Legal

Plans to give Newcastle’s black cabs a distinctive makeover have been parked for now following concerns from the city’s taxi drivers.

Newcastle City Council planned to introduce white bonnets to the city’s fleet of almost 600 public hire black taxis – to reflect Newcastle United’s famous black and white shirts – in a bid to make travelling by taxi safer for everyone.

Plans for a £36 million city-centre pedestrianisation scheme have come under fire from private hire taxi drivers who would be banned from the area, while black cabs would still be allowed to operate.

And STV News reports that Edinburgh Council could face legal action from at least one private hire boss who called the decision to ban PHVs “ludicrous”.

As more Clean Air Zones appear around the country, it’s good to see help is available to taxi drivers to make the switch to less-polluting vehicles.

We recently mentioned Newcastle Council’s grants to help taxi drivers replace older, polluting vehicles with newer, greener models operating in its Clean Air Zone.

Safety is key to the taxi fleet and there are rules in place to make sure taxi drivers are fit and proper people to pick up fares, as well as checks to ensure their vehicles are safe to carry passengers.

Whether it is a black cab or private hire vehicle, all drivers must comply in order to work in the fleet, and they must be licensed with their local authority.

Drivers who hit other vehicles and flee without reporting the damage cause huge inconvenience and expense to their innocent victims, especially if they are taxi drivers who rely on their cars to earn a living.

Damage to any vehicle is expensive to repair and being off the road causes huge disruption because it can affect livelihoods and lead to increased premiums if a claim is made.

We all know that using a mobile phone while driving a taxi is illegal, but what about eating a snack, wearing Ugg boots, or having fluffy dice hanging from the mirror?

Will sipping tea or coffee, or driving at night with the interior light on earn a taxi driver points on their licence?

Clean air and low emissions zones are expanding across the UK and taxi drivers whose vehicles don’t meet tougher environmental standards fear the daily charges could force them off the road.

As Glasgow city centre’s LEZ goes live next month, taxi drivers were worried that the £60 charge for older, non-compliant vehicles would stop them operating in the area.

Each person in the UK is recorded about 70 times a day by CCTV cameras in places ranging from shops and streets to our homes and offices . . . but they remain a contentious issue for taxi drivers.

Arguments for and against installing cameras in black cabs and private hire vehicles have rumbled on for years.

Taxi drivers are calling for action to tackle the problem of catalytic converter thefts which can leave their cars off the road for weeks and facing hefty repair bills.

Since the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, thieves have become more inventive and ruthless as they find new ways to make money.

As more taxi drivers are using dash-cam footage to protect themselves in case of a crash, cabbies are being warned about spies on two wheels recording their every move.

The message comes after ‘sneaky’ cyclists have recorded taxi drivers and other professional drivers doing things that they shouldn’t.

Potholes are a real problem on our roads, and for professionals such as taxi drivers, damage to their cabs is not just an inconvenience, it stops them earning money.

You don’t have to go too far today to find a pothole – in fact, drivers are spending more time trying to avoid them, with the RAC reporting that the final three months of 2022 saw 1,800 call-outs for damage caused by potholes.

It is good to see officials cracking down on motorists who park in ranks designated for taxi drivers.

In the run-up to Christmas, Worcester City Council issued 92 fines in a month to drivers who ignored restrictions and parked in the city centre’s taxi ranks.