Never a dull moment in Hull - this the fourth article from there in a couple of days.
But something not quite right here - find it hard to take some of the lady's claims at face value. I mean, 'left in the middle of the road' makes it sound like she's on the white line, or similar, and not just left waiting.
Or, if she's correct in everything she says, the office is the one bull$hitting
And, who'd have guessed, by the end the article descends into recruitment advertorial, with that all important email address for potential drivers
Taxi firm blames Hull's 'illogical cycle lanes' after mum 'left in road'
https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hu ... le-5510176
Hull Drive has apologised to the passenger, but claims it is now 'near impossible' to drive across the city
Image: Hull Daily Mail
A Hull taxi firm has explained why a vulnerable Hull mum of two was "left in the middle of the road".
Tahira Quddas, 37, who moved to Hull with her family from London three years ago says that since arriving her family have experienced lots of problems with taxis in the city.
She claims that pre-booked taxis from Hull Drive have failed to show on several occasions, meaning she has missed essential medical appointments.
But the firm says the incidents are a result of a much wider issues in the city, including a mass shortage of taxis to meet demand and "illogical cycle lanes" making it "near impossible" to drive across the city.
Image: Hull Daily Mail
And for people like Tahira, it is becoming a major problem: "I am NHS medically vulnerable, I have many letters regarding that.
"Recently I had an appointment and I pre-booked five hours before and I got a confirmation message.
"I even reconfirmed after one or two hours and asked if it was booked so that they couldn't say in the end that I hadn’t booked."
However, after waiting outside for a taxi for 45 minutes, Tahira missed her doctor appointment.
She said: "Many times they have left me without any explanation on the road and I am a person who has serious pain medically in my life.
"They told me the taxi was on the way. I called back one or two minutes later because I really needed to make the appointment and they said it was two minutes away but it didn't show up.
"I have a lot of medical things. I have alopecia, long-term dizziness due to thyroid and because of this thyroid I have skin conditions. I have low blood, anaemia, a B12 deficiency and am a thalassemia carrier.
"These appointments are very important for me to attend but many times they are cancelled."
She added: "Taxis are very important for me because we don’t drive. A lot of people have contacted me and said the same has happened to them. It has been going on for the entire three years we have been here. I call them for an explanation and they put down the phone.
“It seem like such a simple thing but for people who don’t drive, if I have to go to the station for a pre-booked a train I lose my own money – who is responsible then?
Image: Hull Daily Mail
"People have said why don’t you hire another taxi but there are only two in my area off Holderness Road. In London if we get a confirmation message it is a serious thing, they really watch it but not here.
"We were surprised we were still in England but it is so different from London, too different."
A spokesperson for Hull Drive said: "The current shortage of Private Hire and Taxi drivers working in the city is at a critical level.
"This, paired with extensive road improvement schemes and the installation of misplaced and illogical cycle lanes, are at times making it near impossible to drive across the city.
"We would like to sincerely apologise to anybody who has been let down by us recently. On a personal level and as a company, we take no joy in bookings being late and people missing appointments.
"We are doing all we can to prevent these situations from occurring, but the driver shortage makes this realistically unachievable for many of our passengers.
"The Private Hire operators wrote to the leaders of the council and the licensing committee as a united voice with our concerns in July 2020.
"We warned that post lockdown, our trade would not be able to cope due to the lack of drivers being licensed to take the place of those leaving the profession.
"Our concerns were heard at a committee meeting in September 2020 and to date, the licensing committee has only increased the barrier to entry for new applicants.
"More recently, we have contacted many local councillors urging for their help & support with little to no avail.
"Each day, we are experiencing demand which vastly outweighs supply and unfortunately it has become increasingly difficult for the general public to get to their destination by private hire/taxi.
"We are in full support of a safe cycling network, however the issues that are being caused across the city are being ignored by the council and the general public are now suffering due to the current ill thought out positioning of these lanes.
"We are currently offering to help candidates fund their private hire license applications and ask that anybody interested and has held a full UK driving license for over 12 months, please contact help@drivehull.co.uk."
