NORTH STAFFORD

City cabbies urged to buy 'electric taxis' with 30 charging points planned

Dozens of charging points for electric taxis look set to be installed across North Staffordshire in an effort to encourage cabbies to use more eco-friendly vehicles.

Local authorities have been awarded more than £78,000 to create 10 points in their three respective areas with 30 being rolled out in total.

The cash has come from Taxi Infrastructure Investment Fund and is designed to help greener cars travel across council borders along with conducting journeys between urban and rural areas.

There are currently 2,071 licensed private hire vehicles and 466 Hackney carriages operating in the three areas - Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle and Stafford borough - but only four per cent use hybrid or alternative fuels.


Shahraz Yaqub, chairman of Stoke-on-Trent Private Hire Drivers Association, believes drivers will struggle to meet the costs of upgrading from their current vehicles.


He said: "There aren't enough points out there and the electric vehicles are not equipped enough at the moment.

"On a full charge you will be able to do around 100 to 120 miles and we have to wonder what we would do when they need charging in the middle of nowhere, or on a journey - the cost will outweigh the benefit.

"The vehicles are expensive and it is not good value for money for the drivers, we cannot afford that. At the end of the day it will be the customers who have to pick up the tab."

But John Scarlett, from JMS TopGear Travel in Sneyd Green, says he would consider investing in an electric car when he swaps his current taxi.

He said: "I do think people would take it up. There aren't many points about and I don't think I've actually seen an electric cab in Stoke-on-Trent. You see a lot of them in London but not up here.

"It is a shame there isn't a benefit scheme because that would encourage a few people."


The Government hopes that all new taxis and vans will be effectively zero emission by 2040.

Community leaders have welcomed the windfall and hope it will encourage more drivers to ditch their diesel-guzzling cars for greener motors.

Newcastle Borough Council leader Simon Tagg, said: “Taxis provide a valuable service to the public and are on the roads day and night so this has the potential to make a massive difference to air quality and residents’ health.



Source: Stokesentinel
---------------------------------

 North West Leicestershire

Watch moment reckless taxi driver runs down cyclist and flees the scene

Video footage has emerged of the moment a reckless taxi driver hit a cyclist before fleeing the scene.

The shocking video, filmed from the cyclist’s helmet camera, shows the taxi turning a corner on the wrong side of the road.

Rider Dylan May sent the footage of the incident, which happened in North West Leicestershire, to the local council and the unnamed driver had his taxi licence revoked.

The driver initially tried to blame Mr May, saying the incident happened in a different location and that the victim had been in the middle of the road.

Mr May said: “I still now can’t believe somebody would collide with a cyclist and just drive off, especially a so-called professional taxi driver.

“The licensing team at the district council has been very helpful and understanding, and the matter was sorted quickly.”

The crashed happened in Gutteridge Street, Coalville on January 11.

Footage shows Mr May approaching a junction, when the taxi turns into the street on the wrong side of the road and hits the victim head on.

The driver then flees the scene.

Fortunately, the incident was filmed by Mr May who reported the incident to the council.

The driver admitted being at fault after being shown the video.

North West Leicestershire District Council’s head of community services, Councillor Alison Smith, said: “This was an appalling incident.

“The quality of the driving which led to the collision was poor but the reaction of driving away and then lying about the incident afterwards was particularly unacceptable.

“Taxi driving is a profession and we’re delighted that the majority of drivers in North West Leicestershire have very high standards and integrity.

“This driver though clearly lacked both and is no longer licensed to work in our district.

“We want people to feel confident and safe when they use taxis, and our efforts to revoke this driver’s licence shows our commitment to ensuring this.”

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/watch-moment-reckless-taxi-driver-runs-cyclist-flees-scene-409701 
-------------------------------
EIRE

 Gardaí target foreign taxi drivers on licence, immigration breaches
6-8 minutes

Some 55 foreign taxi drivers have had their immigration status in the Republic cancelled because they had taken part in sham marriages and committed other immigration crimes.

The Garda operation targeting foreign taxi drivers for investigation over sham marriages in Ireland and fraudulently obtaining PSV licences first emerged in The Irish Times last year.

And as part of the long-running inquiry the Garda staged a day of action in Dublin on Tuesday.

It saw 90 garda members carrying out coordinated searches at ten addresses in Dublin’s north inner city and in Lucan, Co Dublin.

Following Tuesday’s operation, the Garda has provided an update on the long-running inquiry into men who had entered into sham marriages and then applied for a taxi licence.

Gardaí believe these men had paid international criminal gang leaders large fees, of between €15,000 and €20,000, to be married in Ireland to women they had never met.

It also appears they were guided through the process of applying for a PSV licence, with forged documents supplied to some.

A total of 134 foreign taxi drivers have now been investigated for sham marriages and other immigration offences.

Yesterday the addresses searched were all raided under search warrant at 8am, with intelligence gathered and documentation seized.
Revoked

The Garda has said of the 134 PSV, or taxi driver, licence holders and licence applicants investigated, some 64 cases had been concluded to date.

This has resulted in 55 men having had their immigration status revoked, with 25 of those men having been told they will be deported unless they leave the State voluntarily.

Four men have been arrested for deportation and two have already been removed from the State.

However, that activity follows two years of investigation under the Garda’s Operation Vantage rather than yesterday’s searches.

During the raids yesterday a further 15 people were identified for investigation on suspicion they had engaged in a sham marriage.

Seven people who gardaí discovered on the premises raided yesterday were found to be in the State illegally and one arrest was made on an immigration-related matter.

The operation was led by the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB), supported by members of the Special Crime Operations unit; Roads Policing; DMR West Traffic Corps; the Carriage Office; the Garda Analyst Service; the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service; the Department of Social Protection; and the National Transport Authority.

Last August The Irish Times reported it emerged that the full scale of fraud in applying for taxi licences first became clear during an Ed Sheeran concert in Dublin.

During an operation last May, established to coincide with the concert in the Phoenix Park, some 110 taxi drivers were stopped at checkpoints.

Of those, 26 were suspected of having paid to marry a woman from Europe that they had never met so they could secure the right to reside and work in the Republic, according to gardaí.

All of the men were from outside the EU and gardaí had already revoked the immigration status they had secured when they married European women in the Republic.

One man, from India, was about to attend a special citizenship ceremony but that was deferred on suspicion his marriage was a sham.

At the time of last year’s operation, Garda sources said 58 new applications for PSV licences were lodged with the carriage office in January, 2018.

Of those, 40 came from men outside the EU. They described this as “way outside the norm”.

A garda officer said the increases had been a feature for around 18 months. And when some of the applicants’ immigration histories were checked it emerged they had previously tried to secure status in Europe.

The investigation into the immigration-based frauds within the taxi sector has continued since 2015.

It is part of the wider Operation Vantage which has focussed on sham marriages.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/garda%C3%AD-target-foreign-taxi-drivers-on-licence-immigration-breaches-1.3816507
------------------------------

 DERBY

Police have issued a warning after a "fake taxi driver" attempted to pick up young women in Derby city centre.

Officers have asked revellers to remain vigilant after reports a man pretending to be a taxi driver tried to lure a student into his car outside The Standing Order, in Irongate.

Rosie Baker, 22, was heading home after enjoying a night out with a friend when the driver asked her if she had ordered a taxi.

When challenged on where he worked, the taxi driver claimed he was employed by PJ Cars.

A spokesperson for PJ Cars said the incident was "nothing to do with our company".

But before Rosie had time to look at his licence plate, he allegedly sped off.

Rosie, who studies at the University of Derby, claims her friend spotted the same vehicle operating outside the Wetherspoon pub the following night on February 23.

She said the driver was asking other young women if they had ordered a taxi - despite not having any company signs indicating it was legitimate.

Rosie, who is studying to become a primary school teacher, said: "He asked us if we had ordered a taxi and we said who do you work for.

"He said I'm your taxi from PJ Cars and when we said we hadn't ordered from PJ he asked the women next to us who said they hadn't even ordered a taxi.

"He said 'oh well I'm a taxi,' then turned round when I went to look at his licence plate and sped off so I couldn't get any information.

"I think it's a danger as parents trust that taxis can get their children home, and if anything was to happen to them it would be truly heartbreaking."

Rosie was unable to take a picture of the car but another woman who was concerned later did and posted it.

Rosie posted a social media warning about her experience.

"If anyone is intoxicated and didn't know the dangers it could end so badly, I only made the post to warn family and friends I have made in Derby or already have here since moving four years ago."

Rosie said the incident left her and her friend so concerned they reported the incident to police.

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/derby-news/derby-city-centre-fake-taxi-2616298