Brave Builder From Harrow, Tackles Armed Moped Thug.

Brave builder, 24, tackles a moped thug to the ground after bikers armed with crowbars, tried to rob an elderly couple, before handing him to the police.

The builder says he is happy that the couple are OK and that he did what anyone would have done.

Alan Bujar 24, was on site when he saw bikers with crowbars trying to rod a couple in their 80s

He grabbed a shovel and hit one of the helmet-wearing pair twice.

Alan floored the man and clung to him until cops arrived in Mitcham, South West London, on Saturday.

The other rider fled.

Alan said yesterday: “I was doing my job when I saw these guys attacking this Asian couple.

“The two had crowbars and were hitting the man and trying to snatch the jewellery the woman was wearing. She and her husband were screaming and shouting for help, so I just went in. If you see anyone in trouble then you should help out.

“I hit one with a shovel a couple of times and I think he must have been shocked. The guy who was with him escaped on the scooter so I threw myself on the other one.”

The Romanian-born labourer, of Harrow, North West London, added: ''It was only later that I thought they could have had acid or knives and that made me shiver. 

I did what anyone would have done. 

I’m just glad the couple are OK.”

Delon Reason, 30, is due before Camberwell Green JPs Monday accused of attempted robbery, assault by beating and possession of an offensive weapon.

Source : The Sun 

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Japan's Degrading Electric Taxis Falling Out Of Favor With Taxi Drivers

Six years ago,  in February 2011, the city of Osaka introduced a fleet of fifty Nissan Leaf taxis. The deal was a cooperative arrangement between Nissan, 30 taxi firms, and the government--each was being subsidized to the tune of 1,780,000 Yen--over $21,000 at the time.

The car's would clean up Japan's clogged streets, an improvement on the ubiquitous, square-jawed Toyota Crown taxis used throughout Japanese cities.

Like many countries, the incumbent taxis are often chosen for their reliability and simplicity, rather than their comfort or driving characteristics. That's why New York is full of hardy Crown Vics, London's streets are crowded with diesel black cabs, and Mexico only recently relinquished the ubiquitous VW Bug.

Would an electric Nissan really feel like the future to the average taxi driver.

Turning tide?

However, major problems begun to emerge.

The first came in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, following 2011's earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

As we reported at the time, many people were worried that electric cars would be giving off the wrong image--conspicuous consumption of electricity at a time when power was in high demand and very short supply. Electricity is no longer seen as the "clean, safe" option it once was.

There are other issues too--the cars themselves.

While reliable, comfortable and smooth as ever, high-mileage drivers are finding degredation of the battery packs to be an issue.

Where a 60-mile range was once common in regular use, some are finding that cut to as low as 30 miles--and to save energy as much as possible, some drivers are shunning the car's heater in favor of chemical pocket warmers, and even blankets.

Degredation of the battery pack has also had an effect on the battery's ability to take a quick charge. A 15-minute charge has turned into a 40-minute one for many drivers. They can't travel as far, and they can't spend as much time on the road--and it's ruining business, for some. Customers requesting longer trips are even being turned down.

There's no get-out for the drivers, either. To qualify for the government's subsidy, the electric cars must be run for a minimum of three years. That's a year too long for some--“I’m getting out of this business,” said one driver, “This is no way to earn a living.”

Perspective

Osaka's electric taxi drivers aren't facing unheard-of problems, but nor can their experiences be considered the norm--either for electric car owners, or electric taxi drivers.

Climate, driving routes and charging habits all make a difference to how well a car lasts, and the life of a taxi is never an easy one.

The main issue for Leaf batteries is still excessive heat, rather than cold (though cold climates do reduce the car's range). And as a recent survey showed, frequency of quick charging seems to have little bearing on a battery's life or health.

What it does suggest is that in some localities, electric vehicles aren't yet ready for heavy-duty tasks like taxi work.

While that's no consolation to the drivers losing business through degrading vehicles, progress can only be made by analysing these kind of trials--and it'll make electric taxis of the future much better suited to the task at hand. 

But at present the technology isn't there for electric vehicle Taxi use and the once thriving Taxi trade in Osaka has been devastated to the point of collapse. 

A question to ask Sadiq Khan:

If electric transport is the answer to cleaner sir quality, why are London's hybrid buses running around on just diesel ? 

Source: https://is.gd/A1Iikw

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Charge Rage Fears Of Electric Car Drivers Battling With Electric Taxi Drivers For Insufficient Charging Points

London could face “charge rage” as drivers of electric cars struggle to find charging points, it was claimed today.

A report by City Hall Tories reveals a potential dramatic shortage of charging points — with just one available for every 15 cars by 2031.

A Tory spokesman said: “Drivers in London could face bouts of ‘charge rage’ if the predicted demand for electric car charging points is not met. 

Drivers in the US have already been involved in heated disputes as they compete over a shortage of points.”

The same could happen here, with Department for Transport figures predicting electric car sales rising by 172 per cent every five years.

The report, Clearing The Air,  urges Mayor Sadiq Khan to invest £30 million in rapid-charging points  which can provide an 80 per cent top-up in 30 minutes.

Under current plans TfL intends to install just 300 rapid charging points by 2020. Many current points take up to eight hours for a vehicle to be fully charged.

The report also says the mayor should scrap plans to expand the Ultra-Low Emissions Zone, and drop the £10-a-time extra Toxicity Charge in the central zone from next  month for vehicles that fail to meet emission standards

Source : Standard News 

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Press Release : Met Police To Trial Hydrogen Power Scooter To Reduce Harmful Emissions.

The Metropolitan Police Service is helping reduce harmful emissions in London’s air by launching a trial to test hydrogen powered scooters.

In line with the Mayor of London’s work to tackle London’s toxic air, the Met’s Fleet Services will, from Monday, 4 September, trial seven Suzuki 'Burgman Fuel Cell', zero emission hydrogen scooters as part of our operational capability.

The trial will last for 18 months and will enable us to assess their suitability for the various roles the scooters could perform. On a broader scale, it will help us to understand where this clean technology could be adopted across the fleet in the future. 

The hydrogen fuel cell scooters will be used by Police Community Support Officers within the Roads and Transport Policing Command and will be based at Alperton Deployment Centre. 

The trial is being run at no cost to the Met, with the loan of the vehicles from Suzuki Motor Corporation. The maintenance and fuel costs will be met by a collaborative project which is being part-funded by the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC). Lead partner of this project is the British fuel cell technology company Intelligent Energy in association with Suzuki GB and Cenex.

Commander Neil Jerome, for Territorial Policing, said: “Being the UK’s largest police service we constantly have vehicles on the roads and therefore it is our aim to make our fleet as clean as we can, whilst maintaining operational capability. 

“We are thankful to Suzuki and our partners and look forward with optimism about this innovative and groundbreaking trial. Through collaborative partnerships and innovative testing such as this, we can gain real-life experience of how we can progress our ambition and create a cleaner fleet that will benefit London and the service we provide.”

Suzuki GB Managing Director, Nobuo Suyama, expressed his gratitude to the fleet trial partners, saying: “Suzuki are extremely honoured to be able to showcase the Burgman Fuel Cell and gain valuable feedback from this important trial with the Met. 

“Operational data from the trial will be gathered and used to support Suzuki zero emission vehicle development programmes.

“Deploying these vehicles into service with the Met marks a significant milestone in the extensive development of this ground-breaking technology. Being able to release the Suzuki Burgman Fuel Cell to the Met has only been made possible by the support of a number of technology partners; including Intelligent Energy Ltd, with whom Suzuki has jointly developed the Fuel Cell unit for the scooter.”

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It Gets Much Worse...TfLTPH Knew About The Fake DBS Certificates As Long Ago As January, But Did Nothing.

How do these people sleep at night?

knowing that their decision not to suspend the licenses of 13,000 plus PH drivers with fake DBS criminal record checks, last January, just over 7 months ago, could have resulted in as many as 30 young lives being shattered at the hands of rapists. 

We knew there had been fake DBS results, we were told after the news broke in the national press that the drivers with suspect DBS results would be given another 28 days grace to resubmit genuine DBS results. 

But why have these drivers not had their TfL licence suspended already?

TfL would never had stood for Licensed Taxi drivers using a third party that changed results at will. 

They won't even issue temporary relicenses to driver caught up in delays. Many Taxi drivers have been thrown out of work because of TfL incompetence. 

And yet 13,000 PH drivers have been driving around, putting the public at risk for the past 7 months....and if this hadn't been publicised in the national press, this would have gone un-dealt with for 3 years until all suspect licenses were renewed. 

When asked by ex UCG chairman Len Martin, if a driver stuck at stage 4 of the renewal process could be issued a temporary licence, Helen Chapman said: "I couldn't live with myself if anyone had came to harm because I issued a license without being sure the driver was fit and proper".

Helen Chapman stated many times that all PH drivers are subjected to the same enhanced background checks as Taxi drivers. 

Yet she knew as long ago as January this year that some PH drivers were using a company that was producing fake DBS results. 

She even issued a statement telling the trade on the 23rd of January that TfL had stopped accepting certificates processed by third parties. But then did nothing about it.

By doing nothing about drivers using a suspect company, TfLTPH have become complicit in allowing the public to be put in grave danger from sexual predators. 

Brown, Daniels, Blake and Chapman,

are not fit to carry out the responsibility of protecting the public as regulators or arbiters and should be replaced as soon as possible. 

Let's hope that the victims of any rape that occurred as a direct result of a fake DBS check, take these people to court, for knowingly putting them at risk.

We've been informed by the LCDC that Mke Brown will be meeting Taxi Trade orgs on Wednesday to discuss this issue, but to be honest, this should be on th agenda for the first thing this morning, as any delay could see more rapist victims with shattered lives.

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Sunday Times Full Article : Uber drivers forced to have new criminal record check

The vetting process for thousands of drivers offering the under-fire service in London has been declared invalid

By Andrew Gilligan

 

September 3 2017, 12:01am, The Sunday Times

Is Uber in trouble?

 

Thousands of Uber drivers are to be made to undergo new criminal record checks after regulators rejected the vetting process used by the cab-hailing giant.

 

Transport for London (TfL), which licenses taxis in the capital, is writing to at least 13,000 minicab drivers — more than a tenth of the total — telling them their background checks are no longer valid. The drivers will be given 28 days to make new applications for vetting or be taken off the road, TfL said. They work for several companies but the largest number are Uber drivers.

 

The move comes after The Sunday Times revealed that police had accused Uber of failing to report sex attacks on passengers by its drivers and of “allowing situations to develop that clearly affect the safety and security of the public”.

 

Last week it emerged the man charged with the Buckingham Palace terror attack is an Uber driver. Mohiussunnath Chowdhury allegedly attacked three police officers with a samurai sword while shouting “Allahu akbar” (God is great).

 

In December 2015 a former Uber driver, Muhiddin Mire, tried to behead a stranger in a London Tube station, yelling: “This is for my Syrian brothers.”

 

Steve Garelick, of the private-hire drivers’ branch of the GMB union, said Uber had put the incomes of drivers at risk by using an inadequate vetting process.

 

“Because of this, there is a chance that some drivers have slipped through the net who will bring a bad name to all the others,” he said. “That is contemptible.”

 

All would-be minicab drivers in London must be checked against information held by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), a government agency, for criminal records, unsuitability to work with children or police warnings.

 

Uber worked with a London-based company called Onfido to carry out the checks. Uber referred drivers to Onfido, which would check with the DBS and then issue TfL with a certificate stating the facts about the driver’s background. Onfido describes Uber as a “client”.

 

TfL accepted these certificates until this year. However, it said this weekend that “following a recent review of policy” it would no longer accept them from Onfido or any other “third-party provider” but only its own contractor. TfL declined to describe its concerns about Onfido and other providers.

 

Onfido denied any deficiencies in its vetting process and said TfL simply wanted to maintain an exclusive contract with its own provider, GBGroup. “The only concern expressed to us is about the exclusivity of the contract,” it said.

 

Uber said it did not itself carry out or process any background checks. “Uber does not require potential drivers to use a specific provider and does not have a say in who gets licensed,” it said. “It is ultimately up to the regulator to review the application and DBS check and decide who is granted a licence.”

 

Uber’s licence to operate in London, originally issued for five years, was renewed in May for only four months after Inspector Neil Billany, head of the Metropolitan police’s taxi unit, expressed “significant concern” that the company seemed to be “deciding what [crimes] to report”, telling police only about “less serious matters” that would be “less damaging to [its] reputation”. Its licence expires at the end of this month.

 

Billany said Uber had failed to report at least six sexual assaults on passengers carried out by its drivers. One attacker was able to molest a second female passenger before being taken off the road. Uber said it was up to individuals to decide whether to report such incidents.

 

Uber is trying to stabilise under a new chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, after boardroom battles, allegations of sexual harassment, invasion of privacy and bribery, and the forced resignation of co-founder Travis Kalanick.

 

Caroline Pidgeon, deputy chairwoman of the London assembly’s transport committee, said: “The questions for Uber keep piling up. Its licence should not be even considered for renewal until strict employment and road safety conditions are firmly in place to ensure it behaves like a responsible company.”

 

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21 comments

 

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SJR2020 12 minutes ago

 

Read through this very carefully.

 

TFL, the regulator in this case, has previously accepted and approved the vetting information for all Uber drivers (and others) they refer to and allowed them to work as private hire drivers.

 

TFL has now changed the goal posts to restrict the vetting process to one company (I'm not certain this is strictly legal unless a tender for the work has been offered and subsequently won?).

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Alan Harris 32 minutes ago

 

What about checking that they speak and understand English?

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colin james 46 minutes ago

 

Forced ...what rubbish it should be compulsory from the start.

.

RecommendReply

Odin 1 hour ago

 

Just wait for Corbyn,Shami and Abbott  to declare this is an anti Muslim plot.

2RecommendReply

Pam Nash 1 hour ago

 

Uber drivers are a totally unknown, and VERY loosely regulated, body.

 

I've never used Uber, I never will - in London I use black cabs, who are tightly regulated and also actually know where they're going, or the Tube.

4RecommendReply

Mrs Miggins 22 minutes ago

 

And sadly they are harder to find on the apps (Gett, Hailo) as Uber prices them out. Uber costs are nothing, with none of the tests and requirements of black cabs and of course none of the U.K. taxes, and it's about time this was evened out. You are always safe in a black cab, no matter how pissed or how late. We can't lose them.

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SJR2020 10 minutes ago

 

RecommendReply

Man on the Street 2 hours ago

 

" Thousands of Uber drivers are to be made to undergo new criminal record checks after regulators rejected the vetting process used by the cab-hailing giant."

 

This is an action that is welcome, better late than never. 

 

This is a refreshing step though the length of contact between the driver and his custome is short.  

 

In contrast, the Sunday Times reports elsewhere that Mr Lammy, MP is proposing that information convictions ought to be withheld from the employers, though the duration of contact beween the past convict and his employer is potential very long.

3RecommendReply

dizzle 3 hours ago

 

My daughter has an Uber account to get home late at night. I have, for some time, been worried about her safety. Can anyone reassure me or should I be right to be worried and should she use a local company ?

Flag

RecommendReply

Adrian Haberberg 2 hours ago

 

@dizzle According to the (ex-Uber) driver who brought me home from Gatwick last night, the most worrying aspect of Uber is the long hours that drivers need to work in order to make a living. He talked of colleagues working shifts well in excess of 12 hours. I would not want to be driven by one who was that fatigued.

3RecommendReply

B Marchant 2 hours ago

 

As long as there is at least one other person with her, she should be fine. I never use Uber without another person with me. Nothing has happened to me but several friends have been harassed by drivers.

2RecommendReply

Mrs Miggins 17 minutes ago

 

You should get her a Gett account, with Hailo for backup. Black cabs, but their prices are often less than Uber, they don't do 'surge' pricing, and they give you the price before you start. For long journeys the Addison lee app has the best prices, and is also 100% safe.

 

It always surprises me when parents think an Uber account for their young daughter is a good idea. No criminal checks and Muslm make drivers who could do anything then disappear into the ether. And a often very pissed young girl on her own. Hm.

RecommendReply

Matthew Sellers 3 hours ago

 

By all means have a level playing field but this smells like a back door attempt to hurt Uber

Flag

1RecommendReply

Ramtops 1 hour ago

 

@Matthew Sellers 

Uber have proved to be quite capable of hurting themselves.

1RecommendReply

s tan 3 hours ago

 

On my recent return to London, I reluctantly got an Uber as I am not a fan of their business model, lack of knowledge of London's complex streets, the increased  congestion they have brought on main roads and the behaviour and its attitude of its founder. I jumped in at Pimlico going up to Mornington Cresecent. For some reason, the driver's telephone and sat nav expired on Elizabeth Street near Victoria Coach Station. What happened next left me staggered - the driver asked me to get out and book another ride for two reasons - (1) he couldn't be sure whether he would be paid and (2) he was unsure how to get to the Camden High Road from Hyde Park Corner.

 

 

A quick check of my Pay Pal confirmed that the £16.00 odd had been taken by Uber.  He then begrudgingly agreed to take me to my destination with me guiding him from my own knowledge of Zone 1 and also with my Google Maps activated. He couldn't tell me whether Camden was North or South relative to our location.

 

 

These drivers spend all the time watching their sat navs and not the roads and other road users as they just have no idea where they are without them. The fact that the they are not undergoing  rigorous enough criminal record checks suggests to me that they the previous Johnson City Hall administration was cavalier in its approach to passenger safety by granting tens of thousands of licenses to a company that somehow seems to have been given favoured status treatment and a blind eye approach from TFL.

17RecommendReply

Donald Stickland 2 hours ago

 

@s tan   ... and so: 

 

 

B R A V O  ...  Inspector Neil Billany, head of the Metropolitan police’s taxi unit, who  The Sunday Times  today tells  ToL ...  said Uber had failed to report at least six sexual assaults on passengers carried out by its drivers.     One attacker was able to molest a second female passenger before being taken off the road.     Uber said it was up to individuals to decide whether to report such incidents.

Flag

2RecommendReply

TT 20 3 hours ago

 

In my entire life I have never come across a "cab hailing giant". 

 

Anybody have a picture of this phenomena they could share with us?

Flag

1RecommendReply

BrexITman 10 hours ago

 

How about simply searching their cars at random to see if they have any 4 foot long samurai swords in the front passenger footwell?!

3RecommendReply

Donald Stickland 2 hours ago

 

@BrexITman ... well, BIT - that'll keep you busy ... and perhaps off ToL ?

RecommendReply

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Letters To The Editor : Sean Paul Day : Heads up folks, we will need to refocus.

Before we start talking about:

• Whether the signs at the O2 are lawful or not...

•  whether Taxify can legally use the name or not....

• Whether the number of PH drivers should be capped or not...

•Whether Uber's working model deems them employers or not...

•Whether they should have a landline or not...

•Whether they should have their operators license revoked or not...

Before we concern ourselves with any of the above, do not forget 

Uber's operation is illegal !

LETS NOT GET DISTRACTED!

Any talk about how their operation can be contained only serves to legitimise their modus operandi.

Should the trade issue a statement that we no longer recognise Mike Brown as regulator of the licensed taxi trade.

If Uber are continually circumventing the law, and if TFL have failed - with intent- in their duty to enforce laws parliament have deemed fit to keep in place, then why are we doing things by the book. 

I believe we are afforded a unique opportunity, albeit finite, to organise ourselves outside of the usual prescribed parameters of doing things. 

In the first instance, The trade should issue a statement that we no longer recognise Mike Brown as regulator or arbiter of the licensed taxi trade.

He is an appointed official therefore is operating without advocacy, and we cannot align ourselves with a regulator that does not work in the interests of the trade. He has overseen the utter decimation to the potential earnings of sole traders who are forced to meet the inflated running costs of a TFL authorised vehicle. 

The well-being of the licensed taxi industry is synonymous with the well-being and safety of the travelling public, he has therefore, unequivocally, failed on both accounts. 

But most of all, the tried and tested formulas of dealing with Trade disputes, or changes to prevailing standards, no longer apply. 

Silicone Valley has changed the rules entirely. 

Effectively, an off shore company has walked in to Britain and been allowed to run roughshod through UK legislation. By allowing them to operate, TfL has set a precedent that big dollar corporations can dictate UK policy. No one, no matter what industry you are in, should welcome that, and it's crucial to convey the magnitude of that to the public. 

The only way I can see it working is if we are a bigger disrupter than the disruptors. 

I believe if we could galvanise support from rank and file drivers and bring London's economy to a grinding halt, every day for a week, or even more, we could then call the shots and Uber's operation will either be shut down or tailored to our terms. 

Furthermore, it will also deem us as a mighty force to be reckoned with and will discourage future 'viral' infiltrations into the trade.

But we need the numbers, and we need the impetus! 

Ask the powerful these five questions:

1) What power have you got? 

2) Where did you get it from? 

3) In whose interests do you exercise it? 

4) To whom are you accountable? 

5) And how can we get rid of you?” 

If you cannot get rid of the people who govern you, you do not live in a democratic system.

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