Taxi Driver Online

I'd kind of forgotten about this, even after thousands of articles on the subject

Which was good, at least for the sake of my sanity...

But here we go again

At least the age rule seems to be better explained here than when they first started reporting this.

Anyway, where you stand on this probably depends what age of car you've got, maybe, or whether you're the likes of the operator quoted...

But, of course, the Wolverhampton point is compelling enough.


Crucial vote puts futures of hundreds of Derby taxi drivers at stake

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/d ... s-10850382

Drivers want a controversial council rule scrapped or at least changed

https://i2-prod.derbytelegraph.co.uk/ar ... icjfif.jpg

A crucial vote affecting the future of hundreds of Derby taxi drivers is to decide whether a controversial rule stays or goes.

Derby City Council chiefs ruled last year that private hire taxi vehicles should be five years old or less when licensed by the local authority for the first time.

The authority said the change was brought in “to ensure vehicles are in good condition and more likely to meet current safety and emissions standards”.

The policy, implemented last April, does not apply to private taxi vehicles which are already licensed with the council – but those that would be registered for the first time.

Council bosses say the five-year rule was designed “to introduce improved passenger safety, maintain vehicle quality standards, reduce emissions and enhance the Derby professional image”.

But the “very strict” rule has been met with dispute with angry taxi drivers protesting on the streets.

Worried drivers claim the five-year rule could put them out of business and damage the city’s taxi trade.

They fear the requirement of a car five years old or less would “price out” new drivers wanting to enter the trade and existing drivers too, if they needed to change vehicles.

Fears were also raised that the policy encourages drivers to trade in the city but be licensed under a different council, which would not have the same rules in place.

It has been well known for several years that a number of taxi vehicles operating in the city have a Wolverhampton City Council license plate – not a Derby City Council one. This is not just an issue in Derby but other towns and cities too due to out-of-town authorities offering different fees or rules.

They fear the requirement of a car five years old or less would “price out” new drivers wanting to enter the trade and existing drivers too, if they needed to change vehicles.

Fears were also raised that the policy encourages drivers to trade in the city but be licensed under a different council, which would not have the same rules in place.

It has been well known for several years that a number of taxi vehicles operating in the city have a Wolverhampton City Council license plate – not a Derby City Council one. This is not just an issue in Derby but other towns and cities too due to out-of-town authorities offering different fees or rules.

The city council is unable to carry out safety inspections or checks on taxi vehicles if they are licensed by other councils. This, therefore, restricts the city council’s power to regulate vehicles on its roads.

Now, a meeting is to be held at Derby City Council next week to decide if the five-year age limit should stay, change or be completely removed.

More than 800 respondents took part in the council’s online consultation over the winter.

Almost 60 per cent of respondents wanted the age limit removed entirely.

Preference for adjusting to a different age stood at almost 30 per cent, with 11 per cent wanting to keep the five-year rule in place.

Michael Rowlands, the owner of a Derby taxi firm, said next week’s meeting was hugely important.

https://i2-prod.derbytelegraph.co.uk/ar ... dsjfif.jpg

He said: “This is a breakpoint for the Derby licensed trade as unless they vote to amend and remove the age policy for first license vehicles, Derby will begin to lose locally licensed drivers due to getting better deals on out of town licenses.”

A report says Derby is the only authority to have a five-year rule in place compared to other neighbouring councils.

It states Nottingham has a 10-year age limit rule, while councils in Erewash, South Derbyshire and Gedling have a seven-year rule in force.

According to the report, Wolverhampton City Council’s age limit for first-time licenses is 11 years and six months.

Well looks like they've got their way, and it's now nine-years-on

Fair points here about the cross-border angle, but other than that...

(I've missed out the rehash comprising the first part of the article...)


Controversial Derby taxi rules change despite public safety 'at risk' claim

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/d ... e-10864797

Drivers held protests claiming the rule could put them out of work

A controversial age limit for licensing new taxi vehicles in Derby is to be relaxed – despite claims that public safety is “at risk”.[...]

[...]At a Derby City Council licensing committee meeting on Thursday (March 12), councillors voted on whether the five-year rule should remain, be removed completely, or be altered to change the age requirement.

A majority of councillors voted to adjust the age limit to nine years, a move that went down well with several drivers attending the meeting.

Councillor Martin Repton said: “At the present time, taxi drivers can go outside this authority, and they can get a badge to work in this city with cars older than 10 years.

“We want our taxi drivers registered in the city, and we want a fair and reasonable system. We have yearly checks on every vehicle. I think if we move to an age limit of seven, eight or nine years, that is a reasonable compromise.”

Councillor Stephen Lakin: “I don’t think age is any actual limitation – I think it is the condition of the car. As you know, the cars are expected to pass a very strict test.

“When I phone up and get a taxi, I know that the vehicle is well-maintained. I don’t care what mileage it has got on it, as long its clean, tidy and safe. Let the boys who are testing these vehicles decide if they are safe or not.”

But a council report on the issue stated cars of nine-years-old “show a mix of advisory defects and a small number of serious issues, suggesting this is the point at which reliability begins to decline more sharply”.

Councillor Jamie Mulhall said he believed public safety was “at risk” by relaxing the age limit.

He said: “We are hearing an awful lot about livelihoods, incomes and losing drivers to potential other cities, but nobody has yet spoken about public safety.

“If we vote for an age limit of nine years, we will be putting people of the city at risk. We will be putting their health and safety at risk. The evidence is clear.”

There were more than 800 respondents in the council’s online consultation over the winter, with almost 60 per cent of respondents wanting the age limit rule removed entirely.

In September, it was reported that almost 2,000 taxi drivers living and working in Derby are actually licensed with Wolverhampton City Council, not Derby City Council.

A Freedom of Information request showed that, in July, 1,796 private hire drivers with a DE postcode were granted a taxi licence in Wolverhampton – more than 40 miles away.

The city council is unable to conduct safety inspections or checks on taxi vehicles that are licensed by other councils. This, therefore, restricts the city council’s power to regulate vehicles on its roads.

Wolverhampton City Council said it does carry out checks across the country every weekend to ensure its licensed vehicles are maintaining the highest road standards, and it “does not gain financially”.

Is this the same Derby with the rust-bucket yellow HCs? Hadn't they passed a council test? Maybe things are a bit different now, but a once-a-year test is hardly the end of the story as regards safety

As for age per se, I'd feel safer in a brand new car as opposed to a 12-years-old one purely because more modern cars tend to have better safety equipment etc. So it's not just a question of passing a compliance test.

And, I mean, you could have a late-plate car here in Fife with 7mm of tyre tread condemned because of 'cuts to the cord', which I suspect would breeze through a test in the likes of Derby, even on a ten-years-old and twice round-the-clock car, and with 3mm of tyre tread. So 'taxi' tests are hardly definitive in terms of safety


A few big, fat salaries involved, though, I'd guess

Well don't bloody well pass them then.

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IDFIMH

Good photo (if you like that kind of thing), but nothing much new here except fleshing out the comments made in the previous piece...


Relieved Derby taxi drivers say jobs have been saved after change to controversial rule

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/d ... y-10866335

They say the change will not affect public safety despite a claim to the contrary

https://i2-prod.derbytelegraph.co.uk/ar ... Taxi-1.jpg
Derby taxi drivers Darren Fitchett, Lee Roach and Manpreet Singh Malhi feared a five-year-limit could put people 'out of work' (Image: Derby Area Taxi Association/Derby Telegraph)

Relieved Derby taxi drivers say a decision to change a controversial council rule will “save a lot of people losing jobs”.

Derby City Council’s age-limit rule, which stated that private hire taxi vehicles need to be five years old or less when licensed for the first time, was changed during a lively council meeting.

The policy, which came into force almost a year ago, has long been disputed by taxi drivers in Derby, who held protests on city streets.

The rule does not affect vehicles currently licensed by Derby City Council, but applies to any new taxi vehicle that needs to be registered.

This could apply to new taxi drivers entering the trade or to existing workers if they need to change their car.

The city taxi trade feared the age limit could put drivers “out of work” by requiring them to spend thousands to buy a car that is less than five years old.

But council bosses said the rule was implemented “to ensure vehicles are in good condition and more likely to meet current safety and emissions standards”.

Thursday’s meeting (March 12) saw the age-limit relaxed from five years to nine – an outcome declared as a “victory” by worried taxi drivers who feared their livelihoods were at risk.

The Derby Area Taxi Association (DATA) – a group consisting of Derby private hire taxi drivers – called the rule change “cracking news”.

Lee Roach, taxi driver and chair of DATA, said: "It has saved a lot of people from losing jobs. It’s thousands of pounds of savings on vehicles.

“The under-five-year age limit rule was going to put people out of work.

“There’s a driver here with us who has been out of work for six months with a child to feed. Hopefully, now he can afford a vehicle so he can get back into work and start earning some money.”

Fellow leading DATA member and driver Michael Rowlands was thrilled with the decision and hoped it would stop drivers from being licensed elsewhere.

He said: “It brings affordability back to the trade and just makes perfect sense. Hopefully, it will encourage people to be licensed locally.

“I think the council has listened, and I think some of the councillors do understand the trade.”

Chad Cars driver Darren Fitchett, vice chair of DATA, added: “I strongly feel the five-year rule is a totally unacceptable requirement.

“We are all licensed by Derby City Council and use the same approved garages and testers. Our vehicles are tested twice yearly after five years to above MOT standards, which already offers a great deal of safety regardless of what the registration plate shows.”

However, not all councillors were in favour of the rule change. Jamie Mulhall raised concerns that relaxing the five-year age limit would put passenger safety “at risk”.

His claim followed a council report which said a nine-year-old vehicle was “the point at which reliability begins to decline more sharply”.

But Mr Roach responded: “The age limit does not affect public safety. There is twice a year testing and vigorous enforcement on the roads.”

Some of the comments - I mean, if they even made sense


What's being said here - that there's too (two?) many white guys in the photo?

Thought the response to this one was quite funny, though

In fact, it was the GMB wot done it

Or, at least, it's a good pitch for recruiting more members


Derby private hire concession 'welcome'

https://www.gmb.org.uk/news/derby-priva ... on-welcome

GMB Union, representing private hire taxi drivers across Derby, have today welcomed news that Derby City Council have voted to scrap a controversial policy limiting the age of licensable taxi vehicles in the city to just five years.

A meeting of the council’s influential Licensing Committee last night voted to allow vehicles up to 9 years to qualify, after a year long campaign by drivers and GMB.

Craig Thomson, GMB Organiser, said:

“Nine years is better than the disastrous limits being imposed on drivers.

“This is an important step and a welcome sign that the Council’s leadership have listened to drivers across Derby.

“There are however still important questions to be answered about how these plans will be rolled out, and what protections will be in place for drivers.

“That will be our union’s focus over the coming months and we’d urge any private hire driver in the City to get GMB on your side today”.

A long time ago, I was a massive fan of age limits.

That's not my view anymore; it makes no sense to take a car off the road if it's safe and looks respectable.

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IDFIMH