SWOOP CENTRAL
RUSHMOOR SAFETY CHECKS
Five taxis in Rushmoor have been found to be unsafe and were given deferred prohibition orders as part of a safe- ty check operation. Rushmoor Borough
Council, the police and VOSA inspected randomly selected pri- vate hire vehicles and taxis last month. According to the Alder- shot News and Mail, of
22 vehicles stopped five were issued with deferred prohibition orders for problems including defective steering, suspension and seat belts.
The MPS Cab Enforce- ment Unit made more than 100 arrests as fresher’s weeks got underway across the capital last month. Officers from the Cab Enforcement Unit, Safer Transport Teams and TfL, increased night-time patrols over three weekends in Sep- tember and October to deter, detect and appre- hend illegal cab drivers and to help people get
LONDON UNIT TARGETS TOUTS home safely.
This operation coincid- ed with a marketing campaign, which aims to make people, in par- ticular young women travelling at night, aware of the dangers of using unbooked minicabs picked up off the street.
Officers tackled touting involving both licensed and unlicensed drivers in student areas across London, successfully
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deterring and arresting illegal cab drivers, and acquiring valuable intelligence.
Steve Burton, TfL’s Director of Community Safety, Enforcement and Policing, said: “These operations are a priority for us and these arrests should serve as a clear reminder to touts that the Safer Transport Command is out there and will take action.”
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Six cars were taken off the road during a series of surprise checks on taxis and PHVs in Northampton town centre.
Enforcement officers from Northampton Bor- ough Council were joined by members of the council’s benefit fraud section and offi- cers from Northamp- tonshire Police in the six-hour sting on a recent Friday.
A total of 22 vehicles were inspected and only eight were given a completely clean bill of health.
The council’s cabinet member for communi- ty engagement, Cllr Paul Varnsverry, told the Northampton
Chronicle and Echo: “Spot checks like these make drivers aware of the importance of the maintenance of the vehicles.
“Northampton Bor- ough Council will continue to work to make sure the safety of the users of these vehicles is a priority.” The operation saw four PHVs immediately taken off the road, three for defective tyres and other defects including lighting, and one for having no stop lights. Two hackney car- riages were also taken off the road as they failed to meet council safety standards. During the operation, three more private hire
drivers received warn- ings for brake and steering defects while five drivers were given advice about lighting defects and tyres with tread nearing the legal limit.
Mmm…We must see reports of Northampton swoop exercises at least three times a year… but the results don’t get any better! It strikes us that “spot checks like these” do NOT make Northamp- ton drivers “aware of the importance of the maintenance of the vehicles”. Surely it’s time to focus on the operators; a few licence revocations might bring vicarious liability into the equation. – Ed.
ROGUE NEWCASTLE CABBIES TARGETED
Cowboy cabbies put- ting lives at risk have been driven off the roads after a special operation was staged to target rogue drivers based at Newcastle Central Station.
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The city council teamed up with the British Transport Police for the probe, which saw more than 100 vehicles inspected. One of those was immediately suspend- ed due to a series of safety flaws.
A further 11 were given notices ordering the driver to carry out vital repairs within five days or face a ban from the highways. During the operation, vehicles licensed with the city council and a host of
other local authorities were inspected.
Licensing manager Jonathan Bryce told the Newcastle upon Tyne Evening Chroni- cle: “Operations like this identify defects to our own fleet which require addressing as well as affording us the opportunity to stop and examine vehicles licensed outside the authority but operating in Newcastle. “British Transport Police’s involvement is crucial in stopping and addressing those vehi- cles to Newcastle Central Station licensed by other authorities, but operating in and around Newcastle.
“This exercise has shown that there are
some drivers and oper- ators who fail to comply with the law and clearly we have to take appropriate action where that happens.” Overall, 116 cabs were inspected during the weekend operation. Of those, 41 were licensed to other councils but were working in Newcastle. Two of the out-of-town cars were found to have a serious defect that needed to be put right. Officers looked at both hackney car- riage and PHVs and the checks were also aimed at making sure drivers, had the cor- rect licence needed to be allowed to pick up punters flagging them down at the station.
PHTM NOVEMBER 2010
24-7!!
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