WEST MIDLANDS

A taxi driver who made racist and intimidating remarks to a passenger before threatening to throw her out of his car has lost his licence. 

The unnamed man’s disqualification came after Sandwell’s licensing committee said his behaviour showed he wasn’t ‘a fit and proper person’ to hold a dual private hire and Hackney Carriage permit.

Minutes of its November meeting show the passenger had alleged the driver had been intimidating and made racial comments during a pre-booked journey.

She also claimed at one point he said he threatened to drop her off in an area she didn’t know.

Refusing to continue, he returned the woman to her home address despite being advised by his taxi base to continue to his destination.

Appearing at the review meeting the driver, who was referred to as Mr ‘ P’,  admitted he’d made racist comments but said they were about passengers in general and were not aimed at the woman.

He explained he’d been waiting for the passenger for five minutes who he claimed displayed inappropriate behaviour, including unsuitable language and encouraged him to break the speed limit during the journey.

Revoking his permit, councillors said they saw no reasons to ignore established guidelines and said he was not a fit and proper person to hold a licence in Sandwell.

They added, as a professional driver for over 10 years, he had: “Displayed discriminatory behaviour towards a passenger and his interview with a Taxi Licensing Enforcement officer corresponded with the passenger’s witness statement.”

Mr ‘P’ was advised of his right to appeal to a magistrates court.

https://www.halesowennews.co.uk/

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Uber Eats couriers say they have been fired because the company’s “racist” facial identification software is incapable of recognising their faces. The system, which Uber describes as a “photo comparison” tool, prompts couriers and drivers to take a photograph of themselves and compares it to a photograph in the company’s database.

Fourteen Uber Eats couriers have shared evidence with WIRED that shows how the technology failed to recognise their faces. They were threatened with termination, had accounts frozen or were permanently fired after selfies they took failed the company’s “Real Time ID Check”. Another was fired after the selfie function refused to work. Trade unions claim this issue has affected countless more Uber Eats couriers across the country, as well as private-hire drivers.

https://www.wired.co.uk

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North Yorkshire Police looks set to take action to remove out of town Uber drivers who attempt to operate illegally in York.

Wendy Loveday, the chair of the Private Hire Association, has told YorkMix she has had meetings with a senior officer.

Police now agree with her that as Uber doesn’t hold a local licence for York it is breaking the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 (Section 46)

This says “no person shall in a controlled district operate any vehicle as a private hire vehicle without having a current licence under section 55 of this Act“

Wendy Loveday says that North Yorkshire Police took legal advice after she pointed this out. She says it means that Uber drivers from out of town should not be picking up fares in the city because they do not hold a proper licence to work here.

Uber was stripped of its licence in December 2017 when the City of York council gambling, licensing and regulatory committee voted by seven to three, with two abstentions, not to renewed it.

York was the first authority to flat out deny Uber clearence to operate on its streets.

https://yorkmix.com

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SOME taxis could be banned from using bus lanes in Southampton as city bosses try to crack down on air pollution.

Taxis and private hire vehicles licensed outside of Southampton could be allowed to access bus lanes in the city only from 7am to 9.30am and from 4am to 6.30pm on weekdays and only if the vehicle was first registered on or after January 2006 if petrol and September 2015 if diesel.

A public consultation on the proposals will run from January 29 to February 22 and comes after initial plans to totally ban taxis from bus lanes in the city sparked criticism.

Civic chiefs said the move will improve air quality and will not be "detrimental" to businesses.

But the plans have so far sparked mixed views with some traders raising concerns.

Clive Johnson, honorary chairman of Radio Taxi Southampton, said he fears the  changes will result in more pollution and higher fares for the public.

"They should save tax payers' money and not trying to make money on more fines. Put it back on the back burner", Mr Johnson said as he stressed that businesses have been hit by the pandemic.

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/

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A shrinking private hire market has caused once strong used hybrid prices to tumble and legislative changes have compounded the issue.

Used hybrid values have nose dived as their traditional market of private hire drivers has suffered during the pandemic.

Second-hand examples of conventional, non-plug-in hybrids, such as the Toyota Prius, have traditionally been popular with the sector and commanded strong prices due to their low running costs and suitability for urban areas, but Covid-19 has hit operators hard and caused a big drop in demand for vehicle replacements.

Valuation specialist Cap HPI said hybrid values fell by 10.1% in January 2021, while plug-in hybrid prices dropped by 6.7%. "A lot of this is driven by the private hire market, which was decimated last year," said Cap HPI's head of valuations, Derren Martin, "certain models like the Prius and Auris, a lot of their sales go to that sector and if you're a taxi driver or an Uber driver, you're not going to replace your car."