Call Sign November 2011
Page 16
A tale of PCNs...
Former fireman Richard Potter and life behind the
POTTER'S WHEEL
Well, there can't be a day now that goes by
without a taxi driver somewhere receiving a
PCN through the door. Once upon a time, if
you got one you knew you probably deserved
sending out the original PCN because it
it because the authorities often turned a blind
costs them the price of three letters and
eye to show some sympathy towards us due
one hour's work with a chance of dou-
to the job we do. Unfortunately, those days
bling their fee. If compensation were
are long gone and in recent months I've had
allowed, they might think twice about
to deal with 4 PCNs.
sending out silly PCNs in the first place.
As things quietened down, I used to take a
Lastly, whilst covering a job at 20 Gresham
break in the car park at Hurlingham Retail
Street, I received yet another PCN. There is
Park in Carnworth Road, Fulham. That's the
simply nowhere legal to park there, so I was
one on the right as you go south over
a sitting duck right under the camera.
Wandsworth Bridge with PC World in. One
Thankfully, this one is being dealt with by
morning, another DaC driver pulled up along-
DaC Driver Services with the help of Barrie
side and showed me a PCN that he had
Segal from AppealNow.com and that's what I
received from a private parking firm. And
am doing. I believe Barrie deals with all of
guess what? The very next day one popped
DaC's parking tickets and is proving to be a
through my door as well! Over the next 6
great asset to us, as well as reducing the
months, I received threats that bailiffs were
Street at the junction of Torrington Place where
amount of money DaC has to fork out in fines
coming around or that I was going to receive
there are no right turn signs. So I turned left
when we are simply just trying to do our job.
a court summons if I didn't pay up. They
and then did a U-turn. Low and behold, a PCN
might even drain my pond and poke me in the
dropped through the door. I appealed to
Playing games with
eye whilst sticking their tongues out!
Camden Council saying that I didn't turn right
Eventually these threats just stopped after I
but they wrote that I hadn't done a full left turn
the traffic...
just constantly ignored them, as these tickets
before turning right and that therefore the PCN
Finally, have you ever played the game of:
can only succeed if you are taken to County
would stand.
Give me 50 feet of double yellow lines? With
Court. They are not like council PCNs.
What I find unreal is that you have to
the modern technology we have, how I could
Then I received one from the highly inept
appeal to the person who issued the ticket in
improve things...
Camden Council, the cabbies friend! I was
the first place. The likelihood of them revok-
So firstly, how about opposite Temple, thus
accused of doing a prohibited U-turn in
ing the PCN? Err, approximately nil! After this
stopping drivers from parking or loading and
Southampton Row and was caught on CCTV.
I appealed to PATAS, the parking arbitration
thereby allowing two lanes to flow on the
Camden sent me the usual threatening letter
service and received another nice letter from
Embankment? Or perhaps 50 feet of double
and photographic evidence. However, when I
Camden Council reminding me that in the
yellow lines by Cleopatra's kiosk where the
looked closely, my cab didn't have a chrome
event I were to lose my appeal, the fine woukl
tour buses stop and putting their stop on the
grill nor did the cab in the photo have DaC
raise from £65 to £130. So I attended PATAS,
other side of Hungerford Bridge? How about
logos. It soon became apparent that it was not
unlike Camden who didn't show and the
opposite The Royal Garden Hotel in
my taxi at all! So I wrote and told them what
Adjudicator, who you have to address as Sir,
Kensington High Street heading westbound?
I thought of them...
allowed my appeal - ie I won! Considering I'd
You've got the idea. The game can be
The next one was from Camden again. I
done nothing wrong in the first place and had
expanded to give a traffic light left filter or
picked up a fare from Wigmore Street to the
been subjected to intimidating letters from
take away a zebra crossing and put in a peli-
Royal National Hotel. After heading down
Camden, they should have been forced to pay
can crossing. Let's face it, no one in charge
Gower Street, I turned left into Keppel Street,
seems to have a clue and this may help them!
compensation for my loss of earnings and
intending to use the Malet Street cut-through to
Russell Square. However, it was shut without
travel costs.
Richard Potter (T51)
warning, thus I ended up at the top of Malet
In reality they have nothing to lose by
Sitting Comfortably? Then we'll begin!!!
"I'm delighted with the result," Terry Jackson (E56) told Call Sign referring to the
revised rear seating arrangements in his TX1.
"My old rear seat upholstery was tearing at the seams and rapidly worsened, which was
rather embarrassing when fares got in and saw the bright yellow foam beneath the cov-
ering," Terry explained. "So I had to do something about it pretty quickly and especially
so as the cab is in for overhaul shortly. Also, my garage has told me that the examiner is
now looking at such items more closely than previously."
Terry phoned around the usual taxi factors and discovered the cost of a refurbished
replacement rear seat was in the region of £100, which for an older cab and/or the
more mature driver (sorry Terry!!!) might not be a particularly economi-
cal proposition!
"So I enquired about sourcing a decent second-hand seat from a taxi
breakers and came up with this perfect match for £40," he said with a
grin of satisfaction suddenly spreading across his face. "I discovered
that there are several taxi breakers around London - two in the south
at London Road, Norbury and Willow Lane, Mitcham, with another
Terry an
d the rip
one in the east at Forest Road, Hainault."
in his se
at
"There are of course, the specialist upholstery firms who regularly
advertise in the trade press, so it shouldn't be a problem for anyone finding themselves
in a similar situation to me, although I was very lucky and grateful, that I found a replacement second-hand seat that matched my original upholstery
so well and at a price within my budget."
With that, Call Sign left the scene with the Dial-a-Cab driver still admiring his newly found comfortable rear passenger seat!
© Call Sign Magazine MMX1
