DERBY

Shocking statistics reveal almost half of the 2,800 private hire taxi drivers operating in Derby have not been cleared to work by Derby City Council.

Figures obtained from other authorities show more than 1,300 cabbies have gained licences elsewhere, meaning they have not passed Derby City Council's knowledge test. The council is powerless to check drivers or vehicles in the area if they have qualified with other authorities.

The Derby Telegraph revealed last week that 254 licensed drivers had travelled as far as Rossendale in Lancashire, which has no such test, to gain their qualification but further investigation showed this was just part of the problem.

Gedling Borough Council, in Nottinghamshire, showed a total of 765 drivers with a Derby home address had obtained licences from the authority.
About 1,500 private hire drivers in the city have taken and passed the Derby test.

Derby councillor Baggy Shanker, who responsible for taxi said

A loophole in the law allows drivers with a hackney carriage licence, who can pick up fares on the street, to operate to as private hire drivers anywhere in the country. Private hire drivers are only permitted to pick up passenger who have made a prior booking,

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UBERK becomes a VERB

So successful has Uber been that the brand is becoming a noun, even a verb. No longer do people get a taxi. They get an Uber. Or they Uber it to the airport.
The company has inveigled its way into popular culture with staggering speed. It appears in hip hop songs, in films, in TV programmes. Just as with its cars, Uber is everywhere.
Its $20m (£16m) legal settlement with America’s Federal Trade Commission is a reminder that there is a dark side to the cultural phenomenon it has become.

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