5 - Christmas safety for taxi users

Archived news release from 2007

 

Enforcement officers from Dudley Council have carried out operations with both hackney carriage and private hire vehicle drivers in recent weeks to ensure public safety ahead of the festive season.

 

Over weekends of November 17 and 24 an operation was held which saw 30 hackney carriages hailed and taken on short journeys. 29 of the vehicles used their meter and charged the correct fare but one hackney carriage did not and prosecution is now being considered for the driver.

 

Meanwhile over the weekend of December 1 a plying for hire operation was conducted in the Kingswinford and Waterfront area.  During this, 10 vehicles were approached and only one refused to take the fare because it was not booked. The nine other drivers will now be considered for prosecution for plying for hire and no insurance.

 

On conviction they could receive fines for plying for hire and driving without insurance plus up to eight penalty points.  All these drivers would then be required to appear before Dudley Council’s Taxis Committee for a review of their licences, which could result in suspension or revocation.

 

 

“I hope these operations will send out a clear message to all private hire and hackney carriage drivers to be responsible.  We are concerned about the safety of the public who must remember if they get in a private hire vehicle, without booking it first, the vehicle is not insured and they are at risk in the event of an accident.”