|
Danger taxis targeted
Dec 13 2006
By Adam Jupp, The Evening Chronicle
Unsafe and off the roads, dozens of rogue taxis have been put out of action in a festive blitz. The Chronicle teamed up with police and council officers to target the cabbies putting your lives in danger with their unroadworthy cars.
We can reveal 15 drivers were immediately suspended because their vehicles had either failed their MOT or displayed serious faults.
Another 11 were ordered off the roads until flaws including bald tyres and broken lights were fixed. One driver was arrested after a baseball bat was found in the back of his car.
Sgt Claire Lawson, said: "When people get into a taxi they do so because they are prepared to pay for a safe ride home.
"We entrust the taxi driver with our lives, and I expect that the public will be horrified to learn how many vehicles stopped during this operation were not properly maintained.
"The police continue to encourage people to take care when using taxis. Use designated taxi ranks or arrange your own pick up by a private hire company.
"We will continue to do random checks of taxis throughout the Christmas period and will prosecute drivers who break the law, involve themselves in criminal activity, breach taxi regulations and drive unsafe vehicles."
In the operation, code-named Karoo and staged over two weekends, motor patrol officers stopped hackney carriages working at ranks throughout the city centre.
Based on intelligence, private hire firms were also targeted in suburbs including Jesmond and Byker.
Police searched their systems for any information linked to the number-plates of each car stopped as a council safety officer checked for defects.
Our reporter watched as drivers were served with notices suspending them from working until the defects on their vehicles were mended.
Some cabbies had failed to attend MOT tests but were still working, meaning their cars could have developed life-endangering flaws without them or their innocent punters realising.
Others had broken lights or were not displaying the proper markings to indicate they were a taxi. One cabbie was arrested on suspicion of carrying an offensive weapon after a bat was found in the back of his car.
In total, 173 cars were stopped and checked, with 26 displaying a fault of some sort - a rate of 15%, meaning as many as more than one in seven of all taxis could be faulty.
Coun Anita Lower, executive member for regulation at Newcastle City Council said: "This shows that just because you have a taxi licence, it does not allow you to drive around in an unroadworthy car and break the rules.
"The message to drivers is we are keeping an eye on these things and we will not let standards slip."
Stephen Savage, head of public health at Newcastle City Council, said: "From our point of view, these cars were faulty or had not passed MOT tests and we're glad they are no longer on the roads.
"We don't want to stop people making a living and if the necessary repairs are made, we are happy for them to be put back in action.
"It is always important to us to check on the safety of taxis but especially so this time of year when we know many more people are heading out for festive celebrations.
"People can be reassured we will continue these checks to make sure taxis coming in and out of the city are safe to use."
_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin
|
Login
Register
FAQ
