92 PRIVATE HIRE AND TAXI MONTHLY SECURITY
STAKEOUT FEARS RAISED OVER PASSENGER SAFETY IN GRAVESHAM
A taxi group represent- ing drivers in the borough claims pas- senger safety is at risk because licences for private hire vehicles are being misused. The United Taxi Group, say people in Grave- sham could be travelling uninsured in cars marked as Restricted Private Hire Vehicles. Vehicles dis- playing the green plates have different regulations to the Hackney Carriage licence and normal Pri- vate Hire Vehicles. A Restricted Private Hire Vehicle allows drivers to take journeys either to or from out- side the borough, not journeys from point to point within the bor- ough. It also prevents
them from picking up passengers who flag them down. Rick Davis, 54, spokesperson for UTG, told the Gravesend Reporter: “We have very credible evidence to show that many of these vehicles displaying a green restricted licence plate are, in fact, carrying out a great deal of normal private hire work for which payment is made directly to the driver at the end of the journey. “None of the holders of these green licences had to sit a local street knowledge test, like all other licence holders and far more worrying for the general public is that the insurance they carry is invalidated if they do carry out this work.”
UTG say some of the Restricted Private Hire Vehicle drivers may even be unaware of the restrictions and is urg- ing the council to raise awareness.
A spokesperson for the council said they had issued 50 of the Restricted Private Hire Vehicle licences under the 1976 Local Govern- ment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, and they are typically used on school and airport runs. He said: “To date no conclusive evidence has been supplied to the council regarding an alleged transgres- sion by any individual restricted private hire licence holder.
The
council would act and will act if there were any such evidence.”
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The situation brought the following reaction from a Medway Coun- cillor: Following the appalling murder of Gravesend taxi driver, Gian Chand Bajar, the local taxi driv- ers worked with the council to identify ways of making their work safer.
After considering a range of options, they decided to install CCTV cameras across most of the fleet.
There are many bene- fits to this approach, and not just for the driv- ers themselves.
CCTV is a preventative measure - people are far less likely to attack taxi drivers, or to run off without paying if they know they are being filmed. Equally, it gives passengers confidence that their journeys will be safe. It also means that should there be an incident, the police have an excellent chance of finding the perpetrators and secur- ing a conviction. A thriving taxi trade is essential to the devel- opment of a night-time economy as well as
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providing another alter- native to privately owned vehicles, and we support the efforts of the industry to improve local provision.
As such, we have been working with the taxi drivers and their union, MLTDA, to ensure they have what they need to offer an excellent service to Medway’s residents. Medway’s drivers also feel that CCTV would be of assistance, as sadly there have been several attacks on driv- ers in the area, and there is a growing prob- lem with passengers leaving without paying. The results of a petition demonstrated that
more than 75 per cent of drivers were in favour, and that petition was submitted to coun- cil by the Labour group. We are therefore calling on the council to give this issue its fullest consideration, and to properly investigate all methods of funding this proposal.
Gravesend used monies from the police, tne EU, the council and the drivers themselves, and there is no reason why Medway could not do the same. Cllr Paul Godwin, leader of Medway coun- cil Labour group and Jonathan Shaw MP, Chatham and Aylesford.
EAST RENFREWSHIRE TAXIS TO BE FITTED WITH CCTV CAMERAS
CCTV cameras are to be fitted in taxis and pri- vate hire cars in a bid to protect drivers from violent attacks.
The pilot scheme will record hi-tech digital footage inside and out- side cars for the first time.
It follows growing con- cern for the safety of drivers amid reports of physical assaults, rob- beries and threats. Two major firms in East Renfrewshire have agreed to trial the technology with a view to installing the cam- eras in all of the area’s 546 cars.
The crystal clear footage is recorded directly on to a memory
card, which can store up to eight hours of images. Two cars, operated by Eastwood/Mearns Taxis and Mearns Cars, initially used the cameras over Christ- mas and New Year. Passengers will be made aware of the cameras when they enter the cars, and the vehicles will also dis- play a warning notice. Alan Strong, from car audio store Motor- sound Glasgow, which supplied the cameras, told the Glasgow Evening Times: “The images are excellent and the cameras also record sound.
“As well as the securi- ty aspect, the fact that they record outside the vehicle could prove invaluable in the event of a crash. The technology is improving all the time and it offers peace of mind to drivers and passengers.”
Councillor Elaine Green, chairwoman of East Renfrewshire’s licensing committee, said: “I have spoken to both drivers and seen the systems in action. “We will look at the results and, if we’re satisfied, there’s no reason why the sys- tem could not be extended.”
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