Taxi Driver Online

December 6, 2007 Thursday

Tendring: My MOT shock

Dominic Bowers

Gazette

Hundreds of taxis could be driving around Tendring illegally, even though they have been issued with licences.

Jay Field, who runs St Osyth Taxis, realised the discrepancy when he was stopped by police.

They issued the 24-year-old with a summons because he does not have an MOT certificate.

Mr Field's seven-seater Peugeot is less than three years old and he did not think he needed one.

He has since learned the rules changed 24 years ago.

He claims the blame lies with Tendring Council as it issued him a licence.

"Me and hundreds of other drivers have been driving around illegally because of the council," he said.

"If they had told me I needed an MOT I would have got one."

The hackney carriage/private hire vehicles guidance on Tendring Council website says an MOT certificate is needed unless the vehicle is under three years old.

Tendring Council is holding its own investigation into whether this is the case, following Mr Field's complaint.

Nigel Brown, Tendring Council's communications manager, said: "It has been ascertained there is an European directive, issued in 1983, which requires all hackney carriage vehicles to be tested annually from one year old," said Mr Brown.

"The council is investigating whether this directive still applies."
_________________________

What the flip is there to investigate?

Last time I looked even Tendring was in the EU.

_________________
IDFIMH

Shouldn't that be 1 day old?

All taxi's are tested from brand new arent they?

All we receive until our cabs are 3 years old, is a certificate of compliance from the council.
after that we receive both.
And yes they are tested from day 1

I doubt if there's anything that would stop councils not testing a cab on day one (except for the meter etc), but the one-year MOT is a national requirement and is not the council's own rules.

There have been a few people caught out with the rule around here - the council do ask to see an MOT when you renew your licence if the car is more than one year old, but if you forget or don't know about the rule you could be running without an MOT for almost two years (if you have a one year plate an renew it just before the car turns one) or for the full three years if you have a three year licence.

Nobody actually tells you about the rule.

This should be an interesting case because the vehicle is a cab and if it has a license then should it not be valid from the date of issue to date of expiry? The existance of a license makes the vehicle a hackney carriage in compliance with the authority that issued the license. His license certificate should be enough to show that his vehicle has been passed suitable for use by the council, therefore if I was this person I would plead not guilty as he has complied with all the licensing requirements.

Regards

JD

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

One thing's for sure.. some magistrate is going to have a headache .

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

Do you receive a certificate of compliance in England for hac and ph, we do

Yes, if the council are doing their jobs properly.

_________________
IDFIMH

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

A blast from the past.

But a nice one at that.

_________________
IDFIMH

needed it today - good old JD

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