DEHUMANISATION -
Public perception seems to be that it is very much our jobs; our duty, in fact, to pick up drunkards and deal with soiling in our vehicles on a regular basis. Surely only the lowest of the low would do such a job! At best they feel pity for us, but the reality is that it is a relatively rare occurrence, else most of us simply wouldn’t do this job at all.
The seasoned and experienced driver will quite rightly refuse a fare if the passenger is unfit through drink, and section 53 Town Police Clauses Act 1847 clearly allows it. It has been at least a couple of years since the last time my vehicle was soiled. Our basic principle is this: if you are capable of getting in and out of the vehicle without assistance, unless you are someone with a disability, you are able to communicate your destination, make payment by cash or by card, do not appear likely to soil the vehicle and have not already soiled yourself, you can have imbibed as much as you would like and be taken in a licensed vehicle.
These threats to report us if we don’t do as we’re ordered by members of the public carry little weight if the licensing authority is more supportive of the trade. Some are not. Worse still, a certain peer-to-peer app company has a tendency to ‘deactivate’ drivers at the drop of a hat in their attempt to become self- regulating. Drivers have become fearful of this and allow themselves to be abused by their passengers out of fear of losing their livelihoods. Passengers are even known to claim refunds by putting drivers out of work with spurious complaints.
Over the last 29 years that I’ve worked in this trade, I’ve asked passengers to leave my vehicle before they’ve reached their destination perhaps a dozen times if they have been abusive or otherwise disrespectful. I think the last one forgot that he hadn’t booked this journey through the proverbial p2p app and was shocked to find himself standing next to his golf clubs at a petrol station miles from home after I had asked him to leave the vehicle. I’m not at risk of ‘deactivation,’ I can therefore expect to be treated with the respect we all deserve.
Just one bit of advice on this: as a driver, if you do have good reason to terminate a journey prematurely, do so in a safe and well-lit place. Don’t just dump potentially vulnerable passengers in the middle of nowhere in the dark. This would obviously not apply if the passenger made you feel imminently threatened, or worse.
54
A while ago I watched CCTV footage from inside a licensed vehicle. The driver was being repeatedly punched from behind by his passenger. I found it quite distressing to watch. I saw the driver attempt to block the punches by raising his arm. This footage apparently came to the attention of his licensing authority and a licensing officer wished to ‘investigate’ the fact that he had raised his arm. In my mind there was nothing to ‘investigate,’ as it was plain to see what was happening: a driver was a victim of assault and was trying, rather unsuccessfully, to defend himself.
‘Investigate,’ was just a euphemism. What it actually meant was, in addition to the trauma of such an ordeal, the probable fear of returning to work each day for a while, and the injuries he may have sustained, the driver was also to suffer a period of uncertainty regarding his livelihood for no good reason. It was a blatant abuse of power.
The vast majority of licensing officers do a decent job, but this instance clearly demonstrates that we need a ‘fit and proper’ test for them as well as for us. The sociopaths and bullies need to be weeded out.
Fitness and propriety on our part is not akin to sainthood. We cannot be expected to “turn the other cheek” or to “take it on the chin.” We can only be expected to behave as any other decent law-abiding human beings are expected to behave.
A taxi driver in Grantham was recently told by his licensing authority, South Kesteven Council, that he may not wear a Santa hat with a white beard while working over the festive period. Apparently, they have received a complaint that the driver could not be recognised from the photo on his badge. The complaint may well have come from a stooge within the council as I think it highly unlikely to have come from just an ordinary member of the public. The driver also pointed out that he could pull his beard down to show more of his face if asked.
I checked through their licensing policy and byelaws and found no mention of face coverings or anything else to suggest that this was not allowed. The order was therefore a diktat devoid of any mandate from due and democratic process. It was null and void. If they suspended or revoked his licence for this, it should be an easy appeal case to win. This was another abuse of power.
JANUARY 2024 PHTM
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