DRIVER PROFILE
SCARBOROUGH PROPRIETOR ON HIS SOAP BOX: LIMITING SEATS IN LICENSED MPVS
The Association was recently contacted by Mr Phil McDonald, a Scarborough taxi driver and proprietor for over 30 years, with a bit of a grievance about his licensing department. Sound familiar? This was about not licens- ing his MPV, a Vauxhall Zafira, for its full pas- senger seating cap- acity of six passengers. Sound familiar? We’ll let Phil take up the story, but first he’ll give you some history:- “I was born in Scarbor- ough in 1953, so I’m 59 years old. Before get- ting into the taxi trade I had passed the Com- mando Training Course at Lympstone in Devon and then the physical Para Training Course at Aldershot
in Hamp- shire, before com-
pleting my parachute training/jumps at West- on on the Green in Oxford. The difference between an Army Com- mando and a Royal Marine Commando is that a Royal Marine Commando is Navy, where as we Para/Com- mandos were Army. “Anyway, I came into the taxi trade after that; I run a small business in Scarborough called ‘Sea-Side Taxis’. The current controversy is about my latest vehi- cle, a new white Vauxhall Zafira Exclu- sive 1.7 Diesel, for which I applied to have licensed for six pas- sengers. “This vehicle was first registered on the 18th October 2012 and is insured by Tradex Insurance Company
sixth seat down I did have over the mini- mum 11 cubic feet of boot space to be able to be licensed to carry five
passengers
Ltd with comprehen- sive cover, for Public Hire and Reward, including
Social
Domestic and Pleas- ure. I appealed against the Scarborough Bor- ough’s
licensing
officer’s decision to license this vehicle to carry only four passen- gers instead of six passengers including the driver, as being unreasonable;
that a precedent had already been set, where the minimum boot space of
the and You
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council’s own Taxi and Private Hire licensing policy of 11 cubic feet was ignored when a council licensing offi- cer passed a White Ford Galaxy, on the 15th June 2012 for six passengers, which had less than the stat- ed 11 cubic feet. “I had over 25 letters of support that were shown to the court from numerous Scar- borough hotels, guest houses, a local Youth Hostel; as well as a let- ter of support from the Scarborough Hotels Association with over 150 members. “I and the hotels explained that their guests
sometimes,
five or six in number, wanted a vehicle to take them into town and then return later without them carrying any luggage. Other towns/cities around Scarborough license this vehicle for six pas- sengers but don’t state a boot size. “I still lost the case, as the three Magistrates at
Scarborough
claimed that as the Ford Galaxy’s boot was not much smaller than 11 cubic feet, it was okay for them to license that vehicle, but as my Vauxhall Zafira was a bit smaller than the Ford they could refuse the Zafira. “They did however also state that with my
instead of only four passengers. “After visiting the coun- cil licensing officers again and taking pic- tures of the vehicle with luggage/straps to keep the luggage secure, and again with netting to safely carry small items such as shopping bags, the vehicle was licensed to carry five passengers. “A new draft policy 2013 for taxis and pri- vate hire vehicles is now taking place ask- ing drivers etc. for their views: look on
www.Scarboroughtaxi licensing 2013. “One of the new Draft Policy questions solicit- ing views is: ‘Do you agree that luggage stor-
age is provided for the number of passengers carried, the minimum space
re-
quired shall be such as to allow a folded wheel- chair to be carried?’ “Another is: ‘Do you agree that luggage shall be stored separately from the passenger compartment without obstructing any emer- gency exits and must always be safely secured to the satisfaction of the Licensing Authority?’ “Scarborough is also only able to keep a vehicle licensed for eight years from first registration. Do your readers agree with this age limit of only eight years when surround- ing councils license their cars for 12, 15, 20 years as long as they pass and are tested every six months? We are trying to change this age limit to a more
reasonable age such as twelve years. “Scarborough is a small seaside town where work is only available from half a cir- cle; drivers cannot be expected to get rid of a perfectly sound vehicle when there is nothing wrong with it. I and oth- ers wish this eight-year rule to be changed as we cannot afford to keep replacing vehicles that are roadworthy and safe for the travel- ling public to use. “I ask that you print the above and get a response from the
Minister of Transport.” Phil McDonald Proprietor, Phil’s Sea-Side Taxis Mmmm…We have seen the council’s ‘permis- sion’ letter suggesting the netting (see photo below). This is sup- posed to look profes- sional? What about the first time Mr McDonald has to endure an alter- cation with an in- ebriated sixth passen- ger who can’t travel in a shopping bag? Any- body out there any good at fishermen’s net knotting? Oh please…- Ed.
PHTM JULY 2013
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