20 PRIVATE HIRE AND TAXI MONTHLY
MARCH 2009 IN THE NEWS
WELLINGTON CABBIE CONFUSED OVER BLUE LIGHTS FINE
A taxi driver fined £30 for having blue lights on his car says they were there for safety reasons and is hoping to have the decision overturned.
Jason Baxter, of
Wellington, says he was stopped in his taxi by a police officer in Taunton and issued with a fixed penalty notice.
He claimed the officer said only emergency vehicles could be fitted with blue lights.
Mr Baxter has raised the matter with Conser- vative prospective Parliamentary candi- date for Taunton Mark Formosa, who says he will try to get the fine annulled. Mr Formosa told the Somerset County Gazette: “His offence was said to be display-
ing two small blue sec- ondary lights below the front bumper of his Fiat Doblo.
“Mr Baxter had the LED lights fitted by an MoT- approved garage to improve the visibility of his vehicle.”
A police spokesman said: “Blue lights can be placed on vehicles as long as they don’t flash, although their use isn’t something we’d encourage.
“At this stage the exact circumstances around the issuing of this ticket are not known, so we can’t comment specifi- cally on this case. “However, we have an established complaints procedure, and I’d encourage anyone who’s unhappy with the service they have received to write in and complain so we can address their con- cerns.”
HUDDERSFIELD DRIVER GETS £60 FINE FOR £3 FARE
As a taxi driver, charg- ing customers for fares is a daily part of Asif Iqbal’s job.
But he was left fuming when a £3 fare left him out of pocket by £57. Mr Iqbal, a driver for NPHA member Mount Taxis of Marsh, was hit with the fine after waiting to pick up a passenger in the car park of the Ice- land frozen food store on Trinity Street, Hud- dersfield.
He waited several min- utes for the customer to finish her shopping and after helping her to the car drove off.
The local fare cost the passenger just £3, but weeks later Mr Iqbal received a parking charge notice from Sheffield-based Excel Parking Services after his taxi’s licence plate was caught on the
company’s cameras. The car park manage- ment service said the driver was liable to pay the £60 fine because he was parked without dis- playing a valid ticket. He told the Huddersfield Daily Examiner: “I’ve been a driver for 11 years and I’ve never experienced anything like this before. It’s absolutely ludicrous that a £3 fare has ended up costing me this. “This has happened to other taxi drivers and my firm is now having to turn away business from cus- tomers who want picking up from the car park or warn them that they may have to walk down the road to get to the taxi because we can’t go into the car park.” Mr Iqbal said: “We have elderly customers and vehicles that provide for disabled people, so they
would really struggle if we had to park outside the car park as would customers with lots of heavy shopping bags.” A spokeswoman for Excel Parking Services said: “Every person who enters the Iceland car park agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions. “Failure to purchase and or/clearly display a valid ticket/permit will result in a parking charge notice. “Mr Iqbal did not pur- chase a ticket and was therefore issued with a notice.
“Whilst we appreciate that Mr Iqbal is a taxi driver, he was parked for a considerable time. “As a result he is in breach of the contract he was bound to when he entered the car park, so the parking charge notice is still applicable.”
BRISTOL TAXI BOSS IN LEGAL VICTORY OVER COUNCIL
A taxi boss has won a legal battle to have his cab licensed to carry eight passengers, leav- ing South Gloucester- shire Council facing a massive legal bill. Paul White, of Yate, said his court costs would top £30,000, plus he could claim compensation for thou- sands more.
Bristol Crown Court was told Mr White paid £23,000 for a Renault Trafic which was adver- tised as an eight-seater, with wheelchair access. But when he applied to the council’s taxi licensing unit officials refused to license the vehicle for eight pas- sengers, and imposed a seven-seat limit. Licensing officials said the middle front seat was 5cm (2in) too close to the dashboard when they measured the dimensions of the taxi. Judge Jamie Tabor said that, embarrassingly for the council, it had already granted an eight-seat licence to a similar Renault in error. After a three-day hear-
ing at Bristol Crown Court, the fourth court case involving the council and Mr White, the judge ruled the council had been wrong to refuse an eight-seat licence. He said: “The council’s policy needs to be reviewed so that hear- ings like this can be avoided. It is out of date and not fit for purpose.” He said if both parties had shown common sense and thrashed out their differences the expensive legal action could have been avoid- ed.
After the hearing Mr White said: “Justice has been done. The judge agreed with me that the way the taxi was meas- ured in the first place was wrong.
“This has caused me a great deal of money and stress because for six months my taxi licence was taken away because the vehicle was not plated.”
Bob Chapman, former chairman of South Gloucestershire Taxi Association, told the
Bristol Evening Post: “It is absolutely disgrace- ful that obscene amounts of council tax- payers’ money has been spent in hounding Mr White. “All he wanted to do was provide a service to the community in general and the dis- abled in particular. Councillors, whose role is to act in the best interest of the commu- nity, have, although being asked on three separate occasions to intervene in this matter, declined, stood by and did nothing.”
He called for an inde- pendent inquiry into the council’s legal and licensing department. A South Gloucester- shire Council spokesman said: “While we respect the decision of the court we are con- sidering the judgment. “Judge Tabor has raised some interest- ing issues regarding our policy and the way forward. These will be fully considered by council officers and counsel.”
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