Taxi Driver Online

Another one that sounds more like St Andrews than what's happening in Kent

Not sure what the tariffs have to do with it all, though. No wonder it reads like the driver is wondering what the reporter is on about


Derby cabbies say abusive drivers blocking taxi ranks are costing them fares

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/d ... rs-8157448

The hackney carriage drivers say the culprits are also causing congestion and 'very serious health and safety issues'


Image: Adam Toms/Derby Telegraph

A group of Derby cab drivers have called for action from the city council as they say 'abusive' drivers are frequently parking in taxi ranks, blocking them from potential fares. A petition with 130 signatures from hackney carriage drivers was presented to councillors earlier this week (February 16), but drivers claim there are between 170 and 180 disgruntled cabbies who wish to see clearer signage and more cameras in the restricted bays.

Drivers added that they are often forced to offload customers on the highway which is unsafe and businesses frequently ‘leave pallets’ in ranks and place trolleys and produce on the pavement, leading to taxis getting scraped.

The cabbies also recalled how they often try to pick up a passenger at a rank only to see it completely full of cars when they arrive. Missing fares, they say, could cost them dearly amid the cost of living crisis as they attempt to keep up with maintenance, fuel, and insurance costs. In addition, a slow transition to vehicles costing between £50,000 and £60,000 to rent is under way.

More than ten drivers gathered outside the Council House in Corporation Street to meet with the chair of the licensing committee, Councillor Jangir Khan, committee member Councillor Lucy Skelton, and city councillor for Littleover, Lucy Care. They said the issue has worsened over the past year, exacerbated by the replacement of previously yellow lines in the road with white ones which, they argued, gave people the impression that they could park there.

Abid Hussain, 47, who has been driving his cab in Derby for 22 years, said: “It’s very bad, especially on Osmaston Road. It’s horrendous, they park up and yesterday at about quarter past four there was no space for us on the rank.”

“It’s a frequent occurrence, you get to the rank for about nine, you get there and people have taken up the whole taxi rank.”


Image: Frank Mohammed/Derby Telegraph

Mohammed Arzwan, 51, a cabbie of 30 years from Littleover, said: “Any time after 1pm or 2pm and on a Saturday, there’s not a space, you can forget it. We’re also causing danger by on-loading and offloading customers on the highway. This includes those who are disabled, and we often have to drop them a five-minute walk away from where they want to be.

“There are very serious health and safety issues. There needs to be more urgency. There’s a camera at the bus stop, so why not at the taxi rank? I’ve sent many emails to wardens and the licensing committee over the last year.

“Shops have huge car parks at the back, so why don’t they tell their customers to use their car parks? They also leave pallets on the rank and walk off, and there’s trolleys on the pavement which means people walk past and mark our taxis. Drivers think, ‘We can park here and do our shopping’. But it’s our livelihoods they’re affecting.”

Mario Colella, 65, a taxi driver for 40 years, said: “It’s also causing congestion and it’s impacting our income. Especially with how the economy is nowadays. People are using it as a loophole rather than paying two pounds to park elsewhere. It’s quite simple, all we need is that sign.

“We’re verbally abused after politely asking people to move on, and we’ve all had that situation where cars have dived in front of you.”

Another driver told Councillor Khan: “People are ready to swear at you and ready to fight you. I’ve had my bumper scraped.”

When asked if difficulties have meant drivers have had to raise their fares, Mr Arzwan said: “Not realistically, not that much. But it’s paying for maintenance, wear and tear, and look how many years it’s been since we last raised them. Realistically it’s the cost of living. Fuel’s gone up and insurance has increased by at least 30%.”

Mr Hussain added: “We’re still cheaper than a private hire, they often charge two extra pounds. After ten o’clock, they have a £6 minimum fare but ours of £3.60 to £3.80.”

Councillor Care said: “The council has managed to paint the yellow lines white which has added to the problem. They need to be repainted as soon as possible, it’s not fair. Normally this means, ‘You can park here’.”

A spokesperson for Derby City Council said: “We take the reinforcement of parking restrictions in taxi ranks seriously and recognise the importance of keeping designated taxi ranks clear to allow taxi drivers to wait for potential passengers.

“Whilst on duty, our parking teams enforce the city centre taxi ranks daily. So far this year our teams have issued 93 Penalty Charge Notices (PCN) to vehicles breaking the taxi rank parking restrictions and have moved on many more vehicles.

“As ever, we will continue to enforce parking restrictions and encourage taxi drivers to report any vehicles which are illegally parked through our website .”

Hope nobody from Burnley decides to have a night out in Derby - they'll think they can get a near-10 mile run for just a couple of pounds more than that

Oh, and visit the website to see the driver making the case in a video. Puts it all quite articulately (although by 'other taxis' parking, he presumably means PHVs), and he does well to deflect the reporter's daft question about the fares

roads certainly in England have been a battle ground for years people do not respect parking rules and they are prohibitively expensive to enforce so aren't.

The only way to draw attention to the problem is to block offenders in and get the police to attend offering to move out of the way once they have been issued with a ticket.

Sadly in many areas (including ours) the police have given up their powers to issue parking fines so that may not work

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

And risk a big kick off in the meantime?

And the only time I can recall police taking any interest in this sort of stuff in Fife was when a taxi driver did just that and police came along and charged the taxi driver with obstruction

(Or at least that's how I read the article, and it's difficult to assess it all without the full SP. And I wouldn't even know how to get to Rosyth without looking at a map first, and wouldn't have a clue where any of the ranks are.)

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=36872&p=409067

I'm not sure there is too much money to be made in the location of the first picture.

Looks like the best you could hope for was to not be stabbed.

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IDFIMH

Is that something to be proud of?

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IDFIMH