxi and private hire enforcement unit officer said the passenger “wanted to go into her home and get the remainder (of the fare). She wasn’t allowed as she was locked in the car”.

The women eventually managed to get out after the taxi operator was phoned and told the driver to open the doors.

Hossain told the committee it was a “misunderstanding” and he had been trying to pull in to a safe place when the woman wanted to get out.

Committee chair councillor Alex Wilson said: “You should never have locked a passenger in your vehicle in the first place.”

The committee suspended Hossain’s private hire car driver licence for three months.

...and I wonder what kind of private hire car it was anyway. I mean, with the average saloon car you can't lock people in anyway?

Certainly not possible with any motor I've had (as far as I'm aware), except if the child locks are activated, which wouldn't be possible in a scenario like the one above

I had the automatic locking function on my Skoda, which activated once above a certain speed, but I got that disabled

Reason being in fact like the scenario above I think people think you're locking them in once you get going, and I've heard and read about people saying that.

Of course, there's still nothing to stop a passenger getting out, because it's to stop unwanted people getting in the car, at traffic lights, say

Which I'd say is a very remote possibility in my neck of the woods...

But the perception of the passenger is that they're being locked in

I can lock the back doors of my motor with a button on the dash.

I discussed this with one of the trade reps, who was defending a driver who had locked a punter in the car, similar to the story above. He also didn't believe it could happen until he went and tried it on his own car, which I believe is a Skoda Superb.

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IDFIMH

Yes, I think you're right, Sussex - with my base model Skoda I've still got the mindset where the only option to lock the rear interior doors is via the mechanical lock inside the rear doors, which is a bit fiddly, and obviously isn't a realistic option for day-to-day taxi work.

Of course, it will depend on the manufacturer or vehicle spec, but on the Skodas and VWs I think the switches are on the door handle beside the electric window switches (assuming they actually have them):



So either or both rear doors can be locked from the inside with the touch of a button.

My window switches are more or less identical, and I also have the standard VAG switch in that panel which disables the rear electric windows, so I suppose these days you either get that switch, or the better models have the child lock switches instead, which will disable the windows and door locks.

Anyway, for what it's worth it was the automatic central door locking I was on about earlier, which by default engage on my Skoda at speeds above 15km/h. So I think the clicking noise gave the passengers the impression that I was locking them in soon after the car starts moving, but of course in reality the doors were still openable from the inside - it just means that people outside the car can't get in