Giant cover-up?
Just reading in Call Sign (From the Editor, April issue) about the driver who suggested that a Parking Attendant issue a ticket to a motorbike with a cover over it after telling the cab driver to move off. I was recently sitting outside an account in Fredericks Place EC2 when I saw a PA looking at a motorbike parked on a yellow line adjacent to a motorcycle parking bay. After about 5 minutes a City of London police car pulled up, a PC got out, quickly spoke to the PA and subsequently lifted the bike cover to expose the index plate of the bike, then the PA issued a ticket. The copper asked if that was all and after 10 seconds drove off. Good job he didn't have anything important to do! So the PA can’t touch the bike, but a PC can…?
Richard Potter (T51)
   Peter Gourri of Saunders Solicitors responds. If you have any motoring question that replies a legal answer, send it to Call Sign and someone from Saunders LLP will try to answer it…
   Where the owner of a motorcycle covers up their number plate with an item such as a bin liner, a cargo net with some hard plastic or a cover, which results in the number plate being covered up in a secure way, it is illegal for a Traffic Warden to "interfere" with the bike in any way other than to place the PCN onto the bike. That means the Traffic Warden cannot remove the cover irrespective of what it is, to see the number plate or vehicle tax disc in order to obtain the details of the vehicle registration so that a PCN can be completed and placed onto the bike.
   But that does not make any sense. Who does have power to remove these obstructing covers? Can’t a Police Office simply remove it so that the number plate or Vehicle licence can be seen?
   In practical terms, it is up to an individual officer to use his/her discretion when viewing a covered vehicle. As a Police Officer and unlike a Traffic Warden, he/she has specific powers to remove a cover/interfere with a vehicle to ascertain that the said vehicle licence and tax disc are present or not. However to do so could be considered a form of trespass or unlawful interference with property.
   It is his then his/her responsibility to issue (or not) a notice of failure to display. It is possible that by a police officer issuing a PCN by first carrying out an illegal act (for instance, tampering with a bike cover), it can be treated the same as a Police Officer recovering information from a suspect’s premises without a search warrant. Effectively the evidence, no matter how damning it is for the accused, maybe considered inadmissible by the Court as it was illegally obtained in the first place. The only way your warden could have issued a ‘legal and binding’ ticket is if a Police Officer first legally removed the cover for the traffic warden to view the vehicle details.

DaC’s Terminal 5 history maker?
I dropped a fare off at terminal 5 at 4.09am on the first day (April 27). Can I claim to be the first Dial-a-Cab driver to take a fare there?
Barry Spear (Y16)
   Quite probably, but after the performance there I’m not sure that I’d want to be associated with its opening! …Ed

BackBoris receipts
It has come to my attention that many taxi drivers are being hassled over handing out BackBoris receipts to customers. We need to stamp out this arrogant behaviour and leave you all to get on with your doing your valuable job of getting people around London. If anyone has been intimidated by members of TfL or any other authority, please do feel free to get in touch with my campaign team.
   I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and hope you and your colleagues will be voting for change on May 1^st.
Boris Johnson
Conservative Candidate for Mayor of London
   This letter was received after the April issue went to print, however, we feel sure that regardless of the election result, Mr Johnson would like to hear from anyone who has had more than just a small amount of hassle re the issue of receipts. The email address is boris@backboris.com …Ed

Where’s that plaice, Steve…?
I was browsing through a recent issue of Taxi (164) and was drawn to Steve McNamara's column which brought a smile to my face. I'd like to take this opportunity to wish him all the best on his appeal against the

Racing for Life…
I was reading through Call Sign and came across an article about the Race for Life, Hayley O'Connell. You were probably not aware of this, but in the Call Centre there are around 10 people including Hayley that are doing this race, which they have been organising together.
   I would really appreciate it if they could all get a mention. It would mean a great deal to me as their manager.
Marilena Russo
DaC Customer Service Representative Manager
   No problem Maz. In addition to Hayley, good luck to Keimal West, Jenny Albert, Shannel Bell, Vanita Thayaparan, Vivienne Clarke, Julie Taylor and Stacey Blake who will all be running in the Race for Life at Richmond Park later this month …Ed

Going Green?
Mayor Ken introduced the low emission zone precluding old lorries from entering any London borough, although they can if they pay £200 a day. The cost of introducing the cameras, signs and computer system etc was £160m. This equates to 5000 people working at £32,000 each for a year. They would each, and their families, on such a salary churn out loads more pollution than being saved by not allowing the lorries in, in the first place. Not to mention the cost to the environment on producing the replacement lorries and their passed-on cost to us to pay for them. Plus, who is suffering the pollution from the old sold-on lorries now? Going Green is just scare mongering and used as a cloak for taxing us more. Everywhere you look it’s the same with local boroughs, the government and now businesses having latched on to the profitability of global warming and going green. The new Dial-a-Cab E-Statements say this will be 1383% more carbon efficient than a paper account sheet sent by post. By how much does this fall when our 2000 plus drivers make a cup of coffee (electrically heated) and sit down at their computer (electrically powered) and print off their account sheet (electrical powered printer with ink that’s dearer than Chanel No.5 and using the paper Dial-a-Cab has saved), essential as HMRC require us to keep records for 7 years.
   If I started with E-Statements 7 years ago, they would have been stored on a floppy disk; remember those little 3 1/4 inch square plastic boxes? Where would you stick them today? What storage will be in vogue in 7 years time? Good old paper survives years and only needs a box to store them in and a pair of glasses, at most, to obtain any information.
   To conclude in real terms, it ain’t much greener but there are considerable savings for Dial-a-Cab. My telephone suppliers give me a discount if I opt out of a paper option. Hey Dial-a-Cab! How about passing on your savings to those coffee swilling keyboard tapping drivers?
Alan Nash (A95)
   Interesting letter Alan, but you miss out one very important point. The whole idea of E-Statements is to store them on your PC and not use any paper at all. That’s why it stores each driver’s statements under your own password for two years. You just save them as you go along and assuming – as I’m sure you do – that you occasionally do a file back up, then you don’t need to print out anything. And of course, you know all about saving on CDs should it be necessary! By the way Alan, if you think paper takes up no room, come to my office where 2 copies of every Call Sign mag and their predecessors take up far more than the odd box!
   As for passing on any savings, I don’t think I’ll bother asking as I’m not sure I’d want to hear that we suddenly have to pay for upgrades etc in exchange for paper saving! …Ed

Eating in the City…
After getting fed up with being hassled in the early hours by parking wardens in Smithfield, I gave up the nightly coffee. Last night, I noticed the stall opposite the Sweetings rank in Queen Victoria Street for the first time. How did I miss it? Had a beaut cappuccino and later a tea (not as good, but OK). The guy says he's aiming for 24/7. Give it a visit might be worth a note in Call Sign.
John Addis (K97)
   Thanks for that John. I gave it a go and you’re right – both food and drink are good and he seems pretty regular. Not as much parking space as

Wheelchairs…
I read your piece in Call Sign concerning wheelchairs and have to say I was never given any practical demo of placing wheelchair passengers safely in the cab either on my test or when I bought any of my cabs. I recently had to pick up a lady on account in one of those big electric wheelchairs. I only just got it in the taxi by actually lifting it and turning it physically - the camber on the floor of the cab preventing me from turning it, the footrests keep catching. I also feel a bit silly admitting this, but I have no confidence in my ability to strap a wheelchair user in correctly and with the minimum fuss. I have turned down W attributes in the past for this reason, when normally I accept most types of job offered.
   Would it be possible to set up some kind of open day at DaC or maybe suggest it to the PCO where drivers could come forward for some kind of training or refresher? I would definitely attend. Even if one of our drivers who does know could demonstrate to me in the yard at DaC House, I would be grateful. The end result would be a better service to all our customers.
   I'd also be grateful if you didn't put this in the mag attributed to me, my fellow drivers would rip the you-know-what out of me big style, I fear!
   A DaC driver who doesn’t know how to fit in a wheelchair!
   Well done Mark; I don’t usually hide writer’s names but your tearful letter touched my heartstrings! I asked the PCO to see if they could send someone to DaC, but unfortunately their staff are quite busy at the moment. However, they have sent me a DVD by GoSkills in connection with the PCO, which could help with your problem. Anyone who would like a copy, just contact me …Ed

New old cab for sale…again!
As many members know, I change my cab each year and have had 35 so far! Well the present TX4 is now 6 months old, had its PCO check and is not sold yet! It is going to be available at the end of October 08 with possibly 12,000miles on the clock, this due to me being a house husband to my wife. It is a Nightfire Red ,Gold model ,Reversing sensors, Drivers door window deflector and, of course, fitted on DaC.
   It would be a shame if there was not a driver who would like such a unique one year old cab.
If anyone is genuinely interested, please phone 0208 922 0547…
Martin Freeborn (C67)

Questions and questions…
Now the voice channel has gone, has the two minutes of live feed that we get if we press our emergency button also disappeared? What’s the procedure if we get into difficulties or even attacked?
Again, now voice has gone, drivers are finding themselves having to use their own personal mobile phones if we are in a dead spot to keep in touch. Are we expected to bear the cost of these calls or can you clarify that we put them on as an expense at the end of the job? You can hang on for a while trying to get through when it’s busy. 
   Has the voice channel gone for good? If so, are the Board looking at supplying us with a company phone to keep costs down?
   Finally, can you let us know in this issue the pick up and set down procedures for Dial-a-Cabs at Terminal 5?
Mickey Lappin (E46)
   Keith Cain replies: The revised procedures should a driver get into difficulty are: The driver presses his/her emergency button. This will bring attention to the controller who will then look up the mobile contact number of the driver and call it. If the driver answers and says they are ok, then the call is logged as a false alarm. If no answer is received, then the GPS is checked and a fleet message will be sent stating ‘driver requires assistance’ with the location.
   Until signal problems have been completely resolved, it’s hard to say whether the voice channel has gone forever at this present moment.
   Drivers who do not wish to use their mobile phones have the use of the message facility in the system. Up till now, those who use this frequently have found it to be very good. If a driver chooses to use his phone, then that's a cost to the driver. Many drivers have remarked that their mobile phone tariffs give them free calls, which they find beneficial. For those who do not have free calls, then any costs associated with the course of your business can be claimed against when doing your annual returns.
   You can read about T5 in my report elsewhere in this issue…

May 2008 Call Sign Home Page

Powered by NetXPosure