ROUND THE COUNCLS PLYMOUTH: LEGAL ACTION FOR REFUSING FARES
Officers have carried out operations following an increase in complaints about hackney drivers refusing long journeys from the city centre. Plymouth taxi licensing officers conducted an operation which included test purchase rides of hackney carriages over the last month. Out of 17 taxis, two refused to take the test purchasers to Southway. The drivers will be interviewed under caution in relation to offences under the Town Police Clause Act 1847 for refusing journeys without reasonable excuse. Pending the outcome of any court case, they could then face the Taxi Licensing Committee so that members can review whether they consider the drivers to be a fit and proper person to continue to hold a taxi licence. Please see pages 18-19 in this issue of PHTM, where Steven Toy of NPHTA discusses this hot topic.
COVENTRY: VAPING BAN IN LICENSED VEHICLES
Coventry cabbies have been banned from using e- cigarettes and similar products in their vehicles after changes to licensing regulations. Vaping on the job is likely to make cabbies seem unprofessional and could distract them from the road, a Coventry City Council report said. The authority’s Cabinet Member for City Services approved the changes at a meeting on 3 August. Private hire vehicle drivers and owners, hackney carriages and pedicabs, which are licensed by the council would be affected by the changes. “It is currently illegal for anybody to smoke using tobacco products in working premises,” officers said in a report. “Private hire and hackney carriage vehicles are classified as working premises and it is illegal for anybody to smoke using tobacco products in them. Although there is no definitive evidence that Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) products are harmful to the user or cause passive smoking however, private hire and hackney carriage drivers are professional drivers and if using an ENDS product whist driving it is likely to distract from their safe use of the vehicle. “Passengers perception of a professional driver using
PHTM SEPTEMBER 2022
ENDS products in a vehicle when waiting for passengers is not likely to create a professional image to their prospective customers.” The move had been discussed at the city’s Taxi Forum chaired by the Cabinet Member of City Services, with Unite Union, the representatives of the hackney and private hire trade in Coventry. Other authorities which have banned cab drivers from using ENDS at the wheel include East Suffolk Council and Mendip District Council. Vaping while driving is not illegal in the UK but motorists could be prosecuted if it causes them to get into a crash.
TfL: FREENOW GRANTED 3-YEAR LICENCE
FREENOW has been granted a new three-year TfL licence to operate private hire services in London - longer than any major competitor. The licence is one of the most complex to achieve globally with several global industry leaders struggling to renew it in previous years. Since the pandemic, the PHV market has rapidly evolved with FREENOW reporting it’s quadrupled its PHV trips in June 2022 compared to the previous year. FREENOW connects users with over 40,000 registered drivers in nine cities across the UK. Within the past year FREE NOW has expanded its mobility offering, alongside PHVs and black cabs, users can book the largest fleet of electric mobility options in London; such as eScooters and eBikes through app integrations with key operators.
WAKEFIELD: HYBRID CARS WILL FAIL TESTS
Yasa Ahmed, Chairman of Wakefield Drivers Association, has spoken to PHTM about Wakefield Council’s tinted window policy. He said: “Under the current policy, most hybrid vehicles which come with tinted windows as standard will fail the test. So we are advising drivers to wait until after 14 September to book their new vehicles in for testing, as we hope by then the council will have changed its tinted windows policy. “It’s frustrating and illogical, in these challenging times it would have been better if the council had actually extended GFRs, so our drivers wouldn’t have to sit at home for the next few weeks, earning no money, waiting for the policy to pass.”
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