Taxi and private hire drivers in Leicester are furious after the council released a public consultation to decide if a new taxi age-limit should be introduced.
Consultation
At the moment there’s an eleven year rule in place. However, in a bid to reduce pollution and public safety, city council officials have announced plans to change the rulebooks which would see drivers having to change cabs once they’re eight years old.
If councillors are given the go ahead approximately 410 cabs out of 1,650 taxis and private hire vehicles will be will be classed as not fit for purpose.
Taxi Checks
“There’s strong evidence that an eight-year age limit may be more appropriate for all taxis.”
Taxis in Leicester are currently put through twice-yearly safety tests which are carried out at the council’s testing centre. Only those that pass are allowed to operate in the city. However, councillors have revealed that the pass rate dramatically decreases for vehicles beyond the eight year mark.
Mayor of Leicester, Sir Peter Soulsby, said: “I’m determined to improve the city’s air quality by cutting vehicle emissions and ensuring we have a modern, safe fleet of taxis operating in the city is part of that.
“There’s strong evidence that an eight-year age limit may be more appropriate for all taxis because beyond this the failure rate begins to rise significantly.
“Having large numbers of older taxis on our roads delays them being replaced with newer, more efficient vehicles which has a very significant impact on air quality in the city.”
Taxi Trade Response
“The majority of drivers do care for their taxis though and they’ll be safe however old they are.”
The news comes only a few months after cab drivers held a go-slow protest at rush-hour against the council’s decision to remove the cap on hackney licenses.
One anonymous taxi driver said he felt the consultation was the council’s way of retaliation. He said: “This is Soulsby’s revenge because the cabbies stood up to him.
“It’s just spite and it proves our point that the council doesn’t deal respectfully with us.”
Chairman of the Leicestershire Public and Private Hire Association, Mike Ward, was worried that a lot of the drivers would be forced out of with the new rule in place.
He commented: “If taxis pass their tests and are safe it shouldn’t matter how old they are.
“Some drivers will jump into their car, make money and don’t look after their vehicles. In those cases that can be a problem.
“The majority of drivers do care for their taxis though and they’ll be safe however old they are.”
The consultation runs until the 31st of August 31. Click here to take part: consultations.leicester.gov.uk