...FIT AND
PROPER...FIT
WIGAN DRIVER BANNED AFTER IGNORING SAFETY WARNING
A Wigan taxi driver has been stripped of his licence after ig- noring safety warn- ings about the state of his PHV’s tyres. The driver took on 13 fare paying journeys after being issued with a suspension notice.
He was deemed “not to be a fit and proper person to hold a licence” by the town hall’s regulation committee members in August.
Members heard that the driver had been pulled over by police officers on July 26 for a routine inspection where “the rear off- side tyre was found to be devoid of tread
and worn to such an extent that the cord was exposed.
“The driver was issued with a sus- pension notice and informed his vehicle must be taken off the road with immediate effect until it had been re-examined.” But the following day authorities were tipped off that the vehicle was still in use and a licensing enforcement officer obtained driver records from the office of the private hire firm.
They revealed around a dozen unlawful journeys had been taken dur- ing the suspension
period.
Four days later, the vehicle was taken to the council’s testing station for reinspec- tion and the sus- pension was lifted. But the unlawful jour- neys during the suspension period led officers to the view that “there was reasonable cause for revoking the licence.” The min- utes add: “In reaching its decision, the committee took into account all evi- dence, represent- ations and relevant guidelines and were of the view that there was reasonable cause for revoking the licence.”
CARDIFF DRIVER OF UNFIT TAXI HAS LICENCE REVOKED
A hackney carriage driver has had his licence revoked due to a “prolonged his- tory of having bald tyres”. According to the Barry and District News, Vale taxi driv- er John Lewis had his hackney carriage and private hire dri- ver’s licences re- voked at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court. The court told Lewis that he was not a fit and proper person to hold a licence.
During his appeal at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court, it was empha- sised how Lewis’s vehicle had a long history of being driv- en with bald tyres.
Lewis also accepted that he had told the Vale of Glamorgan Licensing Commit- tee on May 12 that it did not matter that the tyres were under the legal limit as it “was only a hair’s breath.”
He had presented his private hire vehi- cle for testing at the Council depot with both front tyres so devoid of rubber the reinforcement ply was showing.
The magistrates, after looking at the vehicle’s records of maintenance over the past two years, decided on the bal- ance of probabilities that Mr Lewis was
not fit to hold a licence.
Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan council Neil Moore, Leader of the Council, said: “We expect the high- est standards both from our drivers and from their vehicles. “Our officers contin- ue to work pro- actively across the Vale to maintain these standards in order to keep the community safe. This is another example of our licensing officers doing their job and ensuring that all our citizens have safe and reliable taxis and hackney carriages in which to travel.”
16
OCTOBER 2015
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