A taxi company owner in Ilkeston, Erewash, has criticised the council after receiving fines and penalty points because his drivers are using a taxi lane.
The furious owner of Albany Taxis, Fred Richardson, said that there’s no mistaking his cabs are hackney vehicles and can’t understand why the correct system isn’t in place to stop these mistakes happening.
He said: “I first received a warning on the 24th of June and was a bit confused because it said that one of my cabs was in a bus, taxi and bike lane. Then on the 7th of August I received two penalty notices of £60 each.
“My cars are hackney carriages with roof signs – it’s clear they’re taxis.”
Right to Appeal
Council bosses have blamed the high volume of users of these lanes for the mistakes and advised that drivers are given time to appeal.
A council spokesman, said: “Some bus lanes have an exemption for taxis. However, this exemption only applies to licensed hackney carriages, not private hire vehicles.
“Where a hackney carriage is licensed by an authority other than Derby, such as Erewash Borough Council, those vehicles may only act as a licensed hackney carriage when their customer’s journey either begins or ends in the area where their vehicle is licensed.
“If that journey does not begin or end in their licensing area, they cannot behave as a hackney carriage in Derby, and so they may not drive in the bus lane.
“Penalty charge notices will be cancelled once the drivers give satisfactory evidence that they were legitimately using the bus lane as a licensed hackney carriage.”
Not Good Enough
“I got my fine sorted and knew my rights but there will be some people out there paying fines when they shouldn’t be. “
Mr Richardson was told that he had received the fine because his cabs were not licensed by Derby City Council. Several telephone calls later, his appeal was successful and the fine was retracted by the council.
Mr Richardson said: “I was really angry because my taxis are clearly hackney carriages. To get a fine because they’re not Derby taxis is just ridiculous.
“I got my fine sorted and knew my rights but there will be some people out there paying fines when they shouldn’t be. It’s a disgrace.”