A Hartlepool taxi driver has highlighted the dangers of what he says is a growing problem of unlicensed taxis operating in the town.

Cabbie Neil Handisides says he has seen a rise in the amount of private vehicles taking cash from passengers, especially late night revellers in Hartlepool town centre on weekends. 

The hackney carriage driver is warning of the dangers to passengers and has called on the police to do more to tackle reports.

Cleveland Police and licensing chiefs at Hartlepool Borough Council are warning the public not to use unlicensed cabs for their own safety.

Mr Handisides, a self-employed taxi driver for almost 20 years, said: “It’s a massive problem in Hartlepool. Some people are bragging they are earning £200 to £300 a weekend.

“It is not just one or two cars it is 10 or 20. I’m getting a lot of information off other taxi drivers as well.

“People don’t realise once they get in that car and they are going to make a payment it invalidates that person’s insurance because they are not insured for public or private hire.”

He added: “It is a long drawn out process to get a taxi badge. You have to be a fit and proper person.

“Someone is going to get sexually assaulted or assaulted by one of these fake taxi drivers.

“The police could show a presence but they don’t.”

A council spokesman said: “The issue of unlicensed taxis concerns us as people using such vehicles are potentially putting themselves at risk.
“Only licensed vehicles have the correct insurance and drivers are carefully vetted before being granted a licence.”

They said it is best to pre-book through established companies, and licensed taxis are yellow with signs on their doors and plates and drivers have badges.

Chief Inspector Nigel Burnell said: “We are always grateful for information from the public and with our colleagues in the Community Safety Team we’ll work together on concerns raised.
“If you see an unlicensed taxi do report it to the council and joint action will be taken.

“The council regulates private hire vehicles and from a safety point of view we’d advise anyone against using an unlicensed taxi – you simply don’t know who you’re travelling with.” 

Anyone with information about unlicensed taxis is urged to call the council on (01429) 523354 or email licensing@hartlepool.gov.uk
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DERBY

 Concerns are growing that Derby children are being taken to school by taxi drivers registered outside of the city, where checks are feared to be "less strict".

Private hire drivers are being registered by a number of councils for as little as £69 - and they can then operate anywhere in the UK.

Taxi drivers registered in Derby, where a points system exists to check on previous offences, are angry on several fronts.

Many say the taxi market is becoming flooded nationally, with the additional drivers putting existing ones at risk of being out of work.

Others claim Derby parents do not know who is driving their children to school each day, due to what they call a "lack" of stringent checks on drivers registered outside of the city.

Additionally, taxi vehicles registered outside of Derby cannot be checked for potential faults by other than the authority where they are licensed. Derby City Council is therefore powerless to take any cars not registered in the city off the road.

https://goo.gl/7X1e1x
 

GETT TAXI HAS TO RAISE MONEY

 Gett ride sharing application tops the fundraising list of Israeli start-ups in June, according to the data published on Saturday by the Hebrew-language technology site Geektime.

Figures said that Gett, which operates taxi and courier services in more than 100 cities in Israel, the United States, Russia and Britain, raised 80 million U.S. dollars in June.

Gett's raising was made possible by the existing shareholders of the company and the Volkswagen Group.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-07/01/c_137292583.htm 
 

LONDON

 A report has warned that forcing taxi drivers to take additional licensing tests could force ethnic minorities and women out of the trade.

A recent report on ensuring public safety in minicabs, commissioned by Transport for London (TfL), looked at the effects of introducing further licencing requirements on London taxi drivers.

Evidence suggests that requiring taxi drivers to take an advanced driving assessment to obtain or keep their licence would have a negative impact on ethnic minorities and women.

This is because of the extra cost of taking the test and the loss of income while training for it.

It is expected that most drivers will have to cover the cost of the advanced driving test themselves.

It currently takes 16 to 24 weeks to get a Private Hire Vehicle driver licence and can cost approximately £724 for the application.

Because of the higher proportion of women working part-time the test may act as a greater barrier to women entering and remaining in the profession.

The report also says that drivers that holding an EU driving licence will find it harder to pass the additional driving test because the requirements involved differ from EU requirements.

But Helen Chapman, TfL’s interim director of licensing, regulation and charging, said the proposals would be “pivotal” in protecting the public.

Ms Chapman added: “The experiences of passengers and their safety is at the heart of everything we do.

“We’ve worked hard to drive up the standards of the industry, from significantly increasing the number of compliance officers to ensuring passengers know who their driver is and what the vehicle details are.

“With the dramatic recent changes in the private hire industry transforming passengers’ experiences we need to go further.”

There are more private hire drivers than ever. From 2009 to 2017 the number increased from 59,000 to 113,600.

TfL have estimated on an average day there are approximately 265,500 minicab trips across London.

TfL will decide whether or not to adopt the proposals in the upcoming months.

Val Shawcross, deputy mayor for transport, said: “Keeping Londoners safe is our number one priority, and since Sadiq took over as Mayor we’ve been determined to drive up standards across the private hire industry.”

https://goo.gl/mY7RD5  

Barking Uber driver cleared of killing man, 70, by careless driving in Aldgate hit-and-run

The trial took place at the Old Bailey.

Mohamad Uddin, 28, from Barking knocked down Mauro Gutierrez then sped off in his rented BMW at about 10.30pm on April 25 last year, the prosecution said.

Mr Gutierrez was crossing the 30mph one-way Mansell Street in Aldgate when he was sent flying around 20 metres down the road, the Old Bailey heard.

Uddin had been going up to 41mph and should have been able to see Mr Gutierrez before impact, even though the victim was wearing dark clothes, it was argued.

Afterwards he drove off with a smashed windscreen but was tracked down through his number plate.

Passers-by came to the pensioner’s aid but he died in the Royal London Hospital two hours later.

Prosecutor Christopher Amis had told jurors: “On April 25 last year at about 10.25pm a 70-year-old man, Mauro Gutierrez, was crossing a road close to where he lived known as Mansell Street when he was hit by a BMW vehicle being driving over the speed limit by this defendant.

“Very unfortunately Mr Gutierrez died from his injuries. The defendant failed to stop.

“Indeed, he accelerated away from the scene.”

Uddin, of Wilmington Gardens, denied causing death by careless driving and was found not guilty after a jury deliberated for five hours.

In the absence of the jury, the court heard the defendant had a previous conviction for speeding in 2008, when he was aged 18.

In legal argument ahead of the trial, his lawyer Kiera Chana said her client had been working as an Uber driver but was not on a job at the time.

She said: “He simply did not see the deceased until the very last moment.

“At that moment Mr Uddin did what he could to try to avoid a collision - his brake lights did turn on and he did make a movement to the left suggesting he had made some sort of attempt to move out of the pedestrian’s way to no avail.”

She said he had not worked for Uber since but his “main priority” was to patch up his relationship with his wife and two-year-old daughter who had moved out of the family home.

The family of Mr Gutierrez appeared upset as Uddin was cleared shortly after the jury was given a majority direction.

The defendant wiped away tears as he left the courtroom.

https://goo.gl/ruRZ3y  

UBERK Appeal June 2018.

Decision.

https://goo.gl/dRFTXi 

BISHOP AUCKLAND

A TAXI driver caught up in the dramatic police shooting of an armed man has described suffering sleepless nights and having to leave the area to escape the memories of his terrifying ordeal.

What began as an ordinary day working in the Bishop Auckland area– as he has for 20 years– became the most traumatic experience of his life when 'all hell broke loose' and his minibus was surrounded by armed officers.

One month after the traumatic events, the cabbie – who does not want to be named – said he cannot face returning to any taxi rank because he is unable to pick up strangers.

    'Police were right to shoot me' says gunman

The man has limited his work to school runs and "safe" fares and is being treated for stress.

And he said he did not accept Houlihan's apology for his actions, saying: "He will never know how much he has screwed my life up."

The driver had been dispatched to pick up Samuel Houlihan from a shop in Bishop Auckland town centre.

He said: “I thought that would be no problem. I went and picked the guy up and he asked if we could go via Cockton Hill so he could stop at the shop. We stopped and I just waited as he ran into the Cockton Hill Club.

"A couple of minutes later he came back and tapped on the window, and said he was just going to the shop over the road to get some fags.”

The driver said he then drove Houlihan along Woodhouse Lane and found himself sandwiched between a police car and van, with another two nearby.

He looked over at his passenger and saw him pull out a gun and place it between his legs.

The driver said: “I flashed the police car in front, but they didn’t appear to take any notice. I was tapping the brake lights to attract the van, but again no notice.

“We pulled up to some temporary traffic lights and they were on red. I had my window down and I was waving my arm out of it trying to get attention.”

It was as the lights turned green that the driver said 'all hell broke loose'.

“The cars came alongside, and the next thing I knew the police were shouting instructions – put your hands up, put your hands up. He wasn’t taking any notice, and the officer told me to remove the keys from the ignition and throw them out of the window.

“He pulled a whisky bottle out, and then he was waving the gun around and the police were shouting to put the weapon down.

“I knew I couldn’t stay in the car, so I tried to open the door the best I could and fell out of the taxi.

“When you're sat in that car, you don’t know what he is going to do. I don’t know if it is imitation gun or not. It looked bloody damn really to me."

Speaking to The Northern Echo, the driver said he did not sleep for days after witnessing Houlihan get shot in the arm through the window of his taxi.

Soon after the ordeal, he sought medical support and went to stay with friends outside of the county to avoid hearing people talk about the incident or revisiting the scene.

When he got his minibus back from forensics, he faced the harrowing task of having the window fixed and blood and glass cleaned from the interior.

The driver praised Durham Police for their support.

https://goo.gl/bWv7Ck


----------------------------------------------------

WOLVERHAMPTON


Taxi drivers planning 'go-slow' protest in Wolverhampton city centre

Cabbies from outside the city still plan to protest despite campaigners calling off main rally

Taxi drivers are set to cause disruption to roads in Wolverhampton city centre tomorrow with a 'go slow' protest.

Cabbies from Coventry will descend on the Civic Centre from 12pm to 2pm to demonstrate against Wolverhampton Council's private hire licensing system.

They say the authority has issued thousands of licences to Uber drivers operating all around the country, threatening the livelihoods of black cab drivers in places including Coventry.

A protest organised by the West Midlands Private Hire Drivers' Association, which was also planned for tomorrow, was called off after council bosses threatened anyone taking part with legal action.

The new protest has been organised by the Unite union, which says cabbies have to comply with a large number of criteria and regulations which the Uber drivers can ignore.

Unite regional officer Alan Lewis said: “Coventry taxi drivers who play by the rules are facing having their livelihoods cut from under them by the unthinking actions of Wolverhampton council.

“Wolverhampton Council needs to end the race to the bottom, immediately stop this practice and withdraw licences for drivers not based in their area.”

Councillor Alan Bolshaw, Wolverhampton Council’s licensing committee chairman, said: “It would appear that the taxi trade is riddled with competing factions saying different things which paint a confusing, uncoordinated picture.

"One minute we read the protest is off and then it is back on.

"As far as we can tell, it appears that black cab drivers from Coventry, joined by opportunist local Coventry politicians will now be coming over to Wolverhampton to yet again protest about something we are powerless to change.

"They are angry about changes to national legislation, through the Deregulation Act, which threatens the closed shop that is the traditional taxi industry.

"It is the streets of Westminster rather than Wolverhampton where the taxi trade should take their protest.

"It is not fair to treat the people of Wolverhampton as piggy in the middle.

"Not only this, but staging a go-slow protest in the midday sun on a baking hot day threatens public safety and the organisers should rethink their strategy if they want to get people on-side.”

Wolverhampton Council has come under fire from drivers and other local authorities for exploiting legislation brought in through the 2015 Deregulation Act, which allows drivers to licensed in one area to operate anywhere in the country.

The city has handed out more than 9,000 licences in the last year.

https://goo.gl/MfBpS7

WOLVERHAMPTON

‘Our licensing process is the best and the strongest there is. I’d put it up against any other in the country.’

Nigel Todd has had enough of people criticising Wolverhampton Council’s private hire licensing system.

The 60-year-old former paratrooper and police officer has been delivering licensing courses for 16 years, and he is adamant that the city’s current process offers the best service out there.

In recent months he has felt like he is in the minority, as critics line up to accuse the council of doling out licences fast and cheap in an effort to make a quick buck.

Senior trainer defends Wolverhampton Council's private hire licensing system

“A lot of the criticism is completely unfair,” says Nigel, who heads a team of three that run training programmes as part of a joint initiative between Wolverhampton and Worcestershire County Council.

“It is rubbish to say it is easy to get a licence here. We have a 44 per cent failure rate. Just because the process is easy does not mean it is easy to pass.”

The council charges £69 for a licence – far lower than most other authorities – and drivers can be licensed in just 20 days.  

It means Wolverhampton has become the go-to place for licence hunters not just from Bradley and Bradmore, but from Billericay, Bolton, Bath and hundreds of other towns and cities.

Some other local authorities are annoyed. Aside from the fact that their own licensing coffers are dwindling, they say that ‘cross-border’ hiring means drivers with a Wolverhampton licence can operate in their areas with little or no checks.

Wolverhampton cabbies are not happy either, arguing that the ease of obtaining a licence means the city’s roads are flooded with new drivers.

But the system has certainly proved popular with out-of-towners, who have flocked to the city in their thousands to get a licence.

The evidence is in the numbers.

The council gave out 9,388 licences over the last year, up from 852 three years ago, bringing in £2.2 million.

It has been made possible by the 2015 Deregulation Act, which allowed licensed drivers to operate anywhere in the country.
Express & Star's Pete Madeley watches on

Anyone applying in Wolverhampton must attend a four-hour training session, including guidance on conditions of licence, disability awareness, child sexual exploitation and safeguarding. It is followed by a multiple-choice test.

A recent class at the Bert Williams Leisure Centre was attended by 14 candidates, including people from Rochdale, Nottingham, Derby, Coventry, Birmingham and Sandwell.

One driver was from Wolverhampton.

It highlights one of the major criticisms the city has faced.

If a driver from say, Weymouth, is licensed in Wolverhampton, there is surely no way they can be checked on by the city once they are operating four hours away down on the south coast?

“Not true,” says Nigel, pointing out that compliance officers from Wolverhampton regularly carry out checks in other local authority areas.

He says they recently visited Southampton and went out with police, stopping Wolverhampton licensed vehicles to make sure they were not breaking the law.

“We’re not letting people run wild when they are out of the area. We will check on them to make sure they obey our rules. We go to other areas and ask them if they would like to run joint compliance exercises with us, and some of them say ‘no, you’ve caused the problem you fix it’.

“It would be better if they worked with us instead of against us.”
Course tutor Nigel Todd

Wolverhampton’s training course contains no formal English test – another criticism often levelled at the authority.

Instead drivers’ grasp of the lingo is tested through an informal chat, followed by a series of job related questions posed by a training officer in private.

One man produces a French licence as ID and is clearly struggling to understand English. He is asked to leave the course, as is another gentleman who greets the question ‘Where are you from?’ with a blank look.

Concerns have also been raised over a wider public safety issue, with the authority accused of failing to carry out stringent criminal records checks or checks to see if drivers have been banned elsewhere.

“You have to be a fit and proper person to be a driver and there is an enhanced DBS check and checks to see if they have been licensed with other authorities,” said Nigel.

“There is no central database to check whether drivers have been refused by other authorities – although there is talk of that happening and I think everyone would agree it is a good idea.”

So why are so many people coming to Wolverhampton for a licence?

Athikur Rahman, from Birmingham, said: “The process takes a lot longer in Birmingham. In Wolverhampton it is very quick. If I get a licence I get the choice to drive in Wolverhampton or Birmingham.”

At the end of the session, six out of the original group of 14 – 43 per cent – have passed and will be licensed by the city as private hire drivers. Later that day in another session the pass rate was again 6/14.

While Nigel argues that the pass rate is low, for other local authorities it is potentially 12 drivers that could have been licensed in their areas.

And for Wolverhampton drivers, it is 12 newbies who may be competing with them for custom.

As far as Nigel is concerned, it is a simple case of supply and demand, with Wolverhampton better than others at responding to the 2015 law change.

“Wolverhampton Council did not change the law, it changed with the law,” he said.

“We are providing a fantastic service at a cheaper price. How is that wrong?”

 https://goo.gl/3muvPD 

Comment: The Planned demo in Wolverhampton for Thursday this week, has been cancelled. It is said that Wolverhampton Council have obtained an Injunction stopping the Action:

This will obviously lead to a 'Flash' demo on another date.