WARRINGTON
COUNCILLORS have backed an increase in taxi fares in the town.
In March, the council’s taxi and other licensing committee considered four requests for a rise in the hackney carriage table of fares. The last increase was back in 2014.
As of February 2020, the average fare in Warrington was £5.20.
Compared to all 361 authorities in the UK, this ranks Warrington at number 325 – in the price comparison chart compiled by Private Hire and Taxi Monthly.
The committee was told a joint proposal put forward by four members of the taxi trade would result in an average percentage increase in fares of around seven per cent, with the fouling charge rising from £30 to £50.
The committee voted to increase the fares and fouling charge. It also backed the proposal for an annual tariff review.
However, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the trade acknowledged it was not the right time to consult on changes to the tariff during the initial lockdown.
But amended fare tariffs came before the committee during its virtual meeting on Tuesday and they were approved. They would result in an average increase of seven per cent.
Sagheer Zaman, a member of the taxi trade, welcomed the decision.
He said: “This is excellent news for the taxi trade in Warrington. The last fare increase came back in April 2014.
“Due to inflation, the living wage, petrol and insurance costs, this was needed.
“Work during the pandemic virtually fell flat on its face, we had no customers from stations and business parks with a lot of people working from home.
“There was no night-time economy too – drivers have had to rely on Government grants.”
The committee recommended the fare increase for a decision by the council’s cabinet and approved a public consultation on the changes.
The fare increase would only apply to the town’s hackney carriages and not private hire vehicles.
https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/19007516.fare-increase/
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LINCOLN
A taxi driver who admitted using a mobile phone just before a crash which killed one passenger and injured another has been jailed for two years.
Ian Penman was taking Wendy Short, 79, and her friend, Josephine Houghton, 71, home from a day out when he crashed into a lorry on Lincoln Bypass.
Lincoln Crown Court heard Penman, 67, had failed to notice stationary traffic after taking a call from his daughter.
Mrs Short died at the scene while Mrs Houghton suffered serious injuries.
Penman had made no attempt to brake before the crash, the court was told.
Andrew Scott, prosecuting, said Penman had picked the friends up from Pennell's Garden Centre on the afternoon of 23 July 2019.
"Initially, the journey home was uneventful. However, at some point as the taxi proceeded on the bypass, the defendant received a call on his mobile phone.
"Mrs Houghton noticed he was taking a call. She mentioned this and as a result Wendy Short said, 'He's on the phone. He shouldn't be doing that'.
"The next thing that happened was a big bang. The defendant drove straight into the back of a skip lorry," Mr Scott said.
Penman told an officer at the scene: "My phone went and I automatically picked it up. The truck in front had stopped. It was my fault."
He later told police he had little recollection of what had happened.
A police investigation found the skip lorry had been stationary for six seconds and Penman had been on the phone for 33 seconds prior to the crash.
In a statement, Wendy Short's daughter Michelle said: "It is so very hard to believe that mum went out for lunch and shopping and never returned."
She urged anyone considering using a phone while driving to think of Mrs Short before doing so.
"Your call can wait," she added.
Penman, of The Burrows, Nettleham, admitted causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving at an earlier hearing.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-55646583
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PRESTWICH
A 'caring' young man was crushed to death by a taxi after falling into the road following a night out, an inquest has heard.
Aiden Worthington, 24, had spent the hours leading up to his death drinking at pubs around Prestwich town centre with his dad.
CCTV footage showed him 'staggering' along Bury New Road in the early hours of the morning, just moments before he was crushed by a taxi as he lay prone in the middle of the street.
An inquest into his death today heard that it was 'unclear' exactly how Aiden had ended up in the road, but it was likely he had 'stumbled' and fallen prior to the collision.
He suffered multiple injuries and died at the scene.
Rochdale Coroners Court heard Aiden had spent the evening of April 27, 2019, drinking in two Prestwich pubs with his father, Robert Worthington.
They first met at the Red Lion, in Bury New Road, at 4.30pm before making the short journey to the Railway & Naturalist pub half an hour later.
By 8pm they had met up with some of Mr Worthington's work colleagues and returned to the Red Lion.
Later that evening, they headed back to the Railway & Naturalist.
Mr Worthington said that although his son was 'quite drunk' by this point, he still 'seemed his normal self'.
At 12.18am, Mr Worthington ordered a taxi to go home, but Aiden told him he wanted to stay out.
After unsuccessfully trying to persuade his son to join him, Mr Worthington left in the taxi alone.
PC Darren White, from Greater Manchester Police's Serious Collision Investigation Unit, told the hearing that police were unsure of Aiden's movements in the 90 minutes that followed.
However, CCTV captured a figure matching Aiden's description staggering along Bury New Road, near to Marks & Spencer, at 1.48am.
Shortly before 2.10am, dashcam footage from a taxi showed Aiden walking along the pavement further along the main road, heading towards Manchester.
PC Laura Drew, a forensic collision investigator at GMP, revealed that CCTV footage from a school close near to Charlton Avenue had captured a figure, believed to be Aiden, walking in the middle of the road just seconds before the crash happened.
She said he then disappeared from view, and it was 'unclear' how he had ended up lay in the road.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/tragedy-caring-young-man-crushed-19621003
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READING
A taxi driver has been ordered to pay more than £700 after illegally accepting fares in Reading.
Muhammad Ibrahim – who holds a joint Hackney Carriage & Private Hire licence with South Oxfordshire District Council - was found guilty of illegally plying for hire and operating without insurance on 7 March 2020.
He was found out after agreeing to take a fare from a Council Officer without a formal booking.
Ibrahim, of Keswick Gardens, Woodley, was also unable to produce his badges when requested of him at the roadside.
Ibrahim was found guilty at Reading Magistrates Court and has been ordered to pay a total of £732 in financial penalties, including a £200 fine, legal costs of £500, and a £30 victim surcharge.
Six penalty points were also added to his driving licence.
Councillor Tony Page, Lead Councillor for Strategic Environment, Planning and Transport, said: “This is an excellent result from the Council’s licensing team who work hard to enforce regulations in place to protect the travelling public.
https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/taxi-driver-illegal-fare-reading-19604138
