Taxi Driver Online

When I saw the photo I assumed it was a group of women starting in the trade, or volunteering to do a few night shifts to safeguard those 'women and girls'.

Oh, wait, they're actually moaning about the men doing the actual driving - who'd have expected that?

To be fair, maybe they have a point. But either they or the council must be talking $hit - according to the women, there are driver-ID badge mismatches everywhere, while according to the council it's all taken very, very, seriously, and safety is paramount. Or something like that


Alert on danger of ‘false’ taxi drivers in Hereford

https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/2568 ... i-drivers/


Image: Rob Davies/Hereford Times

Women and girls taking a taxi at night risk getting in with a driver who doesn’t match the licence on display – and not enough is being done to clamp down on the problem, a Hereford woman has claimed.

Lin Mathias, a mature student at the city’s art college, said a friend recently looking to take a night-time taxi home found that in three taxis in a row the actual driver didn’t match that in the mandatory photo ID displayed in the car.

“One driver I talked to said he hadn’t been checked on this in five years,” she said.

Taking her concerns to Herefordshire Council, which authorises and enforces taxi and driver accreditation in the county, Ms Mathias told Cabinet member for roads and regulatory services Barry Durkin the safety of women and children “cannot be secured” unless it enforces its own taxi licensing policy.

Green councillor Helen Heathfield also asked how recently and how often checks on drivers’ IDs are carried out, adding: “Please consider on-street spot checks of our taxi drivers.”

Coun Durkin replied that this winter, “we are planning joint patrols and targeted licensing activity to strengthen visibility and assurance”.

“We take robust steps to ensure that only safe vehicles and fit and proper drivers operate within the county,” he said.

“Any report that a driver or vehicle may be using incorrect or mismatched identification is treated as a safeguarding concern and investigated immediately,” Coun Durkin said, adding this is “extremely rare”.

He added there was an issue of education regarding the driver IDs, which “the public should be aware of”.

“I will undertake to look at how we educate the public as to keeping them safe,” he said.

Graham Wood of the Hereford Taxi Association said his group “have a deep passion to address any risk issues and any wrongdoing amongst taxi drivers”.

But he added: “It’s good to know customers out there are checking these things, which we would always promote.”

West Mercia Rape & Sexual Abuse Support Centre chief executive Jocelyn Anderson said she had been made aware of this issue in Herefordshire.

“Concerns about taxi drivers not matching their identification are serious, undermining trust and reinforcing women’s fear when travelling, particularly at night,” she said.

“Women’s safety should not depend on individual vigilance, but on systems that prevent harm.”

It has been known locally for "cousins" to drive a car on a sunday night with the cars regular drivers badge hanging off the rear view mirror

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

Seems odd to have to display the drivers ID in the car. what about common-user cars owned by a circuit operator? How would that work? But if the the badge displayed by the driver doesn't match then there's a problem.

Our badges in Fife just have to be 'on display', Roy, and it's easy for me as an owner-driver in a singled car - it's just mounted on the dashboard. I think wearing a badge on a lanyard would also be acceptable.

Of course, it might be a tad more difficult in terms of multi-driver cars, but basically it should be an easy enough process...

But in terms of myself, it means that I don't have to really think about it, and it means there's no danger of me forgetting to bring my badge out and/or wearing it.

In terms of the ID practicalities, I think it's better than wearing it, because passengers can actually see the badge more easily than if it's actually worn, which in the vast majority of cases would entail actually asking the driver to show them the badge.

The less common scenario of outside the car is obviously more difficult, but my badge is easily removed from the dashboard if necessary.

Don't know about elsewhere, but here in St Andrews the amount of people who've specifically asked to see my badge in 27 years could probably be counted on one hand. And usually done in a manner more intended to harass and intimidate as opposed to a genuine ID query.

That's why I'm not keen on official advice sometimes offered, like always photograph the driver's ID badge

I mean, if I was wearing a badge and people were constantly asking to photograph it...

Likewise, I'm not keen on smart alecs in the trade who advise people to always check plates and badges, and that honest drivers won't object because they've nothing to hide.

But, as per the above, on the small number of occasions people have tried to do that kind of thing to me, it's usually not been done in good faith, and/or they're trying to foist some helplessly drunk female onto me, and obviously looking to blame me if things go wrong

We used to have a badge in the windscreen as well as on a lanyard, but for some reason the council have binned the windscreen version.

But to answer your question, I have never been asked to show my badge to anyone other than the LOs.

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IDFIMH