Return of the dark days?
We now know of Mayor Boris Johnson’s
Consultation document to help keep his
promise made in the February 2008 issue
of Call Sign when he
categorically stated: "I will scrap
the midyear inspections. They add to the
cost of the licence and are an
unnecessary burden on cab drivers."
This magazine proudly stated in our May issue that we had the
best maintained vehicles on the road and
that the only people who would benefit
from a half-yearly check would be
Société Générale de Surveillance -
ie SGS. But we have also wondered in
print whether, if the half-yearly check
is finally got rid of, the PCO would
play a bigger role than the one they
were currently doing at the time?
Well, our exclusive story in the last issue on the PCO at
Buckingham Palace where the marshal felt
that their presence was having a
detrimental effect on the work pattern,
must have given a clue. Add to that the
number of times they now show up at the
O2 arena, ExCel, Heathrow, railway
termini and of course in London’s
streets – and that WITH the mid-year
check still with us - it seems possible
that there could be a return to the dark
days of ‘them and us’ when you could get
a stop note for just displaying an AA
Relay sticker. Or perhaps like the time
in my early editing career when I
criticised the PCO for something, then
on the day following publication, I
received a hand-written stop note
through my door for having an
"under-inflated tyre."
Inside this issue are details of the Consultation exercise
regarding the mid-year check. I have
given my view beneath the article
concerned. All I will say here is that
the choice is yours. If you are happy to
have a mid-year check, then fine. If you
are against it, as most drivers seem to
be, then be part of the consultation by
either going online to read it or
picking up a copy from the PCO and then
responding to it. What you mustn’t do is
to leave it to someone else. If you feel
that the mid-year check is unfair, then
say so and why. If you think it’s
wonderful – as many garage proprietors
unsurprisingly seem to - then you must
say that. But don’t complain afterwards
if you don’t like the result, but didn’t
take part yourself.
This issue of Call Sign also has another press
release from the PCO concerning the new
Transport for London Act (2008)
that we wrote about in the August issue.
That already had a PCO explanation as to
what section 16 of the act meant.
It read:
Section 16 amends section 2 of the London Hackney Carriages Act
1853 to allow TfL to serve an unfit
notice on the driver as well as the
proprietor of a cab found to be unfit
preventing the cab being used until it
is repaired. An unfit notice
means that, with immediate effect, the
vehicle cannot be used for hire and
reward purposes until the notice is
cleared. If the vehicle is used in
contravention of the notice, then the
vehicle licence can be suspended.
|
Now
we have been sent a list of
all the things that classify an "unfit
cab." Most are justifiably included, but
I am concerned at
what wasn’t in the press release – a
small item on the form you will receive
if your cab is deemed as being unfit for
use. Subsection 4 adds that the
inspection could go beyond the items the
cab was
initially reported for. Or in other
words, you could well face another
overhaul if your road tax is missing.
As an epilogue to the above, I’ve noticed at times that
there is often a difference in tone
between PCO / TfL press releases
regarding the taxi trade as against
those aimed at the private hire side
(which Call Sign does not
publish as we have no PH drivers here).
One example - almost humorous - was
regarding signage on private hire
vehicles and why the roundel was kept –
apparently a larger sign might have
upset those with chauffeur driven
limousines. Well gee whiz and whoopee-doo,
we don’t want to upset them, do we?
I think it’s important to add that there are also some very nice
people at the PCO who have helped
Call Sign whenever we have asked
with a needed piece of info. But a
return to the dark days? We’re about to
find out…
Merc v TX4?
My views on the
new cab are now well known. Board member
Allen Togwell in this issue refers to it
as looking like a van, while driver
Ronnie Marlow likes it, but thinks it
resembles a minicab. They are both
right, but the most important aspect is
that it doesn’t look like a taxi. All
those trade writers who keep talking
about the "bloody great big for hire
sign" are living in a dream world –
especially as the TAXI flash
along the side isn’t compulsory. And
even if it was, put 2 Mercs and 3 PH
vehicles behind each other parked on a
Friday night in Oxford Street and the
average punter wouldn’t know one from
another because they all look the same.
Does anyone really believe that
prospective passengers who are about to
be touted will firstly go round to see
if there is a "bloody great big for
hire sign" on the front? I don’t
think so. And that is why I think this
is the most serious problem we have ever
faced. It’s also the reason why people
such as Michael Dufner and Tommy McGowan
in Atlantic City have just bought a
batch of second hand London taxis from
LTI in Coventry. Their London Taxi
Limousine company knows what a taxi is
and what it isn’t – and they live in
America!
When on 19 June 1961, London saw a fleet of Renault Dauphines
appear to become the first minicabs,
passengers at least knew a minicab from
a taxi. With the Merc, the distinction
has |
evaporated and we are now
all
the same. If that’s what this trade
wants, then I can’t stop it happening.
All I know is that I’d rather retire
than drive a minicab – which is why I
have now ordered
my new TX4. Yes, there are some things I
fancy in the new Merc – but not at the
price of selling my soul.
And if anyone can tell me why an experienced company like Mercedes
Benz couldn’t provide a built-in
wheelchair ramp, but instead placed one
in the boot that is so heavy, it almost
guarantees the drivers won’t be doing
wheelchair work, I’d be interested. One
person compared it to lifting out the
spare tyre from a TX4. At least
punctures don’t happen too often…
Bob’s on board…
My congratulations to LTDA General
Secretary, Bob Oddy, on his appointment
to Boris Johnston’s first TfL board.
There isn’t much Bob doesn’t know about
the trade and the appointment can only
help the Licensed taxi industry…
Doreen Freeborn
I, along with
many others, was at the cremation
service to Doreen – wife of Martin
Freeborn (C67). It is the nature of life
that people eventually die. With Doreen,
I was on a list of around 75 people who
were being emailed by Martin as to
Doreen’s updated condition and it was
becoming obvious that we were looking
for some kind of miracle. Well a kind of
miracle happened in that she kept
fighting and survived far longer than
might have seemed possible at one time.
But in the end, the cancer became too
strong and she succumbed quietly and
peacefully – but not before organising
her own funeral, selecting the music to
be played and reminding Martin to
organise a Wake at the finish!
Strangely, I suppose at one time Doreen and I were on opposite
sides of the fence when she worked at 17
Curzon Street with pop pirate Radio
London, whilst I was shifting boxes
around the corner at 6 Chesterfield
Gardens with Radio Caroline – both
mortal enemies! But on Friday 8 August,
like most people at Hendon Crematorium,
I was proud to say that I knew Doreen
Freeborn, however briefly that was.
As Martin said afterwards: "I did everything with a good heart;
after all I paid my 12/6p for the
licence, for richer or poorer, in
sickness and in health, till death do us
part. And it was hard, but my love for
her made it all worthwhile. Oh I shall
miss her, as you will."
Yes, we will…
Last word…
Not too long ago,
we were paying close to 134p a litre for
diesel. One of the reasons - or so we
were told - was the strength of the
pound against the dollar. Well, our
pound has slipped over 20 cents from its
high of over $2. Who wants a bet that
the fuel companies will find another
reason not to cut prices because of the
pound’s weakness?
Alan Fisher
callsignmag@aol.com |
