Rossendale

Five taxis issued with fines in Rossendale enforcement operation

A TAXI enforcement operation in Rossendale saw five cars issued with notices for faults and defects.

Operation Maestro, a joint scheme between Rossendale Council’s licensing unit, Lancashire police and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), inspected seven cars on Friday evening.

VOSA served two vehicles with suspended or delayed prohibition notices for faults such as loose batteries, damaged bodywork, defective steering rack gaiters and air bag faults.

Council officers found damaged front bumpers, mirror casings, and side lights, resulting in the issue of three council defect notices. They also found one driver without a valid hackney carriage driver licence and one driver who was not displaying his licence badge as required.

A similar operation in March this year saw five similar notices issued while last September four vehicles were ordered to make improvements.

I am amazed, I did not know 5 vehicles actually worked in Rossendale, I thought they were all here in Manchester.
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Nelson

Bogus Nelson taxi driver jailed for sexual assault

A BOGUS taxi driver who sexually assaulted a woman he picked up outside a Burnley nightclub has been jailed.

Tassawar Shah, 28, had got on top of the victim and pinned her down after going down an alley instead of taking her to her home in Padiham.

She finally escaped by giving Shah her number, and telling him he could go back to her house later, Burnley Crown Court was told.

Shah, of Hartley Street, Nelson, admitted sexual assault, in December last year. He was jailed for nine months and three weeks and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years.

Kimberley Obrusik, prosecuting, said the victim, who is in her 30s, had been out in Burnley town centre, last December 22, and had been to Lava and Ignite club.

She left by the main entrance and saw a blue taxi waiting across the road. She asked if the driver could take her to Padiham and the defendant said yes, despite not having a taxi licence. Shah started talking to the woman and told her he had a friend who could get cocaine, if she wanted it.

The defendant drove towards Padiham and the victim said she did not feel threatened at that stage, as they were just chatting. Shah then admitted he was not a taxi driver and did not hold a licence.

Miss Obrusik said the defendant pulled into an alleyway, stopped and the next thing the woman knew, he was on top of her, pinning her down.

The prosecutor said in an attempt to get away, the woman told Shah she would give him her number and they could go back to her house.

The victim supplied her number to the defendant and he said: “You had better answer your phone.” The woman repeatedly told him she would as he removed himself from being on top of her. She saw him pulling his pants up while he moved back into the driver's seat. The woman got out of the vehicle and called police. Shah phoned her 12 times that night.


Miss Obrusik said when the defendant was arrested and interviewed, he denied any sexual touching. He claimed when the victim approached the vehicle, he immediately told her he did not hold a taxi licence, but she persuaded him to take her. The defendant alleged the woman repeatedly touched him, put her hands down his trousers and kissed his neck.

Shah told officers he didn't respond, has had a girlfriend and would not cheat. The court was told he had 12 offences on his record.
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Redcar

Newborn lands parents with cleaning bill after hospital dash

Jenny Larkin with son Finlay and his father Tim Galloway Jenny Larkin with son Finlay and his father Tim Galloway

A MOTHER who gave birth on the front seat of a taxi has been landed with a £40 cleaning bill.

Jenny Larkin from Redcar delivered baby Finley in a hospital car park less than two hours after going into labour.

She was shocked to receive a valeting bill two days later from the unrepentant cab driver, who said he had lost two days pay as the interior had been so wet.

When contractions started at 2.30am last Friday, her partner, Tim Galloway, called JP taxis just after 4am to take them to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.

 “Tim told them it was for maternity and when he came he had some plastic sheeting on the front seat and said it was fine for me to sit there,” she said.

“We got on the A174 and I said the baby was coming. By the time we were pulling up at the hospital, the baby was already coming out.

“Five midwives rushed out to see what the situation was and there my baby boy was, hanging down and in a bit of shock. I had to deliver him there. That’s when he said to my partner 'I want the cleaning bill'."

Finley was born weighing a healthy 7lb 15oz and taken into the hospital, where medics kept an eye on his temperature after he was born outside in the cold.

Jenny, who also has two girls Elise, five and Ruby, two, said: “I was absolutely mortified. He knew he was going to maternity before he even set off and had put plastic sheets on the front seat.

Taxi driver, Steven Morrell, who is responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of his own cab as part of his self-employed contract with JP Taxis, said: “Unfortunately someone’s got to pay for it. I don’t think I’m being nasty asking for the valeting cost back.

“I couldn’t work on Friday or Saturday because the interior was still wet so I lost two days’ takings.”

Craig Walker, who owns JP Taxi, said the driver had the right to pass on his bill to the family in accordance with a council bylaw.

 The state attorney general’s office is investigating whether some yellow taxi fleets and cabbies are breaking the law by discriminating against the disabled.

In recent months, the Civil Rights Bureau of the attorney general’s office has issued subpoenas demanding vehicle records from fleet owners and individual medallion owners who have Toyota Siennas and Ford Transit Connects in service without wheelchair ramps or lifts, according to a document reviewed by the Daily News.

The investigation comes as two pending lawsuits seek to stop the rollout of the city’s planned “Taxi of Tomorrow” in part because the vehicle selected — a Nissan NV200 — is not wheelchair accessible as currently manufactured.


Here's the bit thats important:

A van placed on the road after 1992 that has seating for fewer than eight passengers can’t be used as a taxicab unless it is handicapped-accessible, advocates contend, citing the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

 http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/taxis-flagged-bias-disabled-article-1.1458072#ixzz2fBeqV4QB

A MINICAB driver was 'careless' not to see a pedestrian with a crutch whom he ran over and killed in Kingsbury, a court heard.

Wahidullah Hoori, 41, had just turned off Edgware Road in Kingsbury when his 05-reg Seat Alambra people carrier hit Barry Southgate as the slow-moving 64-year-old crossed Kingsbury Road, at 11.50pm on April 11 2012.

Mr Southgate, of Theobald Crescent, Harrow, died nine days later from his injuries at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, west London.

Hoori denies causing death by careless driving and is standing trial at Wood Green Crown Court in north London.

 Prosecutor Nicholas Bleaney told jurors: "The prosecution say he should have seen him and had plenty of opportunity to see him and Mr Southgate was doing nothing dramatic.

"He was walking along at a relatively slow, pedestrian speed - something any driver in any part of the country, particularly in London, has to deal with all the time.

 "He did not suddenly come out from behind a tree and his movements, we say, were pretty obvious.

"Speed isn't an issue. The turn was conducted at a normal speed.

"The accident, we say, was caused by carelessness.

"He (Hoori) should have stopped in time to avoid a collision or at the very least swerved to avoid him."

Mr Southgate had helped plaster a wall at a friend's house before he and his friend went for a drink at The Moon Under Water in Varley Parade, The Hyde in Colindale, where the victim drank two pints of real ale.

His bus home sped past as the two left the pub and so Mr Southgate, who was also known as Barry O'Reilly, decided at 11.30pm to walk down Edgware Road and had just turned the corner into Kingsbury Road when he was hit by the nearside front grill of Hoori's minicab.

Mr Bleaney said the defendant made a statement to police that he had been working since 2pm on the day of the collision, that he had had a day off the previous day and had consumed neither alcohol or drugs before the crash.

Witness Raluca Frunza told the court: "I saw the old man. He was on the other side of the road.

"He was walking really slowly because he was on crutches. He was not using [the traffic island] to cross the road.

"I heard a noise like a metal-to-metal noise and heard a male scream, a yell, and then I realised that the car had hit the old man.

"I saw a lot of blood on the floor."

She described Mr Southgate as "a chunky man, overweight, with a big belly, grey messy hair and a great beard".

The trial of Hoori, of Raccoon Way, Hounslow, who using a Pashtu interpreter, continues.

http://www.harrowobserver.co.uk/west-london-news/local-harrow-news/2013/09/16/minicab-driver-careless-not-to-see-man-with-crutches-he-ran-and-over-killed-prosecutor-116451-33851641/

 Taxi drivers in North Kesteven may soon have to sit a London Cabbie-style knowledge test.

North Kesteven District Council’s executive board is recommending the council’s full membership adopts amendments to the way Hackney Carriage licences are granted and the introduction of a test for all drivers of Hackney Carriage taxis and private hire vehicles.

The North Kesteven test will require all new drivers to meet standards of numeracy, literacy and local knowledge to show that they have a good knowledge of the geography of North Kesteven and Lincolnshire in general and an awareness of the rules and regulations that apply to licences drivers.

In addition there will now be a presumption against licensing Hackney Carriages where a significant proportion of business will be undertaken outside of the District

Currently, while a Hackney Carriage can ply for trade in the streets and at a rank within the area in which it is licensed, it can also operate on a pre-booked basis – like a Private Hire car – both within and outside of its licensing area, anywhere in England and Wales. Private Hire cars can only ever operate on a pre-booked basis, not hired in the street or at a rank.

But Councillor Richard Wright, executive board member with responsibility for licensing, said that by restricting this so that Hackney Carriages could only operate primarily locally would overcome an emerging situation which could compromise the Council’s primary aim in taxi licensing, which was to ensure the health and safety of the travelling public.

He said: “While it’s not unlawful, we are conscious that the ability to apply for Hackney Carriage proprietor’s licences from NKDC without there being any intention to ply for hire within North Kesteven is a barrier to us being able to take effective control. It means that drivers and vehicles can operate in areas at some distance from North Kesteven, taking advantage of a pre-booking exemption.

“We have a duty to ensure licensed vehicles, are safe and suitable and that operators, owners and drivers have proper regard to public safety. That duty can be compromised when vehicles and drivers licensed by NKDC are operating hundreds of miles away,” said Cllr Wright..

“In tandem with the new test, we hope that by restricting the geographic scope of Hackney Carriages to operate primarily within the District and wider Lincolnshire area, we can retain local control and restore public confidence in the safety and standards of protection expected locally.

There will be flexibility and discretion in applying the new rules, the policy change reflects current case law which stresses the importance of retaining local control to promote better public protection

Existing licence holders will be exempt from the new provisions provided they renew promptly ahead of the expiry date.

Within North Kesteven there are 334 individuals holding a combined total of 665 licences – 72 of them being for Hackney Carriages and 213 for Private Hire vehicles, with 324 private hire drivers and 56 private hire operators.

This is being recommended by North Kesteven District Council’s Executive Board to the council’s full membership adopts amendments to the way Hackney Carriage licences are granted and the introduction of a test for all drivers of Hackney Carriage taxis and Private Hire vehicles.
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Man charged over gunpoint robbery of taxi in Bootle

A man is due in court after a taxi driver was threatened at gunpoint and then had his cab stolen in Merseyside.

An offender demanded the driver's keys and made off in the taxi parked at Hawthorne Road, Bootle, at 16:50 BST on Sunday, police said.

Police found the taxi and a loaded gun in Dymoke Road, Norris Green, at 17:30.

Steven Graham, 22, will appear before South Sefton magistrates later charged with robbery, firearm possession and attempting to escape lawful custody.

Mr Graham is of no fixed abode but is originally from Bootle.

Another bogus Taxi scheme gets ready for the De-Regulatory, draft Law Commission bill.

Meter ticking for taxi-cab offices

IF TIME is money, entrepreneur Mark Strachan is making the most of wasted travelling hours, with a plan to make money from commuting Blackberry addicts. The founder of British indoor ski slope firm Skiplex yesterday launched a crowdfunding plea for investment in the Luxury Mobile Office Company.

The firm is seeking £150,000 on crowdfunding website Crowdcube to strip and convert five Mercedes Viano cars into luxury mobile offices. With a fare of £250 per hour, the fleet will have 4G WiFi, total sound-proofing and flat screens for Skype conference calls.

“It looks like a Bentley on the inside, rather than looking bling like a stretch limo,” Strachan was quick to inform The Capitalist yesterday. And who would hail a £140,000 ride like this? Lawyers, financiers or anyone wanting to whip out a laptop on the commute from Battersea heliport into the City, apparently.

- See more at: http://www.cityam.com/article/1379380587/meter-ticking-taxi-cab-offices#sthash.jCFUn2wy.dpuf

As Deadline Nears, Taxi of Tomorrow Faces Court Fight and Reluctant Owners


 His green livery cabs finally patrol the streets outside Manhattan. His army of blue bicycles is well entrenched.

David S. Yassky, center, chairman of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, on Monday with officials of Koeppel Nissan in Queens.

But in the dwindling months of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s tenure, his administration has been charged with a final, 11th-hour transportation heave: ensuring that its fleetwide Taxi of Tomorrow — with a spacious back seat, “low-annoyance” horn and a persistent habit of attracting lawsuits and political opposition — reaches the road.

Beginning Oct. 28, virtually every new non-hybrid taxi is required to be a Nissan NV200, the Taxi of Tomorrow chosen by New York City as part of a competition in 2011. The cabs are expected to be phased in over three to five years, until nearly all of the city’s roughly 13,000 yellow cabs are the same.

The deadline has set off feverish preparations from the vehicle’s proponents, hoping to hustle the cab into service, and fleet owners who say they dread its introduction.

Some fleets have planned to retire their cabs early, stockpile new ones that are not Nissan NV200s, and begin operating them before the deadline in a bid to forestall the Taxi of Tomorrow as long as possible — recalling a popular practice when the Crown Victoria was retired.

And in the coming weeks, the city will have to defend the vehicle in separate lawsuits intended to prevent the revised program’s implementation, months after a State Supreme Court judge invalidated the city’s initial plan, ruling that it defied the city’s administrative code.

Any court-related delay could affect the cab’s fortunes, with the project less likely to find support in the next administration. Bill de Blasio, the leading vote-getter in the Democratic primary and a frequent recipient of taxi industry largess, has been a vocal opponent of the scheme. In a letter he wrote with Assemblyman Micah Z. Kellner, and sent last year to the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, Mr. de Blasio said the vehicle was in “likely violation” of the Americans with Disabilities Act because it is not wheelchair accessible. (It can be retrofitted to become so.)

A spokesman for Mr. de Blasio said only that the candidate would seek to address “local employment and accessibility” issues with the cab if elected. It is unclear if Mr. de Blasio would seek to turn back the city’s plan outright if he had the power to do so, given the city’s 10-year contract with Nissan.

The city’s position calls to mind its early defense of policies like a smoking ban and a bike-share program: If passengers can experience the vehicle’s sumptuous amenities for themselves, said David S. Yassky, the city’s taxi commissioner, “that’s the end of any debate.”

Behind the scenes, the cabs are inching toward their debut. Production began last month at Nissan’s assembly plant in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Mr. Yassky recently traveled to Nissan’s North American headquarters in Franklin, Tenn., where he inspected the cars before the city issued its final approval. And for months, a handful of NV200s have been road-tested in New York City.

But the taxi’s fate remains far from certain. After sitting out a spate of court cases in recent years, Nissan has petitioned a State Supreme Court judge to join the city to defend against a suit from the Greater New York Taxi Association, a group of medallion owners opposed to the plan. The group is accusing the city of exceeding its authority by mandating that operators buy a Taxi of Tomorrow.

Several industry officials said that Nissan’s involvement suggested a degree of concern. A spokesman for Nissan did not say why it chose to intervene for this case and not for others. Mr. Yassky attributed the move to “an abundance of caution.”

“I don’t think it reflects an elevated level of concern,” he said, adding, “They want to make sure nothing happens here right before the finish line.”

The next hearing in the case is expected on Tuesday. Ethan B. Gerber, the taxi association’s executive director, said the group planned to cite one of the mayor’s highest-profile legal rebukes: a judge’s decision to overturn his ban on large sugary drinks.

“You’ve got the court saying very clearly that administrative agencies are not there for social policy,” Mr. Gerber said.

The city is also facing a suit from accessibility advocates who argue that the Taxi of Tomorrow is a van. Under federal law, the suit contends, any van used as a taxicab must be accessible for people with disabilities. Advocates have noted that the NV200 has won awards for “Van of the Year.”
The city’s Law Department, while disputing that the cab is a van, said that even if it were, federal law does not require a taxicab van to be accessible if disabled passengers can find equivalent service another way. The city said that its Accessible Dispatch system, which allows disabled New Yorkers to summon taxis directly to their addresses, should be considered equivalent service.

Though the city continues to project confidence in its legal prospects, the Taxi of Tomorrow’s champions have found recent months to be trying. Besides the Bloomberg administration and the car company, there is perhaps no entity more invested in the cab’s success than the proprietors of Koeppel Nissan in Queens, who have committed more than $1 million to become the leading service center for the Taxi of Tomorrow.

A lot has been set aside to accommodate scores of NV200s. Mechanics will be assigned to service the cabs, and a collection of lifts, wheel balancers and other equipment will be installed in a currently vacant garage. There will also be a lounge for cabbies, said Mark Lacher, the business’s general manager, who promised bagels.

Mr. Lacher acknowledged that the suits had added an unwelcome “fly in the ointment.” But he and Howard Koeppel — the company’s president and a former fund-raiser for (and roommate of) Rudolph W. Giuliani — said they did not regret the investment, despite the cab’s uncertain future.

“Give it another year,” Mr. Koeppel said beside the lot on a recent afternoon, where he chatted with Mr. Yassky. “They’re going to love us.”

Nearby, where two mechanics were walking the grounds, Mr. Lacher offered further assurance.

“You ready for taxicabs?” he shouted, as the men looked up. “We’ll have them!”

Ibiza

A SCOTTISH holidaymaker has been stabbed in the chest by a taxi driver in Ibiza.

Grant Sommerville, 22, was attacked during a row over a fare on the holiday island.

Grant, from Motherwell, was last night in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

The driver fled after the attack but police yesterday arrested a 29-year-old man.

The incident happened near the Poniente Playa Hotel just after 1am on Friday.

Grant and two friends had got the cab from the Ushuaia Hotel in nearby Playa d’en Bossa where DJ Carl Cox had been playing.

Paramedics had to treat him at the scene before rushing him to hospital.

The driver told police he acted in self-defence after he was attacked. He’s thought to be a cabbie from Ibiza Town.

Civil Guard officers confirmed his arrest and released a picture of the weapon, a multi-use
tool knife.

A spokesman said: “The victim was a young Brit aged 22 who had been stabbed in the chest who was with two friends when officers arrived.

“They were under the effects of alcohol and said the attack had taken place after a row
over the taxi fare.

“We launched an investigation after the British man was taken to hospital.

“We arrested a man on suspicion of wounding.

“The arrested man has said that after picking up the three men and taking them in his vehicle, they rowed over the fare and attacked him.

“He defended himself with a multi-use tool knife he had in his car.”

The Foreign Office said: “We’re aware of the hospitalisation of a British national on September 13. We’re providing assistance.”
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Ribble Valley taxi drivers face tests before they work

11:00am Saturday 14th September 2013 in News

TAXI drivers will have to pass a knowledge test and college course before taking to the roads, under new plans being debated by the council.

It would see the end of temporary, six-month taxi licences which new drivers are issued with before passing the test and the Steering to Success course at Rossendale College.

Ribble Valley Council’s licensing committee is due to debate the proposed abolishment at a meeting on Tuesday ((September 17)).

If approved, the council aims to seek the views of licence holders before making a final decision.

Sajjad Asgher, who drives for Penole Taxis in Clitheroe said: “I think it’s an absolutely brilliant idea.

“The council have been issuing way too many licences and this will slow down that rate and benefit existing drivers.

“The competition is massive in the Ribble Valley and if this is introduced then it will make sure that there are not too many new taxi drivers on the roads.”

There are currently 113 private hire taxi drivers’ registers in the borough with full licences and 13 with temporary licences.

Sajjad Hussain of Saj Cabs in Clitheroe said: “I’m worried that the quality of new taxi drivers’ knowledge of the area will go down because they might just simply study for a written knowledge test without ever having driven around the borough.


“Under the current rules, new taxi drivers can work for six months and gain a detailed knowledge of the area before taking the tests which means that they are able to do their job better.

“I’m not sure that this would be a workable system and it could lead to drivers starting their first day with a knowledge test pass but with no experience of the area.”

Coun Sue Knox, who sits on the licensing committee, said: “I am in favour of this change because the Ribble Valley is a complicated place to navigate around and new private hire taxi drivers should have passed the Knowledge Test before starting work.”

Alongside the Knowledge Test, new taxi drivers have to sit a free 10-week course at Rossendale College which covers topics such as how to present their vehicle, how to help disabled clients and conflict resolution.