A private hire driver claims he was mistakenly charged £260 for briefly dropping a customer off at Bristol Airport.
BristolLive reports that Stuart Walters has been working as a taxi driver for more than 25 years but says this is the first time he has been charged more than £5 for entering the 'drop and go' zone.
Mr Walters, who works independently, says last week he collected a customer at 7.20am from Shirehampton and dropped them off at the car park next to the terminal. He then drove to the barrier and made a card payment, and put the receipt in his pocket without giving it a second glance.
“I was in and out within three minutes. As I do many of these journeys, I don't always look at the receipt and put the receipt in my back pocket,” explained Mr Walters, who recalled entering his PIN after his contactless payment was rejected.
Mr Walters claims that he only realised how much he had been charged the following week, when he was doing his tax returns. He also noticed an error on a receipt for the previous day (May 15) which suggests he remained in the airport carpark for 24 hours but in this case he was only charged £5 - the standard charge for vehicles staying in the airport carpark for up to 10 minutes.
He said: “When I phoned the lady at Bristol Airport and told her I had been overcharged, she didn’t seem too surprised. I was advised to put in a complaint, but it takes 14 days for a response.
“I can't be the only one who has been overcharged and if it wasn't for business reasons I would have just taken the ticket, screwed it up and put it in my bin when I got home and may have not noticed it on my bank statement.”
Photos of the receipts, shown to Bristol Live, show a £5.00 charge dated May 16 with the length of stay listed as '1 days, 00:00', with the timings listed as 7.45pm on May 15 to 7.45pm on May 16. The other receipt dated May 17 shows a charge of £260.00, with the length of stay listed as '0 days, 12:07'. The timing is listed as 7.49pm on May 16 to 7.49am on May 17.
Mr Walters said he "certainly wasn't parked up the airport all day as I was back in Bristol working". The drop and go car park, which is not designed for long stays, charges £20 for up to an hour and £20 per hour or part of an hour after that - suggesting the system thought he had been parked up for 12 or 13 hours.
Bristol Airport has said it will "fully investigate" Mr Walters' case if he has put his complaint in writing, and apologised if it turns out that he was overcharged.
A spokesperson said: “All Bristol Airport’s car parks are equipped with car registration vehicle recognition systems, CCTV cameras and exit barrier help call point button technology. If there is an issue, customers can press the help button on the pay stations and exit barriers and speak to a member of the ground transportation team immediately for assistance, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“The car park barrier system works on car number plate recognition, if the customer is a frequent user of Bristol Airport and on a previous visit the exit barrier did not register the exit of the vehicle correctly, this may be the reason for the car park system registering the vehicle as being in the car park for a longer stay length and incurring the additional car park fees.
"We are sorry if the customer has been overcharged, however if the customer has written into us with a complaint, we will be able to fully investigate their visit, and respond directly to the customer."
Source: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/taxi-driver-bristol-airport-charged-8467262
InsureTaxi is supporting a £30,000 appeal to buy two second-hand vehicles for transporting military and civilian casualties to hospital.
Colleagues took their effort to PHTM Expo in Milton Keynes last week where visitors to their stand chipped in cash giving the appeal a £500 boost.
Now the company’s 52-strong workforce are organising their own whip-rounds and fundraising efforts like a charity car wash this Friday when graduates will wash cars for colleagues.
Branch director Karl Garcia said: “The taxi industry is close knit and we were delighted with the positive feedback and generosity towards our fundraising. People kept stopping to drop money into our collection bucket and one visitor kindly gave a £50 note.
“We had a QR code for online donations which should also generate more. With this and the charity car wash, we hope to double what we have made so far.”
Founded in 2005, Insure Taxi provides cover for thousands of private and public taxis and traditional black cabs nationwide.
Karl added: “It was good to meet so many people from the industry at the PHTM expo including existing clients and potential new ones. It was nice also to meet up again with those involved in driving food parcels to vulnerable people in the pandemic.”
Insure Taxi is part of The County Group, backed by Global Risk Partners and one of the country’s largest insurance brokers.
Staff across the organisation’s 40 offices are doing their bit to support British Ukrainian Aid and raise money for the ambulances.
The appeal was spearheaded by Group Commercial Director Paula Williams and her husband Paul who plan to drive the vehicles themselves to the Polish-Ukrainian border.
So far it stands at £17,000 and The County Group has set up its own Just Giving page to help push towards target.
CEO Alastair Christopherson said: “The County Group prides itself on being part of the community with each office doing their bit to support local causes.
“We are also part of a global community shocked by the atrocities in Ukraine. The medical infrastructure has suffered badly and on the front line, 4x4s are being used to rescue casualties. This is where the ambulances will come into their own, transporting the wounded back to main hospitals.
“We wish to congratulate our Southport office on their sterling effort to help boost the appeal. Thanks to everyone involved, the appeal is more than half way to reaching target.”
Anyone who can help is asked to donate via www.justgiving.com/fundraising/thecountygroup
For more on Insure Taxi go to www.insuretaxi.com
Self-driving car pioneer Waymo is teaming up with ride-hailing leader Uber in the Phoenix area to transport passengers and deliver food in robotic cars that triggered a bitter technological dispute between the two companies.
The Hill reports that the partnership announced on Tuesday 23 May, provides Waymo with another avenue to expand a robotaxi service that it has been running in the Phoenix area since late 2020 while competing to attract passengers from Uber cars that still depend on humans who receive a portion of the fares.
Phoenix so far is the only major metropolitan area where a robotaxi operates throughout most of the city, although Waymo and General Motors subsidiary Cruise is vying to run similar autonomous services in San Francisco.
Waymo is making its driverless vehicles available to Uber in Phoenix five years after the two companies spent millions of dollars battling each other in court.
The showdown culminated in Uber agreeing to a $245 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit alleging former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick conspired with former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski to steal Waymo’s self-driving car technology.
After inheriting the technology from Google in a spin-off, Waymo sued Uber in 2017. That led to a high-profile trial that brought Kalanick into court to testify before the two sides negotiated a surprise settlement in February 2018.
Levandowski later pleaded guilty to criminal charges that arose from the civil lawsuit, but avoided a 18-month prison sentence in January 2021 when he was pardoned by President Donald Trump just before he left office.
Uber subsequently sold the self-driving car division that triggered the theft allegations and also provided the technology in a robotic vehicle that killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona, in March 2018.
But Uber has remained interested in driverless technology as a potential way to boost its profits by reducing the need for humans behind the wheel.
The new alliance in Phoenix will involve Waymo dispatching some of its driverless vehicles to pick up passengers and deliver food when summoned through the Uber app at some point later this year.
The two companies didn’t disclose how many of Waymo’s robotaxis will be used to pick up Uber passengers and deliver food.
The addition of Waymo’s robotaxis figures to help Uber build on the momentum that it has been gaining during the past year as the easing pandemic encouraged more passengers to begin summoning rides again while its food delivery service has retained many of the customers who began using during home lockdowns.
Supporting Uber’s services also works to the advantage of Waymo by introducing its autonomous vehicles to a wider segment of the population in the Phoenix area.
Earlier in May, Waymo extended the reach of its robotaxis to cover most of that region as it gears up to begin charging passengers for a similar service in San Francisco.
Both Waymo and Cruise are hoping to win approval to begin charging for around-the-clock driverless rides throughout San Francisco from California regulators during a hearing scheduled for June 29.
Two teenagers have been charged after a taxi driver was wounded outside an address in Brislington, Bristol, Avon and Somerset Police has said.
BristolLive reports that a group of teenagers arrived in Choke Walk by taxi just after 9pm on Sunday, May 21, where an altercation occurred at a residential property, damaging a car and a window of the home.
A resident from the property chased the group back to the taxi and, in the process, the taxi driver, a man in his 50s, was wounded. He managed to drive to West Town Lane, where he was found by a patrolling officer at around 9.15pm.
The driver went to hospital for treatment and was discharged to recover at home.
Two teenage boys have now been charged in connection with the incident though investigating officers continue to seek witnesses to help with the investigation.
A 16-year-old boy is charged with affray, criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon. Another boy, 17, is charged with affray and criminal damage. They were due to appear in court today, Wednesday, May 24.
A girl, 16, arrested in connection with the incident, has been released on conditional police bail pending further enquiries.
A third boy, aged 17, who was arrested on Sunday night on suspicion of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, has since been released on police bail pending further enquiries.
Officers still want to hear from anyone with information or dashcam or other footage which could help the ongoing investigation.
If you can help, please call 101 and give the call handler the reference number 5223118820, or complete the online appeals form.
You can also contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Source: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/two-teenagers-charged-after-taxi-8467871
Potholes are causing so much damage to vehicles that drivers are being urged to report every road surface crack “no matter how small”.
CoventryLive reports that the call, from the AA, is essential for authorities to “understand the true state of our roads”.
In April, the company received more than 52,000 callouts to vehicles stranded due to faults likely caused by potholes. That represents a 29% increase on the same month in 2022, reports PA.
Common problems caused by potholes include damaged shock absorbers, broken suspension springs and distorted wheels.
If the level of pothole-related breakdowns continues at the current rate, 2023 will be the second-worst year on record for road conditions, behind only 2018.
The AA said councils have a responsibility to inspect local roads on a regular basis but “cannot be held responsible for a pothole they didn’t know about”.
Jack Cousens, AA head of roads policy, said: “The pothole pandemic looks set to remain for quite some time, with little hope of a cure on the horizon. In order to help Government and councils understand the true state of our roads, we need the public to report every pothole they see.
“Regardless of their size, depth, the type of road and its position in the lane, we need to make 2023 The Year of the Pothole so we can get our roads repaired. Potholes come in all shapes and sizes, each one posing a different type of danger.
“While the worst are like deep caves, shallower splits that snake across the surface can catch the wheels of cyclists causing severe damage. On safety grounds alone, we need to do all we can to shine a light on the awful condition of UK roads.”
The cost of bringing pothole-plagued local roads in England and Wales up to scratch has been estimated at £14 billion.
Recent analysis by the Local Government Association showed Government funding for maintaining England’s motorways and major A roads was 31 times higher per mile than for repairing local roads last year.
Meanwhile, the Government increased its Potholes Fund – which provides money to councils in England to tackle the issue – by £200 million to £700 million for the current financial year.
Cllr Linda Taylor, Transport spokesperson for the Local Government Association said: “Extra funding announced in this years’ Budget will help but faced with considerable inflationary pressures and this existing backlog, it is clear challenges for councils still remain.
"Only by the Government providing councils with increased and long term funding certainty can this growing problem be addressed and our roads bought up to scratch.”
Source: https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/surge-pothole-breakdowns-sees-drivers-26978150
Dramatic CCTV footage has captured the moment a hooded figure set a taxi alight on a residential driveway.
A Drongan taxi driver has been convicted of sexually assaulting a female passenger after offering to waive her fare in exchange for sex.
Artur Nowostawski has been jailed for six years and nine months after he attacked a taxi driver earlier this year.
Taxi drivers in the city are facing significant financial losses after a series of electric vehicle charging point failures left them unable to operate.
Police are appealing for help to trace a man who disappeared after getting into a taxi bound for the Otley area of Leeds.
The company’s operator licence includes a condition ordering all drivers to undergo the same training as those from other companies.
Police have stopped a private hire driver who was driving the wrong way on the M1 close to Junction 8 at Hemel Hempstead.
Newcastle City Council is set to introduce strict new measures to tackle illegal and inconsiderate parking near Newcastle International Airport.
West Mercia Police is appealing for information following a rape that took place in Malvern's Priory Park early on Sunday, August 4th.
Glasgow taxi users could be facing a near-10% fare increase and extended night-time charges.
At least 14 cars have been damaged since June, with drivers suffering financial loss and emotional distress.
The attack happened at around 12.45pm on Etruria Vale Road, Stoke, when the victim, driving a Toyota Avensis, was punched in the face by one of the men.
Cumberland Council has taken decisive action to protect public safety by revoking the licence of a taxi driver charged last week with a serious racially aggravated offence.
A historic bridge has been closed indefinitely after an Uber car became wedged on Saturday morning.
A local councillor has sparked a debate on passenger safety after claiming that using locally licensed taxis is safer than hailing an Uber.
A taxi driver was attacked and subjected to racist abuse after two brothers refused to pay him up front.
Christopher Hilling, 64, admitted to engaging a child in sexual activity at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday 8 August.
Abdigani Ebrahim, 38, of Grangetown, admitted charges of affray and criminal damage following the incident in Northcote Street, Roath, last July.
The crackdown targeted drivers operating across council boundaries to ensure public safety and compliance with regulations.
Lucio Valentino relies on his six-year-old Border Collie, Pixel, to help manage his mental health conditions, including depression and personality disorders.