2013of INDEX
I
SWOOP CENTRAL. . . . . . . . . . . 67 CREATIVE CABBIES. . . . . . . 68-69 SAD B*****D OF THE YEAR. 70-71 AWARDING ACHIEVEMENT . . . 72 TICKETING TRAVESTIES . . . . . 73 WORLDWIDE TAXI FOCUS. . 74-75 (UNSUNG) HERO . . . . . . . . . 76-77 ‘N’ APART FROM THAT . . . . 78-79
Cartoons by Mark Wood & Roy Glanville (Swoop) NO.
COUNCIL Whitby Avon
Uttoxeter
Ellesmere Port Aylesbury Mansfield
Ribble Valley
Bristol/Weston-super-Mare Bolton
Bradford Hull
Devon
Neath Port Talbot South Somerset Bristol
South Tyneside Exeter
Erewash
Rushmoor Bath
Amber Valley Sunderland Bristol
South Somerset Basildon
South Derbyshire Kirklees
Hyndburn Aylesbury
East Staffordshire Blaby
Rossendale
Milton Keynes North East Fife Rhyl
Whitby
Wolverhampton Swansea
VEHICLES TESTED 18 23 9
WINNER
27 22 16 20 73
114 22 70 50 17 18 62 31 36 29 20 29 44 70 62 26 86 14
100 19 13 21 11 7
RUST BUCKET 19
149 11 26 50 40
Swoop Central Welcome to Swoop of the Year. I
must say I was very interested in checking last year’s results with those of the previous year, to see if as expected, things had got worse. And yes they have.
Firstly, the actual number of swoop exer- cises has fallen considerably from the pre- vious year: nearly 50 in 2012, and only 38 in 2013. It is also significant that in 2012 we significantly praised the fact that the number of swoops had indeed gone up; now as said, they have gone down a great deal. It is disappointing perhaps - or per- haps not – that Blackpool, a significant win- ner in years past, does not appear in this year’s swoops. Remember, folks, that is
NO.
FAULTS FOUND 4 8 3
10
N/A 0 4
31
N/A 4
28 27
N/A 7
N/A 7 8 4 5 1 5
13
N/A 8
24 6
30
N/A N/A 5 9 5
17 3 8 9
N/A 18
NO.
TAKEN OFF ROAD 0 8 0 8 7 0 2
16 49 0
N/A 5
10 2
10 0 0 0 1 1 2 9
19 4 1 5 2 9 8 4 2 2
17
N/A 5 4 5
12 %
FOUND FAULTY 22% 35% 33% 37% 32% 0%
20% 42% 43% 18% 40% 54% 59% 39% 16% 23% 22% 14% 25% 3%
11% 19% 31% 31% 28% 43% 30% 47% 62% 24% 82% 71% 89% 2%
73% 35% 10% 45%
the only council that has had a 100 per cent failure and 100 per cent taken off the road in a previous exercise. Maybe it’s just as well that they don’t advertise their suc- cess rates any more. (Sorry - was success the right word? Don’t think so... it should have been failure.)
Previously we had five winners - areas where no faults were found, but this last time around we only had one, and that was Mansfield, which only tested 16 vehicles on that occasion. The outright winner in 2012 was West Fife, with 92 vehicles tested and none with faults. Indeed, of the other win- ners only two tested less than 20 vehicles; Bury tested 32 and Powys 46 - a significant difference, really.
Unfortunately last year the percentage of vehicles found faulty has also risen, so that embarrassingly, 55 per cent of all the areas testing licensed vehicles found more than a third of their vehicles with faults. Finally, the previous ‘rust bucket’, Birming- ham, topped the file with 75 per cent faulty vehicles. This time we have Milton Keynes with 89 per cent of their tested vehicles found faulty. In 2012 only three councils joined Birmingham with over 50 per cent faulty vehicles, but seven districts got there this time around. We know times are hard, and servicing ve- hicles is expensive. But is it any more ex- pensive than having your vehicle taken off the road - especially when you’re trying to earn money desperately to get the vehicle fixed in the first place? Great being between the devil and the deep blue sea, isn’t it? But we do have to consider passenger safety. I must profoundly apologise for any tongueincheek humour generated by swoops. But I do know for certain that all those of you who have been tested and passed will hopefully be smiling at your level of success, and not hopefully think- ing, “OMG - I got away with that.” Never explore the risk element: it’s not just the passenger at risk. You’re the one be- hind the steering wheel, and if your car won’t stop, you will get the first hit. Don’t let it happen.
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