Andy Peters
Brighton & Hove Cab Trade Association
info@bhcta.co.uk www.bhcta.co.uk
Serial taxi fraudster We
with one of those wheely shopper trollies. This was the tartan type like my grandmother used to have years ago that she took to the local greengrocers into which the weighed spuds and veg would be tipped - fond memories.
Anway, I parked up and got out of the cab, and she wanted to sit in front. No problem, and I put the trolley in the boot.
currently have a notorious, previously
convicted taxi fraudster (2017) in the city who will take a cab from a rank and run out of town racking up an average fare of £30. This happened several times last year with the usual scenario of presenting his card which always fails, and then he goes through the motion of pretending to do a bank transfer which never takes place.
Stupidly he recently revealed his phone number to a driver whilst getting into a protracted series of text messages. So, having gathered various statements from drivers via our local taxi Whatsapp network, I presented this to the police along with crime numbers. As it turned out, last year he was subject to a community order for similar fraud, and as the police officer I was communicating with stated “… it looks like he hasn’t learnt his lesson” hopefully, very soon this !!@##! will get far more than a community order.
Fare Increase
Following on from my March ramblings, there were no objections to our recent fare review proposal meaning that we have now moved from £2.70 per mile to £3 per mile. This will no doubt make the Uber drivers here cry more than they normally do considering that they are mostly running around for much less, and constantly moaning about the Uber ‘Lowest Bidder’ system.
It’s not always about the money
I got a job to pick up at the supermarket the other day and as I approached, I saw the tiniest old lady
70
I got back in the cab and there she was, feet dangling above the floor, and with the most enormous drip of snot that I have ever seen hanging off the end of her nose. I swear that if I twanged it, it would have played D#. I could have put up with that as is, but she needed to put her seat belt on.
Yes, I could have taken the risk and just driven off, but the car would start screaming at me, and no doubt with the slightest touch of the brake she would shoot off the seat and go smack into the dashboard. The CCTV video of this would probably get a lot of hits on YouTube, but as I don’t have access to it, nor with being a responsible licensed driver would I do that anyway, the evidence would have been that she was not strapped in.
Ultimately as a responsible licensed driver with someone who would probably be classed as vulnerable, I would more than likely get the blame for having the face of this little old lady imprinted on the dash.
So, I said to her: “You need to put the seat belt on.” She responded: “What?” So I repeated, but louder and slower: “YOU - NEED - TO - PUT - THE – SEAT - BELT - ON”.
Fortunately, she heard this and understood. Now bear in mind that I had not put the meter on as yet so this is my time being used, but that is the way I work. However, whilst she looked to the left for the belt , and then to the right, with our new friend, ‘D#’ snot-string following her around albeit a millisecond later wobbling when she stopped, I could see that I was going to have to help her.
APRIL 2024 PHTM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80
