Would You 'HEECH' a lift in LONDON ?

The French taxi startup Heetch has revealed it has raised $20m to bring its brand of social ride-sharing across Europe.

The startup launched in France back in 2013 as a peer-to-peer ride-sharing platform but was forced to change its business plans following an intervention by French regulators.

It relaunched in April 2017 as a taxi platform with professional drivers and is now the second-most downloaded taxi app in France, after Uber.

Teddy Pellerin, co-founder of Heetch, says the company wants to provide a more sociable experience of ride-sharing. He believes that it’s this aspect of the company that will help it succeed in new markets, like London.

Pellerin told Verdict:

    We would love to come to London. Our service is more used by young people when they’re going out and we’re trying to make something more friendly, more about sharing and a bit different.

    We want our passengers to feel as if they are sharing a moment in the ride, not just a professional driver that is driving you home or somewhere else. And we think that would work quite well in London because many people are going out.

London has become somewhat of a difficult marketplace for ride-sharing startups. Uber was banned from operating in London back in September last year and is currently appealing the decision.

As well, the Estonian-based startup Taxify ran into problems early on and was forced to suspend operations after three days.

Pellerin said Heetch has been preparing its operating licence application for Transport for London, the London transport regulator. He said Heetch plans to submit the application in the next few days.

He said:

    As soon as we have the licence, we will start operating in London.

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BOLTON PH STRIKE FALLS APART

A TAXI company has revealed why its drivers will not be taking part in Monday's strike, stating that their demands should be met.

The drivers at PAL Cars in Bradshawgate will not be taking part in the 24-hour walkout, which was announced by the Private Hire Drivers' Association on Wednesday.

The decision was made after negotiations with the operators for an increase in fares broke down.

Azhar Mahmood, business development manager at PAL Cars, said: "I think we should be paying the drivers the extra money full stop.

"About 20p extra for the drivers is neither here nor there.

"We are trying to help the drivers and by helping out drivers, we help our customers."

Mr Mahmood recently wrote and published a book called the Pal Cars 500 Constitution Rules Book.

Its aim was to help drivers to provide the best customer service.

He said: "At the end of the day, we have got to be here for our customers. We do a lot of school runs, there will be people going to the doctors and we will be doing all of those on Monday. We are not going to be striking."

Bolton operators offered a 10 per cent rise in fares earlier this month, saying customers would not accept a larger increase.

But in a statement, a spokesman for the drivers said: ""On January 15, the operators called the BPHA to the meeting to inform us that they will not increase the fare to £2.80 but to £2.50. Not only that, they also informed us that they have decided to increase the rent on drivers by five per cent.

"They are using this opportunity to make even more money out of their drivers, which we think is quite shameful."

Asif Vali, chairman of the Private Hire Operators’ Association, said: "We as operators have a duty to ensure we run a safe service for the public and we will run as normal.

"There will be a lot of drivers who will be working and some drivers will choose to stay off work and that is their decision."

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DURHAM/ BISHOP AUCKLAND

 THE family of a father-of-three killed on New Year’s Eve say the taxi driver responsible should be imprisoned for longer after he was sentenced to six months behind bars.

Leslie Hebdon, 38, was struck by a Nissan Qashqai at 11.40pm on Front Street, in Tudhoe, Spennymoor, on New Year’s Eve in 2016 as he made his way home “in high spirits” on foot from his sister’s house.

Keith Young, 60, was today sentenced for causing death by careless driving at Durham Crown Court, which heard he was travelling about ten miles over the 30mph speed limit on impact – and had a previous conviction for speeding in a 30mph zone.

Mr Hebdon’s aunt Denise Murdoch said while the family were grateful to Judge Christopher Prince for passing a custodial sentence, they believed it should have been longer.

“At the moment we’re ecstatic because we thought he would get off because of the [defendant having] cancer but in reality he should have got longer,” she added. “Our Leslie is not coming back. He should have been celebrating his 40th birthday in March. I believe in a life for a life.

“He (Young) has a previous conviction for speeding and that’s what has angered us the most.”

The court previously heard on the night of the incident Young, of Walker Drive, Bishop Auckland, had dropped a fare off in Durham and was travelling back to the taxi office in Bishop Auckland.

Prosecutor Paul Abrahams said footage from a dashcam fitted to the defendant’s vehicle allowed experts to determine Young’s speed immediately prior to impact as being between 36 and 40mph and between 39 and 43mph on approaching the scene – having already travelled for half a mile above the limit.

The court heard on the night of the incident it was dark, raining and as it was New Year’s Eve there would have been a reasonable expectation that pedestrians would be in the vicinity.

Mr Abrahams said an investigator found the main cause of Mr Hebdon’s death was “excess speed, lack of care by the defendant and an element of pedestrian error”.

According to further calculations by experts, the court heard had Young been driving ten miles per hour more slowly, Mr Hebdon would have had an additional eighth of a second to take evasive action.

Though a fraction of a second, Judge Prince told the court the short amount of time “would have been critical and in the event it proved fatal.”

A victim impact statement by Mr Hebdon’s sister Jane Sapsed, read by Mr Abrahams, said she held Young “wholly responsible” for the death of her brother.

“Since losing my brother Leslie Hebdon my life hasn’t been the same,” she added. “I have a continued feeling of hurt and loss every day knowing he’s never coming back.

“If he had been taken due to an illness we would have had an explanation.

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