Taxi Driver Online

Private hire driver posed as cabbie


A PRIVATE hire driver has been given six penalty points after posing as a regular cabbie to pick up a fare.

Mofizur Rahman also faced charges of driving without insurance when he appeared at Swindon Magistrates' Court.

The insurance charges were brought because, by picking up a street fare without a Hackney Carriage Licence, he breached his insurance policy.

Rahman was seen picking up a punter against the terms of his licence by a Swindon Council vehicles officer.

Rahman, from Frobisher Drive, pleaded guilty to the offence, saying that it was a foolish mistake that led to him breaking the law.

He was dropping off a legitimate fare in Henry Street on August 11 when the customers asked him to wait and take their babysitter home.

A man walking along the pavement asked the driver to drive him home and Rahman refused, saying he was waiting for a customer.

In court, the driver said that he then panicked, thinking that the man who stopped to talk to him was in fact the customer, so he reversed up the road to ask him.

He argued that the man had taken advantage of the situation by saying he was the customer but wanted to be driven to a different address from the one previously given.

Defending himself, Rahman said: "It was a foolish action and one that I apologise for.

"I should have realised it wasn't right when he asked to go somewhere else.

"I have been a private hire car driver for three years and have had an unblemished licence until this month."

Rahman explained that he was already expecting three penalty points on his driving licence after he was caught using his mobile phone at traffic lights.

Magistrates took the three points into account and decided on a further six points for driving without insurance.

Rahman, pictured above, was also given a conditional discharge of one year, meaning that if he commits another offence within 12 months he will face charges for that and the previous offence.

Chairman of the bench David Packham said: "As an experienced driver you are aware of the regulations.

"We are concerned that your decision to pick this passenger up without insurance put everyone at risk, including your passenger - a matter we take very seriously."

Rahman was ordered to pay £345 to cover court costs and legal fees.

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Just what I like to see - a nice, clear unambiguous headline.




Another one



I suspect this happens quite a lot - it certainly does with pre-booked HC fares - so presumably a genuine mistake isn't a problem legally?

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

ffs , while not justifying PHV picking up unbooked pax, this is the sort of holier than thou attitude that shows up th HC trade in the worst possible light..
My god how awful, a PHV driver who is CRB checked, insured and has a decent vehicle, commits the heinous crime of picking up a passenger who forgot to phone and book his cab before getting in the car.

What about the completely unchecked and unregulated illegal driver????????????

This whole industry needs a reality check!

A single tier system of licensing would allow individual drivers to pick up from ranks, while drivers who want to be on a radio/computer system would be banned from ranks.
Anyone could pick up in the street but not within 100 yards of a rank!

However I would also have a limit on the total number of cabs.
This would avoid the problem of 17 betting shops on the same shopping parade. And would allow all cabbies to earn a decent living without having to spend 75 hours in the cab!

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Our safety is Paramount

Well you're obviously thought out what is best for you in your little world,

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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!

Absolutely!

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Our safety is Paramount

It shows....... I wouldn't hold your breath

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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!

How would restricting the number of cabs avoid having 17 betting shops on the same shopping parade?

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Grandad,

And that would just cram more drivers into less cabs, pushing the price of plates and rental to even crazier rates than we have at present.

Great if you are the 25% with a plate, but I like to consider the whole 100%.

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IDFIMH

It would depend on the total number of plates and whether new plates were the owners property or or if they could only be retuned to the LA when no longer required.
Your points would be valid if my suggestion was simply bolted on to the rest of today's decrepid legislation. However my brief outline is only part of my plan for taxi-world domination...he he he he he eh?

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Our safety is Paramount

You obviously dont own a cab around here

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

A passenger who forgot to phone and book before getting into the PHV.....I see..it was the passengers fault !

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

You wouldn't have to keep the cabs in a Coral to stop them from running down the (william) Hill and all BLUE cabs could SQUARE the circle

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Our safety is Paramount

To some extent a passenger can be part of the problem in todays 2-tier system. They just want to get home/to work/out/in/wherever.
But you are absolutely correct, a PHV driver shouldn't take an unbooked pax.
He should give the pax a card with the number on it and tell him to phone the office while he waits in the pouring rain beside the Licensed and Legal PHV. 30 seconds later a Booking will come through and the ( now soaking ) pax can legally get in and be taken to his destination.

If you were Mr Pax wouldn't you think the whole thing a bit strange?

However given that the law is as it is I don't condone ranking up or touting or anything of that nature, and if I'm approached I do just what I described above and apologise for the law.

The point I was making was that the unlicensed driver who could be a rapist was a FAR more serious issue, and that includes those licensed drivers who "lend" their HC or PHV to a brother/cousin/friend when they need some extra cash.

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Our safety is Paramount

Isn't that touting?

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

In some parts of the country all PH's tout for business when they think they aren't being watched and if they get caught they just swap district someone will always give them a badge