Taxi Driver Online

You really should not eat magic mushrooms

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

Under the Disability Discrimination Act, Local authorities are demanding that all Taxis be wheelchair accessible. This means that instead of a comfortable saloon car, passengers will be forced to travel in either a 'London' type Taxi or a van conversion. Since these options are unsuitable for many elderly and disabled people and remove freedom of choice for the able bodied, I ask that the prime minister be petitioned to allow common sense to prevail and let local authorities to continue with the mixed fleets of Taxis that the travelling public enjoy at present. Not only is this unfair to the majority of Taxi users, it imposes a severe financial burden on the Taxi driver who is self financing and receives no subsidy or financial assistance whatsoever. In the interest of fairness and common sense, please sign this petition now!

OK, so accepting the mixed fleet bit, who decides which type of vehicle each owner should run?

At present it's the LA that does this, thus imposing a severe financial burden on some of the trade, to use the phrase in the petition above.

Thus the premise for the petition seems to be saloon car owners who'd prefer that others were forced to run WAVs, thus a distinct whiff of hypocrisy?

Not that we've ever seen that before in the trade

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Taxi Driver Online
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Dusty, I only read this petition since you posted your response. I understand the author of the petition wants a mixed fleet of vehicles but surprisingly that's precisely what Europe want.

You do however hit the nail on the head when you raise the question of who decides which license holders provide the purpose built vehicles? The first scenario that springs to mind is the situation in Bradford where the hackney carriage trade agreed to convert a set number of saloon hackney carriages to purpose built wavs, year on year. This is an ongoing process.

The first year proved a success but I havent had any feedback as to the current situation, therefore I have no way of knowing if the policy is still working?

Perhaps the petitioner or one of his friends can give us a little more information with regard to who he had in mind when he was thinking about WAV provision?

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

Yes, I recall questioning how the Bradford trade would select the ones who would go WAV; wouldn't imagine there would be many volunteers, although I may of course be wrong.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Well they got their first ten but it wouldn't surprise me if the second ten proved a bridge too far?

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

Some councils have already stated that all vehicles must be purpose built by a certain year? I wonder if the petitioner is from one of those areas? Places like Liverpool and Manchester etc probably wonder what all the fuss is about? lol I think those hackney carriage drivers who drive saloon vehicles such as Brighton etc are the most vociferous in respect of keeping hackney saloon vehicles. Maybe everyone should have the choice of driving a saloon hack vehicle? After all is there any difference as to what a driver is classed as?

Can anyone put forward a coherent argument as to why a private hire driver shouldn't have the same status as a hackney carriage driver? or vice versa?

After all, for what its worth, didn't a private hire driver win Brighton's Taxi driver of the year award?

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

The plates in Sefton are all interchangeable, if you think there's more work for a saloon vehicle you put it on one , if you think you will make more with a WAV it goes on that.....it seems to work.

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

I didn't know that, so you're saying all hack owners have a choice of what vehicle they license? Thats very interesting.

By the way did you ever find out who fire bombed those Licensing officers vehicles? When I made some tentative enquiries I was told if I valued my safety I should quite while i'm ahead. lol

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.

Well there can't be many people in the country who plate TXs when they could be plating saloons.

Eurobuses, Caravelles, Doblos maybe, but not TXs.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

you won't find a saloon hackney in my part of Sefton, but in Southport the majority are saloons . some people frighten easy if you know what I mean. ps, and I am not referring to you.

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

why ... it's no use having a saloon if nobody will get in.

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

the ranks in Sefton work in the manner that the first cab loads first

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

I don't quite understand that - you're saying that if there were saloons on the ranks in your area people wouldn't get in?

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

In my part of Sefton the public would not get into a saloon hackney, they would not recognise it as a cab, and if a saloon vehicle were to rank on a hackney stand and get to the front, if it couldn't take a wheelchair or pram it would have to pull off and go to the back.

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

lol. Is that Sefton hackney carriage law? If a wheelchair bound person tried to get in my saloon I'd say sorry, just like the majority of vehicles in Brighton and the rest of the country, my vehicle is not capable of carrying wheelchair bound passengers and if a driver tried to tell me to go to the back of the rank I'd tell him to F... off. If indeed that is the terminology they use on Mersyside?

Regards

JD

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Copyright notice © The contents of this post are copyright of JD and are not to be reproduced outside of TDO without written permission.