Customer hit taxi driver in row over £3

“Reading through these comments i have to laugh,

It shows the lack of understanding regarding Taxis and Private Hire Laws and Regulations in our area.

I am a taxi driver so i think my opinion counts for something.

For whatever reason this lad assaulted and stole the drivers 'takings/float' This in fact should be punished by imprisonment, however the taxi driver should also be investigated for change/hike in price and trying to charge a customer £7 for a £5 approx journey. I also dont believe for one minute that the driver had just started his shift and it was his first job.

These comments show that people pretend they know about the trade - eg Most Private Hire Firms in SOT dont charge extra after Midnight, however Hackneys are on Tariff 2 after 10pm.

Stoke on Trent Council need to educate the local people in knowing the rights and wrongs for themselves and drivers, also more needs to be done for drivers charging silly money for people to get home from a night out, i personally would take every drivers badge who considerably overcharges customers, but hey thats just me.

If you have comments regarding the Taxi trade join us on facebook

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“Ah, British justice, a casualty of multiculturalism. Shhhhh, don't tell the truth or you are racist!”

“isn't it obvious that the passenger is a liar. Firstly the money bag was found on him and he pleaded not guilty then realising that there was no way out he pleaded guilty. Is he that stupid that he can't even remember if he took the money or if he assaulted the driver. And as for the £7 story was any1 actually there as your saying it as if you were the witnesses. Are you going to believe the words of a drunken liar. He needed a get out of jail card and that was the excuse he used. No one deserved to be be treated the way he treated the taxi driver.”

“I hope the taxi driver has been investigated by trading standards to ascertain if he is inherently corrupt.”

“@ deadlyscfc... Who said, 'He could have paid him the £4 taken the drivers badge number, which should be clearly visible at all times,Then contacted the company to explain the grievance or ring the council or police."

To which I say, 'The 'badge', now replaced by an I.D. card, which should, but rarely is, be 'warn at all times' by the Driver, or, failing that -be clearly on display on the dashboard.
Crucially, if the I.D. is not worn or 'clearly displayed' -and on demand of a sighting, the Driver has to 'root around' in his cab or Glove Compartment -then he should be seen as suspicious and I would -'go to the next taxi on the Rank and re-start the process of 'getting into a Taxi' with a bona fide Driver who is adhering to the Hackney Carriage Regulations and 'being honest and upfront with his responsibilities -A sense of duty to the public ...and the Council -who provide him with his qualifications.
Too many Drivers with a 'cavalier attitude' to both passengers and Council. The Council are to blame, once again, for not monitoring the regulations 'with their own sense of duty'.”

“20 years of driving taxis in Stoke, i got out in the end because it was getting worse in terms of drivers being assaulted and usually over small amounts of cash,Most drivers are now vulnerable even more so now that Many private hire and Hackney carriage firms,do not use the radio as often,as the jobs are sent via computer.I did not pick up off the street,but then we were busy in those days as there were less firms.This has lead to drivers earning less money,so there are a lot more trying to squeeze more from the punters.If he has picked him up without being booked,he has broken the law.That is still no excuse to assault the driver.He could have paid him the £4 taken the drivers badge number, which should be clearly visible at all times,Then contacted the company to explain the grievance or ring the council or police.”

“Theres no excuse for this type of violence.
The Police should have been called before it esculated to this level.
There should also be meters in every cab to avoid confusion of prices charged.”

“good lad, taxis shudnt try rip ppl off cos they think there drunk or change minds. if they a gud taxi person they know exact price of fare wen u tell them where ur goin. most of them r illegally working aswell. trust me i know, my mate works for a firm n hes told me, time to give jobs to the english out of work not immigrants”

“@ upthevale2010 -Who said:-

"Isn't it about time we went back to having fare meters in taxis, would put an end to any disputes and would be very helpful for the inland revenue !!!!"

To which I say; 'That wouldn't solve it either. It might help reduce it, but the spivs out there would still rip the public off.
There are many ways of fiddling the public, especially a naive public -which most of it is, by use of an 'official meter'; most easy to when the passenger has had a few drinks too many, but the fiddles can be used on any unsuspecting, distracted punter.

The usual, and most oft' used one, is to put the meter on a higher tariff than is applicable at the time of hire. There are three rates to 'choose' from for the spiv to apply.
Another is to put the meter on before arriving at the point of pick-up. You'd be surprised at the number of punters who never dream of checking the meter when they get in.

Personally, I have no sympathy with punters who get ripped off by criminally minded Taxi Drivers. Considering what an expensive luxury it is, one would think that all using them on a regular basis would go down to the Hackney Carriage Dept (same place for the Private Hire regulations too) -and get the leaflets/info' on how it all works -especially the rates, which vary according to the time of day or whether it is an OFFICIAL Public Holiday -and the Council acknowledge it as such -often the latter is in dispute with the Taxi Proprietors Association -and Meetings take place between them to thrash out which days constitute a 'Public Holiday' -
NB All Bank Holidays are not PUBLIC HOLIDAYS.... something most people are not aware of.

Regarding the latter, it is the 'days in lieu' that cause the most problems where overcharging is concerned. For instance when a Xmas Day/Boxing Day/New Years Day -falls on a Saturday or Sunday -this is when the 'day/s in lieu' come into affect -and leave plenty of scope for the Rogue Taxi Drivers to enjoy 'ample pickings'.... at the great expense of the innocent, naive travelling public.

The Proud Upstanding 'straight' Taxi Drivers in our area, abhor those 'colleagues' who bring their good name into disrepute -dragging the title 'Taxi Driver' through the mud... and the latter blame the Hackney Carriage Dept for not being TOUGHER with the culprits -a growing tendency in these times of austerity.”

“This taxi driver should be banned from this type of work. It's no excuse for the violence meted out to him, but nevertheless, he did lie to his customer in an inherently devious manner, thus bringing trouble to his door.”