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Compensation culture
As Licensed Taxi drivers, we are at risk
from a multitude of possible problems
from shunts to the back end of the cab
causing us to lose work, to back
problems from assisting someone with
their luggage. The risk seems minimal,
however our living depends on us being
fit to drive and if that living were
snatched away temporarily or even
permanently, where would we be?
No doubt, some would be swayed by the multitude of TV ads promising
the world in court at no cost to you.
However, whilst there are obviously many
reputable legal firms out there, how do
you find which is which and avoid those
whose prime purpose seems to be to sell
you an insurance policy – just in case
you don’t win the "no win – no fee"
case!
Call Sign always tries to help our drivers and we have now signed
up Hope Liebersohn, a specialist
solicitor on the Law Society Personal
Injuries Panel. She will be writing in
each issue about compensation and will
offer advice on claims from a range of
subjects that could lead to possible
claims by DaC taxi drivers.
Among future articles from Hope will be those on whiplash, criminal
injuries compensation, damages for pain
and suffering, out of pocket losses,
legal expense insurers with their no-win
- no-fee agreements, medical negligence,
scarred for life and many other topics.
Hope will also be happy to answer any questions you have…
Two hats for the AGM
Yes, it’s that time of year again and no
doubt like every other AGM since 1954,
you either love it or will make any
excuse to get out of it! As a
subscriber, I rarely missed an AGM and
always enjoyed the camaraderie among
drivers that seems to appear on that
day. There was always laughter,
storytelling and things to catch-up on
since you last met the person you are
sitting next to.
As an Editor, I’m not quite so keen
because of the responsibility that comes
with the day. For example, I record the
meeting with my own little machine but
cannot know that it has turned out ok
until I return home. Then there are
those drivers who get up and speak but
don’t repeat their name and call sign so
that when I play it back – assuming it
comes out – I don’t know who said what!
And just to make it totally awful, when
I play back the tape, I have to type it
onto the PC and somehow tie in any
photos with the article. This year
especially, with so much business
scheduled to take place, it will take me
most |
of a complete day to compete
the finished piece so I’m probably the
only person whose AGM will take up two
days.
As for the meeting itself, the last time I remember so many
propositions or rule changes put forward
by so few people, several were abandoned
due to the natives becoming restless!
Time will tell, but the most important
aspect of the day is to treat the
meeting with respect. After all, this is
our business we’re talking about…
CoF Review
Call Sign was first with the decision
from the PCO of the Conditions of
Fitness remaining as they were. In fact
we were first by two weeks thanks – I
mean due – to the Christmas holidays
overtaking the rest of the trade press
and I have already commented in last
month’s issue!
But I have to emphasise that yes, I was delighted with the
decision. It is hardly unexpected for
TAXI Newspaper’s contributors to slag
off the decision and whilst I can
understand their point about choice
keeping the manufacturers on their toes,
they seem to be forgetting one very
important thing, anyone can put a taxi
onto the London market. All they need do
is to keep their vehicle within the CoF
guidelines.
Last year I spoke to one of the manufactures of a so-called
alternative vehicle. He told me that if
the decision went against Allied
Vehicles, then his firm would consider
doing whatever was necessary to fit a
turning circle onto their vehicle –
which already acts as a taxi outside of
London. I contacted this person twice
after the Review result was announced to
give him the option of giving his
unedited response and to say whether he
was going to look at a turning circle on
his vehicle. For whatever reason, he has
chosen not to respond. That is his
decision, of course, he may
consider that Call Sign is beneath him
and choose to go to another paper.
Whatever his reason, the decision by the
PCO does not ban any vehicles, it just
tells them what is required because
anyone who thinks that doing a 3-point
turn in Oxford Street isn’t dangerous,
is living in cloud-cuckoo land… |
Sticks and stones…
I have (I think) as good a sense of
humour as most, but cowardice is
something I dislike. When I say
cowardice, I’m not referring to physical
violence but to those who call others
names behind that persons back.
I won’t even allow anyone to write a letter without putting their
name to it, because I do not want anyone
to have the slightest suspicion that the
letter was fabricated. There are no
"name and address supplied" in Call
Sign. If you read it here, then it was
sent in as a genuine letter. If you then
decide to criticise someone, at least
you had the balls to sign it.
But since the advent of the Internet and chat rooms or lists, it
seems that respect has gone out of the
window.
As an example, The Eavesdropper in Cab Trade News has
written about Messrs Rice, Riesel and
Kaley in the December issue of the
Union’s paper. I had a pop some time ago
against the last two names, but purely
as a comment, Mr E. Dropper had to poke
fun at the two names and ended by
referring to our Chairman as Brain
Rice.
Brian might even consider it a compliment, but only from someone
with the guts to put his name to it. I
know who he is, but it’s not for me to
say. When I was Lana Sherif, I made sure
everyone knew. When I was Mr X, I made
sure everyone knew. The Eavesdropper is
not so open, unless it is with insults.
Then we have the Internet. One of our drivers is constantly
throwing insults – I won’t say who
because he doesn’t deserve the
publicity. Because I happened to write
that I believed Brian Rice should be
tied to DaC with a contract and John
Pace wrote something similar in another
trade paper, the driver assumed that we
had been put up to it and called us "a
pair of looser`s" – that incidentally is
his spelling and grammar, not mine! He
based his assumption on the fact that we
were all at the Taxi Driver of the Year
Ball and his assumptions obviously match
his grammar! No, Mr D, there’s only one
loser here and that’s you…
The same driver – again on line – referred to Brian Rice as having
nothing between his ears. Well, my
belief is that if it came down to a
competition for who had the largest gap
between the lugs, this driver would have
won the trade’s version of an Oscar –
the Nutter!
Insulting to this driver? I doubt that you could! But it won’t stop
him because that appears to be his
natural habitat – write, don’t think!
See you at the AGM…
Alan Fisher
Callsignmag@aol.com |
