A driver operating in Buckinghamshire has lost his private hire licence after he was caught using a mobile phone while driving.
The Bucks Herald reports that Azhar Iqbal, from High Wycombe, had his licence revoked after he failed to notify the council of the offence.
In April, Iqbal was dealt a further blow after he was ordered to pay £5,500 to the authority after an unsuccessful appeal against his ban.
He was stopped by Thames Valley Police officers on the A355 in August 2022. Officers saw Iqbal picking up his phone and talking into the device.
Iqbal did not tell the council about the offence, which breaches the conditions of his private hire licence.
He informed the council in April 2023, and was banned from working as a PH driver four months later.
After this Iqbal appealed the criminal offence, but magistrates upheld the police’s charge.
During the hearing, police officers were interviewed and bodycam footage from the original incident was shared in court.
Iqbal was issued with six points on his licence and ordered to pay a fine and court costs totalling £774.
He also made another court appeal challenging the ban handed out by the council.
At a hearing at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court on 26 April, a district judge upheld the council’s ban.
Iqbal was ordered to pay Buckinghamshire Council’s costs in the case of £5,500.
Councillor Mark Winn said: “Buckinghamshire Council recognises the serious risk presented by mobile phone use while driving.
"It is a significant distraction and substantially increases the risk of the driver crashing – putting passengers, pedestrians, and other road users at risk of serious harm.
“The council expects its licensed drivers to maintain professional standards, comply with the law and protect public safety.
"Licensed drivers who are found driving while using a phone by hand can expect to have their licence revoked in line with our policy.”
A Herefordshire MP has called for greater protections for people who use assistance dogs.
BBC News reports that Sir Bill Wiggin, Conservative MP for North Herefordshire, wants to see better services for those with assistance dogs and for disability equality training for taxi drivers.
He presented a bill to the Commons that also proposes to prohibit the parking of motor vehicles on pavements and footpaths.
Sir Bill said the legislation would "encourage and support people who use dogs, or perhaps want to use a dog".
He added that it would be for those who "are afraid of being made to walk home in the rain, barred from using a taxi or restaurant and forced off the pavement and into the traffic by pavement parking".
When presenting The Assistance Dogs and Pavement Parking Bill to the Commons, Sir Bill noted that 81% of assistance dog owners have had access to taxis refused.
The MP also said that between July 2021 and July 2022, 74% of those with assistance dogs were turned away from food and drink outlets, 53% from shops, and 35% from hotels and B&Bs.
The Tory MP added that a 2019 survey found that 95% of people with sight loss said pavement parking had forced them to walk in the road and one in five have been injured because of pavement parking.
He said: "Imagine trying to go somewhere strange, where a mishap could mean cracking your head on the curb, or worse, being hit by a truck.
"No shop, no restaurant, no supermarket should be turning away someone with an assistance dog.
"No taxi driver should be worried about dog allergies when they see a blind person, because they must and will know how to look after them, because they have been trained to deal with these customers."
A taxi driver was reportedly assaulted by two men in Poole.
According to the Daily Echo, police investigating the assault are issuing an image of two men they would like to identify.
At around 2.15am on Saturday, March 16, 2024, a taxi driver dropped off two men in Seldown Lane.
The driver – aged in his 40s from Poole – noticed that the door to his vehicle was not shut properly and got out of his vehicle to close it.
As he approached the door, it was reported that he was assaulted. He sustained bruising and cuts during the incident.
Police Constable Robert Roaf of Dorset Police said: “I am continuing to carry out enquiries into this incident and am now issuing an image of two men I would like to speak to.
“If you have information about their identity, please contact Dorset Police.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk/contact or by calling 101, quoting occurrence number 55240039573.
Source: https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/24307094.image-appeal-following-assault-taxi-driver-poole/
Taxi passengers in North Yorkshire are facing having to pay five per cent more per mile in the face of appeals to increase and lower maximum permitted fares across the county.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive agreed to the daytime rates rise, extending night-time rates time to eight hours from 10pm and increasing the maximum call-out charge from £1 to £1.50 after hearing taxi drivers were divided over the rates which should be charged.
The Gazette & Herald reports that if the move is not contested, day-time taxis will be able to charge £4 for the first quarter mile and 20p for every extra quarter mile or 35 seconds of waiting time.
Ripon cabbie Richard Fieldman told the leading councillors the 70 drivers from Whitby to Harrogate he represented were opposed to the proposals.
He said: “What you see before you today is totally unacceptable for those that work nights and the unsocial Christmas period.
"The proposal gives no increase to those working these hours which less and less drivers are prepared to work these days.”
The meeting was told one of the proposed changes, to start higher rates from 10pm rather than 11pm, would have a minimal impact on night-time drivers.
He added: “It is ironic that officers recognise that drivers need rewarding for late-night unsocial hours with abusive, alcohol and drug-fuelled customers, yet are failing to provide them with the same increase as the day-time drivers.”
Mr Fieldman said the £1 per mile call-out charge had remained the same for many years and when combined with higher fuel costs had become “unviable in a vast rural county” to travel significant distances to pick up passengers who only wanted to go a few miles.
The meeting heard drivers were refusing to do these types of journey, leaving some passengers unable to get home.
In addition, areas such as Northallerton, Thirsk, Ripon and Skipton had serious shortages of drivers working unsocial hours and the proposals would ensure even less cover.
Ripon councillor Barbara Brodigan told the meeting recent changes in Barnsley, similar to the North Yorkshire proposals, had led to too few or no taxis being available during holiday periods and at night-time.
However, Councillor Kevin Foster, who represents Colburn, an area with amongst the highest levels of deprivation in the county, said he received a lot of complaints over the cost of taxi fares.
He said the public needed to be made aware taxis did not have to charge the maximum permitted fares.
Several executive members said they felt the proposals represented a reasonable compromise.
While the fare increase will be subject to consultation if anyone objects, managing our environment executive member, Councillor Greg White, said some people had called for the maximum charges to be lowered to make North Yorkshire more competitive with nearby areas.
He said a three-mile trip in Barnsley would cost £8.90, but in North Yorkshire it would be £14.98.
A report to the meeting showed while a 20-mile night-time journey in North Yorkshire would cost £68.67, in Bradford passengers would be charged £42.40, in Leeds and £49.45 in East Riding.
Cllr White said: “We are already more expensive than Bradford, Durham, East Riding, Lancaster, Leeds, Redcar and Cleveland and York. So I’m really keen that we don’t get to the situation where we do an injustice to the people who use the taxi service by making those taxis become unaffordable.”
Source: https://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/24306907.controversy-taxi-fare-rise-north-yorkshire/
A Coventry man has been charged with assaulting a taxi driver in the city.
The Coventry Observer reports that Artur Nowostawski, 40, was charged with wounding, attempted robbery and possession of an offensive weapon, after an attack on the driver.
Shortly after 9.30pm on Monday April 29, the cabbie had picked up a man at Coventry train station, before driving on towards Bennetts Road South.
Just before the end of the journey, the man attacked the driver, hitting him in the back and chest a number of times and demanding money before fleeing the scene.
The driver managed to escape, though he was left with arm and chest injuries.
Nowostawski is due before magistrates court in Coventry this morning, (Thursday 9 May) accused of violent assault and has been remanded in custody since his arrest on May, 6.
Source: https://coventryobserver.co.uk/news/coventry-news-coventry-man-charged-after-assaulting-taxi-driver/
Ways of increasing the amount of wheelchair-accessible taxis across the city are set to be explored to make it easier for those who need one to get one.
Cumbrian taxi drivers are fighting back against proposed licensing changes they fear will cripple their livelihoods.
Bolton taxi drivers are urged to sign up for free safeguarding and disability awareness training before the deadline on October 31st, 2024.
A Conwy Council meeting on Monday revealed a critical failing that allowed a taxi driver whose license had been revoked to continue transporting children to school.
Worcester City Council is seeking public opinion on a proposal to make safeguarding training mandatory for taxi and private hire drivers.
A proposal to increase driver, vehicle and private hire operator licences was discussed on Friday 19 July 19 at Sheffield City Council’s waste and street scene committee.
Through this collaboration, FREENOW willl provide additional benefits giving drivers up to 25% off pay-as-you-go rates across the entire bp pulse electric charging network and discounted fuel at all UK bp branded sites.
Wakefield Licensing, working alongside West Yorks Police Roads Policing unit, NPT, Off-Road Bike Team, Police Intercept Team, DVLA & DVSA, held a Partnership Day of Action at Thornes Park.
A pilot emissions reduction grant scheme providing financial support for hackney carriage drivers to upgrade to cleaner EURO 6 and fully battery powered vehicles has been launched.
The ride-hailing giant has submitted an application for an operator licence to Darlington Borough Council, with a decision expected in August.
Darlington could soon see Uber cars on its streets after the ride-hailing giant applied for a licence to operate in the town.
Stratford-upon-Avon District Council has revoked the licences of two taxi drivers following a series of speeding offences.
A Northampton taxi driver has been found guilty of trafficking cocaine between his home city and Milford Haven.
The move comes after concerns were raised by the taxi industry about the rising cost of purchasing new vehicles.
Guide Dogs charity has asked licensing authorities in England for their support in sharing guidance on the law on carrying guide or other assistance dogs with all taxi and private hire operators.
Reading Taxi Association (RTA) chairman Asif Rashid has slammed Reading Borough Council's proposed phase-out of older petrol and diesel cabs by 2028, calling it a financial burden for drivers.
Dorset Council is poised to review taxi fares across the region, excluding Weymouth and Portland which have separate regulations.
A North Belfast man, Ruairi Fintan Muldoon (31), has been sentenced to 12 months in prison with an additional 12 months on supervised release for a botched attempt to rob a taxi driver.
Passengers are been invited to take part in a survey aimed at finding out if the taxi trade in West Suffolk is accessible to all.
A Glasgow man, Darren Gray, 31, launched into a verbal tirade and racially abused a taxi driver on Paisley Road West on August 19th, 2022.