Bonnie Martyn
It was with much regret that I learnt of the death of Bonnie Martyn on August 1. Bonnie was a man whom I had met several times during the past few years and who was without doubt, an extraordinary gentleman.
   He was a founder-member and the first Chairman of this organisation way back in 1953 and at the age of almost 94, was still driving his car and lecturing four times a week at the University of the Third Age. He told me that he was thinking of taking semi-retirement and only  doing two lectures a week!
   He was immensely proud of Dial-a-Cab, the company that he helped form, although he was the first to admit that it was completely different today than it was then, but his pride in this organisation was still there for all to see. It is also extremely sad that Bonnie will miss our Golden Anniversary that comes next year; I can only imagine how proud he would have been to help celebrate 50 years of Dial-a-Cab.
   On behalf of Dial-a-Cab, I would like to offer my sincere condolences to Bonnie's wife Carol and all his family, he will be greatly missed by us all.

Private Hire Driver Licensing
I have written in the past about the consultation document regarding the licensing of Private Hire drivers. Initially a document was produced by TfL and all sections of our trade - whether they be individuals or organisations - were invited to reply. After the replies were received by TfL, they then produced a second consultation document that contained recommendations regarding the licensing to which we had to respond.
   To say that the recommendations were a 'light touch' would be an understatement. To give you an example: Prospective PH drivers would have to be 21 years of age and have held a full driving licence for three years but not necessarily 
   

in this country. Any EU country will do! It also includes other countries such as Liechtenstein, British Virgin Islands, Japan, Switzerland and Singapore to name but a few. So, if you have held a full driving licence for three years in any of the above  
countries, you will be granted a licence to drive a Private Hire vehicle in London without taking any form of driving test. Surely this has got to be a ludicrous situation?  I believe the public have a right to expect the driver of any Public Service vehicle to undergo some sort of test as to their suitability to transport members of the public for payment whether it be by car, taxi, bus, train or even aeroplane.  Anything less would be treating the public with contempt.
   Coupled with this is the intention to have another 'light touch' regarding the level of topographical knowledge that a Private Hire driver will need. It appears that the candidate will only have to show competence in reading a map, I can just imagine all those PH drivers taking their passengers from A to B whilst reading an A-Z that has been strategically placed on their lap. In my view, this is just another case of the authorities treating members of the public with  contempt.
   On reading the above, I can imagine some of you saying "...good, let's have a tremendous gulf between them and us." But I'd like you to just think it through and imagine this scenario: The Knowledge of London takes the best part of four years, whereas to become a Private Hire driver without a test on driving competence and topographical knowledge, will be almost immediate. So in the future, who is going to spend all that time on 
 

the KoL when they can become a legitimate and recognised PH driver? I would imagine very few.
  "Good," I can imagine some of you saying, "less taxi drivers means more work for us!"   Absolutely correct - in the short term. But how long before the powers-that-be decide there are too few taxis in London because most entrants are choosing to be PH drivers and taxis cannot cope with the demand on the street? 
The answer would be simple; take radios out of taxis so that there are more available for street work or even allow Private Hire to pickup off the street to compensate for the shortfall in taxis. It will never happen, I hear some of you say? I just hope that you are right...

Mobile Phones
Much has been written on the use of hand-held mobile phones whilst driving, I think it is something that most of us have been guilty of in the past and it is a complaint that is quite often levied against us by our account clients and members of the public in general.
   Now a move has been made by Road Safety Minister David Jamieson to ban the use of hand- held phones whilst driving. A consultation began on August 20 to seek opinions on the above and asks what, if any exemptions might be needed.
   I believe that most of you as professional drivers will agree that there should be a specific offence for using a hand-held phone whilst on the move. There will be in my view, a specific offence introduced in the not too distant future covering this offence. It is a fact that nearly three quarters of all adults in this country own a mobile phone and it has been proven that should you use that hand-held phone whilst driving, you are quadrupling your chances of having an accident.
   So the moral must be that if any of you still use a hand-held phone whilst driving, get used to not using it because before long it will probably become an offence in its own right.

Brian Rice