A blind student says a taxi driver refused to stop to pick up his guide dog, leaving them both stranded by the side of the road. Kelsey Trevett, 21, said it left a feeling of being “vulnerable” and “powerless” and was one of several incidents in a year.
The Express reports that politics and philosophy student at Oxford University booked the cab from a friend’s house back home one Saturday night.
But when the taxi arrived, the driver refused to stop.
Speaking to the Express, Kelsey said: “I hate to say that I almost expect to be refused access when I order a taxi. It happens regularly enough that it affects me. It’s something that stays with you after it happens.”
Kelsey said: “It was cold, it was dark, I was vulnerable, yet I was left on the kerb.” Kelsey called for another although that one let the dog travel, albeit reluctantly.
Kelsey, who has been blind since the age of six, says reluctant cabbies usually say they are “scared of” or “allergic to” dogs.
It comes as three-quarters of assistance dog owners surveyed by Guide Dogs charity say they are regularly refused access to restaurants, shops, or public transport.
Under the Equality Act, guide dog owners have the right to enter the majority of services, premises and vehicles with their dog.
A Guide Dogs spokesman said: “The law is clear, and yet guide dog owners such as Kelsey continue to experience access refusals, which…can put people at risk.”
Kelsey added: “We need to ensure all workers – whether in a restaurant, taxi, theatre, pub, wherever – are trained in dealing with service dog users and are aware of the Act.”
Source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1742647/blind-student-stranded-taxi-driver-refuses-to-stop
Cabbies in South Tyneside have complained that they “can’t afford” to journey into Newcastle after being excluded from financial help from the new Clean Air Zone.
The new city centre charging zone has been in operation for more than a month, putting tolls on some high-polluting vehicles in a bid to slash illegal levels of emissions. Older taxis that do not meet the CAZ’s environmental standards face daily £12.50 fees to come into or through Newcastle city centre.
But ChronicleLive reports that while drivers licensed in Newcastle, Gateshead, and North Tyneside have been offered the chance to apply for grants to help upgrade to a cleaner vehicle and to get a discounted £50-a-week charge instead, there is no such support for taxi companies outside those three areas. That has become a major source of frustration for drivers in places like South Shields, Jarrow, and Hebburn, who are finding it far more costly to take passengers into the city.
Del Thoburn, owner of South Shields-based Del’s Taxis, said: “We are getting no help at all and I am taking the hit because I don’t want to pass the cost on to the customers.
"I used to have six big buses but now I have gone down to just two and this is one of the reasons. There is no help with the CAZ if you don’t live in Newcastle, Gateshead, or North Tyneside. We should be treated the same as them.”
Council bosses in charge of the CAZ say they only have “limited” funding from the Government and have had to target the financial support at people likely to be most heavily affected by the new restrictions – but have not ruled out widening their offers to other areas in future.
After concerns about the impact on South Tyneside were raised at the North East Joint Transport Committee recently, a spokesperson for South Tyneside Taxis Ltd told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We have drivers here who don’t want to take a job in Newcastle now. They can’t afford to pay the £12.50 and you can’t charge the customer for it because, at the end of the day, they just won’t want to go to Newcastle if it costs them £12.50 extra.
“If you’re picking them up around midnight, it can be £25 extra because it goes over two days. To me, it is all wrong and it is going to have an impact on the centre of Newcastle. The other boroughs are getting help, but we aren’t.”
A spokesperson for the Newcastle and Gateshead Clean Air Zone said: “The funding for financial support for those affected by CAZ charges is provided by government and it is limited. We are therefore targeting this funding towards those who are more likely to be affected – in particular those who have no choice but to operate within the zone and those who are more likely to make regular journeys into the zone.
“This is aimed at ensuring support is given to those who need it most but, once these applications have been dealt with and subject to funding availability, we will look at inviting grant applications from other areas.”
The introduction of the CAZ, which has been in the works for years, means that drivers of older buses, taxis, lorries, and coaches that do not meet certain environmental standards must pay daily tolls of either £50 or £12.50 to come into or through the city centre. There are also £12.50 charges planned for older vans from this July, but all private cars are exempt.
The charging zone has been imposed in response to a Government order to cut emissions levels in certain hotspots, with poor air quality having been linked to more than 300 deaths on Tyneside every year.
Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/clean-air-zone-taxi-drivers-26386499#
An Uber driver was left furious after he was fined £100 for pulling over to speak to a parking attendant.
Gerald Stenberg, from Formby, collects passengers from Liverpool John Lennon Airport (JLA) every day.
The 70-year-old, who has been a private hire driver for 20 years, was hit with a fine after being told he had stopped in a prohibited zone.
However, he said this was just a brief stop in order to speak to an attendant about ongoing issues he and other drivers had been having with JLA's free car park.
After the Liverpool Echo raised this with the airport, they have now asked for his fine to be waived.
Gerald told the Echo that he and other taxi drivers wait in the airport's free car park until flights come in, when they then head to the pick-up area to collect passengers.
Drivers are entitled to 40 minutes of free parking before they are charged at the car park, which is a five- to ten-minute walk from the terminal.
However, he said there had been confusion regarding that car park for months.
He said the car park's barriers have not always been in use since Christmas and tickets have not always been issued to drivers. Gerald added a sign saying 'Free Passage' has been on display near the entrance.
Gerald said this has led drivers to be unsure about how long they can stay in the car park, while the lack of tickets mean they have been left without a way to pay.
Gerald said one of his colleagues was recently stopped on his way out of the car park and told to pay. The driver explained the car park wasn't issuing tickets, so he had no way to pay, but the attendant argued the contrary.
Gerald said: "About a week after my mate had to pay, I was just coming out of the free car park. I happened to see the parking camera van so I thought I'd go over to ask what was happening with the car parks.
"I pulled up, spoke to the lady in the van and her advice was 'go in for free but don't stay longer than 40 minutes because you never know when they're going to fix it'. I said they haven't put any signs up and it says 'free passage'.
"She said that doesn't mean anything. I said 'they haven't got a sign up there, it's unclear. It just says free passage and it's not issuing tickets'.
"We had that brief conversation, I said it wasn't good enough and then I drove away. Next thing I know, I've got this charge notice to pay £100 or £60 if I pay within a certain time."
The document issuing Gerald's fine states it was for: "Stopping in a zone where stopping is prohibited". It also includes CCTV images of Gerald's car pulled up next to what appears to be a parking van, with his window down.
Gerald described the fine as "ruthless" and added: "They need better signage. I park in the free car park every day and I wanted to know what was going on".
A JLA spokesperson said: "It would appear that this driver hasn’t appealed his Parking Charge Notice, so this is the first time that either VCS, the company who police the airport roads or ourselves have been made aware of the particular circumstances surrounding the issuing of this PCN.
"It appears that on this occasion, since this driver stopped on a restricted road to briefly query a parking issue, he should not have been issued with a PCN by VCS and as a consequence we have requested that this be waived."
Source: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/uber-driver-fuming-hes-fined-26368024
Senior county councillors have backed creating a single taxi zone for North Yorkshire, despite concern from local drivers.
According to the Stray Ferret, North Yorkshire County Council will introduce a single hackney carriage and private hire licensing policy from the spring.
The existing seven district councils, including Harrogate, currently have their own hackney carriage and private hire licensing policies.
However, under the new policy, drivers will be able to operate in any area of the county.
At an recent executive meeting, senior county councillors approved the move towards a single licensing policy.
Councillors also backed a move to carry out a review of how it could increase the number of wheelchair accessible vehicles within the county.
Cllr Simon Myers, executive councillor for growth at the authority, told the meeting: “What North Yorkshire wants to have is the best, safest and most accessible taxi service for its residents.
“I recognise, as the trade points out to us, that they are an essential part of accessible travel in a rural county.”
Meanwhile, Cllr David Chance, executive councillor for corporate services, proposed waiving licence fees for new wheelchair-accessible vehicles and for renewals in order to incentivise more drivers to come forward.
He said: “Given that we wish to demonstrate the council’s commitment to increasing the number of wheelchair accessible vehicles in both the short and longer term, I’m going to suggest that we consider waiving the licence fee for new wheelchair accessible vehicles and relicensed wheelchair accessible vehicles in the lead up to finalising our policy on the matter.
“That would be done through the inclusive service plan. This would incentivise the retention of existing wheelchair accessible vehicles by the trade, but also offer an immediate incentive to those considering the purchase of new vehicles.”
However, the policy has come under criticism from local drivers who said the move was not supported by the trade during a consultation.
Fifty-two per cent of respondents disagreed with the key proposal of introducing a single zone for North Yorkshire, which would allow cabbies to operate across the county rather than only in their districts. However, the idea still looks set to go ahead.
Richard Fieldman, who owns Ripon firm A1 Cars and runs a Facebook group that includes 52 taxi drivers in Ripon and Harrogate, said: “Making it one zone will mean that at peak times drivers will target hotspots, such as Harrogate on a Saturday night, and leave rural areas with no taxis.
"It’s common sense that people will drive to maximise their earning potential.
“It will be a disaster for us and a disaster for people who live in quieter areas because they won’t be able to get a taxi at busy times.
“The same policy has been tried in other areas and it just leads to some streets being swamped with taxis so it’s bad for other road users as well.”
Source: https://thestrayferret.co.uk/local-cabbies-predict-disaster-as-new-single-taxi-zone-created/
A taxi driver from Stratford has been fined for smoking at the wheel of their cab.
The Stratford Observer reports that licensing officers from Stratford District Council saw the driver, who has not been named, in possession of a lit cigarette, while driving a black cab.
Officers issued the Fixed Penalty Notice of £50, under the Health Act 2006, to the licensed driver.
SDC community safety spokesman Coun Christopher Kettle said: “The legislation to prevent smoking in smoke-free places was introduced to protect members of the public from the harmful effects of second-hand cigarette smoke.
“It is illegal to smoke in any commercial vehicle carrying members of the public, including taxis and private hire vehicles.
"The legislation requires all vehicles used for public transport to be smoke-free at all times which includes when they do not have passengers.
"Equally taxi drivers have a greater responsibility in that they need to protect the public health of their passengers.”
Following the incident, the driver was reminded of his legal responsibility to ensure his vehicle was smoke free and that smoking inside any licensed vehicle would not be tolerated.
The driver paid the fine immediately.
Source: https://www.stratfordobserver.co.uk/news/taxi-driver-fined-for-smoking-in-cab/
A private hire driver was found asleep in his vehicle in the middle of the road, prompting concerns for public safety.
A private hire driver who continued to work despite having his licence suspended, has been prosecuted by Oldham Council.
The Hinckley Area Taxi Association has proposed new tariffs to Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, which could make the borough's taxis the most expensive in Leicestershire.
Shaun Meenan attacked the teenager, who was a stranger to him, both in his vehicle and then in her home after gaining entry under false pretenses
Hillingdon Council launches consultation on PSPO to prohibit PHVs and taxis from waiting in residential streets around Heathrow Airport.
A taxi driver was left shaken after being robbed and assaulted by a knife-wielding passenger in Gateshead.
The proposed changes,which are set to be discussed at the licensing committee this week, would affect fares during weekdays, evenings,weekends, and festive periods.
A 71-year-old taxi driver has had his license revoked by the Stratford-on-Avon District Council due to public safety concerns.
Wolverhampton taxi drivers are set to be given powers to record audio in their cabs if they feel in danger following a spate of attacks.
Residents of Stirling are being invited to have their say on plans for a new taxi rank in the city center, as the local authority looks to address a growing demand for taxi services.
As of this year, only 278 licensed taxis are in service, significantly lower than the government's goal of 310.
Over 200 children from across England suffering from chronic or life-limiting conditions experienced a dream come true this weekend, thanks to a heartwarming initiative by London's black cab drivers.
Residents are being encouraged to participate in a consultation on proposed new taxi charges.
Taxi drivers at Bristol Parkway railway station are expressing frustration over a subsidised bus service that they believe is cutting into their business.
A year after the removal of a taxi rank due to lack of customers, Ipswich Borough Council is proposing to introduce a new five-place rank on Key Street.
A taxi driver who had his licence revoked following allegations of posting offensive material online has been given the chance to reapply.
The Glasgow Low Emission Zone (LEZ) has shown initial positive results in reducing air pollution, according to a new report.
Colin Aylward, who lives in Chittys Lane, Dagenham, captured the shocking incident on his home security system.
Independent Councilor Dave Patrick warned that the proposed increases would make Fenland one of the most expensive places in the country for taxi travel
Bleed kit charity, RAPAID, has already installed over 5,000 kits in UK cities in a bid to put emergency bandages in permanent circulation so that they are on hand whenever needed.