INDUSTRY INSIGHT FROM THE CAN HACKNEY CARRIAGE AND PRIVATE HIRE DRIVERS REFUSE TO
The starting point here is that as there are no scheduled ser-
vices for hackney carriages or private hire vehicles (unlike buses and trains) there is actually no requirement on a hackney carriage or private hire driver to be working. That is very simplistic approach, and it is appreciated that they need to make a living as much as everybody else. It will be for each individual driver to decide whether they are prepared to take the risks associated with provid- ing hackney carriage and private hire services.
A great many people work in the hackney carriage and private hire industries and even more people rely on hackney carriages and pri- vate hire vehicles to transport them. Whilst there has been a significant downturn in this activity as a result of this crisis, hackney carriages and private hire vehicles will still remain a vital form of transport for many, including to and from hospitals, pharmacies and to go shopping.
In relation to the drivers themselves, they should not work if they have a new continuous cough and/or a high fever and should at that point self isolate: (
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid- 19-list-of-guidance)
The more detailed and draconian requirements issued on 23rd March require all people to stay at home, but an exception is “Travelling to and from work, but only where this is absolutely necessary and cannot be done from home.”
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/sys tem/uploads/attachment_data/file/876279/Full_guidance_on_ staying_at_home_and_away_from_others__1_.pdf
Key workers can continue to work (and are allowed to send their children to school). Key workers include a category referred to as “transport”: “This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and freight transport modes operating during the COVID-19 response, including those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass.”
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid- 19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colle ges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision
Hackney carriages and private hire vehicles do provide vital forms of transport for many, and drivers would appear to fall into this category.
THE DRIVER GENERALLY PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLES
Drivers of a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle, hackney car- riage and private hire vehicle proprietors and private hire operators, whether self-employed or employees, have responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to both themselves and those who are likely to come into contact with their business (sections 2, 3 & 4).
Therefore, the driver and proprietor of the vehicle both have a responsibility to ensure, to the best of their ability, that the vehicle is safe. Whilst that usually relates to mechanical safety, clearly environmental safety is also vital. They should already have a Health
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A private hire operator is under no obligation to enter into a con- tract to provide a private hire vehicle for anybody, provided any such refusal is not based on a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010 (section 4 - age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation).
Once the booking is been accepted, there is a contract in place to provide a vehicle for that hiring. If on arriving at the pickup point, the driver sees that the passenger is displaying obvious symptoms
APRIL 2020
and Safety Policy in place. It may have been necessary to amend this to incorporate a risk assessment relating to the coronavirus which clearly survives on surfaces for a significant period of time.
Ideally every vehicle should be disinfected after every hiring, but this is clearly not practically possible. However, it would be possible to ensure that some form of cleaning of obvious areas takes place - door handles, seat belts and buckles and any other obvious hard surface that may have been touched by a passenger. This would include areas that may have been infected following a passenger coughing or sneezing such as physical divisions between the front and rear of the vehicle, the rear of front seats and so on.
The guidance from the Government is: “frequently clean and disinfect objects and surfaces that are touched regularly, using your standard cleaning products”
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to- employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/guidance-for-employe rs-and-businesses-on-coronavirus-covid-19
Beyond that there is a divergence between hackney carriages and private hire vehicles.
HACKNEY CARRIAGES
The driver of a hackney carriage that is standing for hire (that is at a taxi rank or elsewhere on the highway) can only refuse a hiring for a journey within the district if they have a reasonable excuse (section 53 Town Police Clauses Act 1847 (“the 1847 Act” outside London; section 35 London Hackney Carriage Act 1831 and section 7 London Hackney Carriage Act 1853 in London)).
It would seem to be a reasonable excuse to refuse to carry a poten- tial passenger who has obvious symptoms of coronavirus, but drivers must be careful. Assumptions about potential victims should not be made, and certainly should not be based on crude racial stereotyping. It would be difficult to see how a driver could refuse to carry a passenger who was not displaying symptoms in these circumstances.
In those circumstances (standing for hire) a driver can legitimately refuse to take any hiring which would be for a destination outside the district (unless there are local exemptions to that).
There is no requirement placed upon a hackney carriage driver who is plying for hire (i.e. cruising) to respond to any hailing by a prospective passenger (see Hunt v Morgan [1948] 2 All ER 1065 QBD).
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