Four rival private hire taxi operators in Telford, Shropshire, have come together in an attempt to put a stop to the increasing verbal and physical abuse that taxi drivers receive from passengers.
Around 500 private hire drivers are producing a ‘blacklist’ of inciters who will be banned from using any taxi firms in the area. The move came about after bosses of Diamond Cars, Central Taxis, County Cars and Ultimate Taxis said their staff were fed up with the unprovoked attacks by passengers.
Taxi Abuse
Nigel Horler, from Diamond Cars, said they have had people getting a taxi direct from A to B, then running off without paying the fare. Mr Horler has also experienced passengers fighting each other in the back seats of the vehicle.
Graham Hoof, from Central Taxis, added: “Passengers sometimes abuse our cabs by kicking them when they get out or ripping the interior and taxi drivers have been attacked in the cars and the office.
“The staff in the office even get threats over the phone. This mainly happens at night times at the weekend.
Safety First
Mr Hoof went on: “Our drivers’ safety is paramount to us. We don’t want any driver abused or attacked. There are a lot of loyal and good taxi customers out there that are well behaved and we enjoy taking them places but the people causing the abuse are creating a problem.”
Mr Horler said any insolent passengers across Telford would soon be on the ‘blacklist’, which would prevent them from using any taxi cab firm in town.
Cab Fights
He continued: “I’ve had passengers fighting each other in the cabs and I’ve had a driver attacked with the CCTV in the car. We are just not prepared to accept the abuse anymore.
“Staff are being abused and we want to send a message to the public that taxi drivers are out there working really hard. As an association, we don’t want to pick people up who cause trouble.