Taxi Driver Online

THAT'S JUST NOT FARE!


Illegal taxis are trying to pick up late-night revellers in the city.

Cab operators believe around five drivers a week who have no taxi licences are touting for business in Aberdeen.

And around 10 drivers who are only licensed to carry passengers in Aberdeenshire are also believed to be operating inside the city limits.


Although these cars are legitimate private hire vehicles, they are not insured to carry passengers outside their own area.

The dangers of hailing unofficial taxis was starkly highlighted when father-of-four Dean Jamieson was killed last April after flagging down a car in the city's harbour area as he tried to get home.

The 30-year-old was robbed, beaten, knifed, kicked and stamped on in an attack near Elrick Hill on the outskirts of the city.

Sergeant Jacky Davidson, from Grampian Police's taxi inspection unit, today said some drivers were operating illegally.

"It is lucrative pickings in Aberdeen," she said.

"People don't really care how they are getting home, and don't take too much notice of who the taxi driver is, particularly if they have had a couple of drinks inside them."

All Aberdeen City licensed drivers are qualified hackney drivers. This means they have to take an in-depth driving test that includes having detailed knowledge of the city's streets.

Chairman of Aberdeen Taxi Group Russell McLeod said in some cases ordinary family cars were used and the drivers have no hackney licence.

He said: "Where drivers with no hackney licence at all are involved, there are real issues about security.

"You do not know anything about who is driving you."

He added that licensed drivers working outwith their area was a "major issue".

He said: "In Aberdeen we have probably the best fleet of cars in the country and probably the best drivers, because all of them are trained taxi drivers and have done the test.

"But these other drivers who come in willy-nilly are giving others a bad name.

"People are being taken home by someone who has not done the test and doesn't know their way around Aberdeen."

In Aberdeen letters were sent out to all taxi drivers in April this year reminding them of the laws and warning all drivers if they broke the rules they faced the licensing committee taking their right to drive a taxi away.

An Aberdeenshire Council spokesman said: "All taxis and private hire vehicles, along with their drivers, require to be properly licensed.

"A driver whose vehicle is registered in Aberdeenshire should primarily operate within these boundaries, although private hire vehicles can pick up passengers from within a neighbouring authority if they have been pre-booked.

"What drivers based in Aberdeenshire are not permitted to do, however, is drive into a neighbouring authority with the intention of seeking a hire."

Director of Don Cabs Derek Hekelaar said the firm had taken on some Aberdeenshire licensed drivers more than a year ago to cover their workload.

He said : "We have seven Aberdeenshire drivers currently working for us, and they are currently going for their Hackney licences.

"It is all completely legal and they can only pick up passengers that have been booked. They only work for Don Cabs and don't do any other work."

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

30 would be nearer the mark

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

:^o He has around 12 and they ply for hire as well

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