Is Your Satnav Illegal? Police Reveal The Only Location Where You Should Put It

For many people, a satnav unit is a crucial part of getting around, offering those well-timed tips and directions. However, does the position of it on your car windscreen make a difference? It might make it easier to reach but what many drivers don’t know is that there is only one ‘correct’ location according to police forces.

Police advice

The issue was highlighted following a post by Greater Manchester Police’s traffic unit. The Twitter post contained an image of where drivers should be putting satellite navigation units.

In the image, the unit was positioned at the bottom right-hand side of the windscreen. According to the accompanying tweet, this is the ‘only legal place’ to put it. If you put a satnav unit anywhere else, you are breaking the law.

Twitter users were quick to raise issues with this statement, with many saying they place theirs near the rear-view mirror. GMP later confirmed that this is legal as well – providing it doesn’t obstruct the driver’s view ahead.

 

Clear view

This stipulation comes from the Highway Code which states that windscreens and windows ‘must be kept clean and free from obstruction to vision.’ However, there is no actual legislation available that states where the devices should be located, merely that their placement should follow this code.

Further, it is unlikely that drivers will be pulled over for ‘incorrect’ positioning of a satnav unit unless they are placing it somewhere ridiculous – like straight in front of them as they drive.

Many drivers make use of specialist holders for the units, that attach to the air vents, to prevent obstruction. While others may place it on the windscreen, in the bottom right or left corner, meaning it is out of the driver’s general view. Also, make sure that the wires are not trailing across either the steering wheel or the handbrake.

Set and forget

Drivers can also get into trouble for messing around and tampering with a satnav while they are driving. Instead, you should either set it before you leave, and not touch it while driving, or pull over, turn off the ignition and then make the necessary changes to the settings.

Other tips in the code regarding how to use technology safely include not ‘relying on’ cruise control or lane departure warnings. You should use them to assist you but not to reduce your concentration levels while driving.

Satnav tips

The AA has created a list of tips to help you make the most of your satnav unit without running into any trouble with the local police force. The tips include:

• Don’t blame the satnav if you have an accident because you are still the one in complete control of the vehicle – it just gives you instructions.

• Use your eyes first – just because the satnav says there is a road ahead, and all you can see a river, use your initiative and don’t keep driving because the satnav tells you to.

• Remember to account for the size of the vehicle you are driving – satnav units only advise you on the route. For example, if you are towing a caravan, the satnav won’t register this information and therefore you may encounter tight corners, low bridges etc.

• Never watch the satnav – listen to what it says but always keep your eyes on the road.

• Check the route before you leave – satnav units are smart but sometimes they may suggest directions that aren’t practical for one reason or another. So, always check before you set off rather than trying to amend the route while driving.

• Make sure you regularly update the unit – as roads change; the satnav will only register these changes when it is updated.

TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT :

Satnav units are a useful tool and have stopped many a driver from getting lost, but can also cause problems. 

You only have to look online at the escalating mountain of crashes involving Uber cars who have no idea where hey are going and constantly take their eyes off the road to watch the SatNav screen. 

Use common sense when utilising them and you should steer clear of the local police.

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2mt5MfO
via IFTTT

More Khanage About To Hit The Streets Of Marylebone (Just Up From WhereThe Air Quality Monitors Are)

Just when you through there couldn’t be anymore Khanage, TfL unleashes itself on the unsuspecting motorist.  

Until late May 2018, one lane in each direction will be closed along Marylebone Road, between the junctions with Balcombe Street and Baker Street. This is due to the second phase of works to convert Baker Street and Gloucester Place to two way traffic. Find out more at http://ift.tt/2h5ez7a 

During this period, one lane in each direction will be closed along Marylebone Road, between the junctions with Balcombe Street and Baker Street. During peak hours, motorists can expect delays of at least 20 minutes on the approaches to the works.

If you need to drive, please allow more time for your journey. Alternatively, consider using public transport.

TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT :

Why on earth do TfL carry out consultations. 

They take no notice of the results and just carry on regardless.

Just look at these results from the Baker Street two way system consultation. Note how few people bothered to reply. 

Look at the dodgy way this graph has been laid out 

Notice the way they have over complicated the fact that in total 43% strongly opposed and only 20% strongly supported. 

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2mxlXc3
via IFTTT

As Gett App Grows More Powerful, Israel's Cab Drivers Become Increasingly More Worried

 

Seven years after its launch in Israel, the taxi-hailing app Gett’s metal flag flies from more than a third of the country’s taxis and close to 30% of all rides in a year. But as the company grows bigger and more powerful, drivers are getting worried.

About 8,000 of Israel’s 25,000 cab drivers now use Gett, an Israeli company once known as Gett Taxi that operates in the United States, Britain and Russia as well as Israel. 

As a closely-held company, Gett doesn’t reveal numbers about riders and usage, but sources estimate it accounts for about 20 million riders annually. That would add up to 28% of all rides, based on official figures from the Transportation Ministry.

In any event, it comes to a big chunk of a 5 billion-shekel ($1.4 billion) a year industry where the average fare is 69 shekels. Gett doesn’t employ drivers or own taxis, but collects a fee for linking drivers with passengers and acting as a conduit for payments.

Riders have benefited because Gett’s system is transparent, so drivers can’t overcharge naïve customers and they can pay by credit card. The authorities are happy because it is harder for drivers to evade taxes by taking cash off the books. Central dispatchers haven’t disappeared because most drivers prefer to use the app and a dispatcher to maximize their revenues.

Still, Gett sent shock waves across the industry earlier this year when it won competitive bidding, together with the old-line dispatcher Hadar-Lod (much like their partnership with Radio Taxis in London), to provide taxi service out of Ben-Gurion International Airport, Israel’s main airport and a source of more than 1 million rides annually

Their bid – the only one that was submitted – promised to reduce fares out of Ben-Gurion by 31% from the current level, a much bigger cut than officials at the Israel Airports Authority had expected. 

But the bid ran into fearsome opposition from Hadar-Lod’s drivers, who insisted that discounts like that would cause them to lose money on every fare. 

The partnership broke up and the tender was rescinded and will be issued later this year.

The affair not only left a bad taste in the mouths of Hadar-Lod but has raised concerns across the entire industry that the steep fare cut Gett had proposed was a way of testing the waters for future fare cuts nationwide.

Avraham Fried, chairman of the Taxi Owners Association, has since retained Tzahi Yagur, an antitrust attorney, to lobby for declaring Gett a monopoly and even tried to have the tender itself canceled before the bid unraveled.

They employed Section 26 of the Antitrust Law, which relates to businesses that don’t control a majority of a particular market but have a strong presence. “The extreme and unprecedented discount offered in the framework of the winning bid was given by a ‘monopolist’ as defined by Section 26 of the Antitrust Law,” Fried contended in a letter addressed to the Airports Authority tenders committee and Antitrust Commissioner Michal Halperin.

Fried said the bid was tantamount to predatory pricing because it would not be profitable for drivers. “It will be financed by Gett’s external sources and over time Gett will exploit if ‘single dominance’ in the taxi market and taxi hailing to compensate itself for money-losing fares,” the letter said.

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2APYQgS
via IFTTT

Are London Cabbies Sowing The Seeds Of Their Own Obsolescence ?

Article below from the Auto Express paper suggests that Black Cabs on eHailing apps such as Gett and MyTaxi, will be the architects of their own demise.

• Will you allow them to fit the kit in your cab???

• Will you allow them to make you part of this experiment ???

• Perhaps they won't tell you what they intend to do!!!

Virtual maps created by London taxis will pave way for future self-driving cars on the streets of the Capital.

London cabbies will soon be taking to the capital’s streets with state-of-the-art data-logging systems, creating a dynamic and high-definition virtual map for future autonomous vehicles.

The announcement comes following a series of agreements between tech and ride-hailing companies as well as government authorities, and will see around 500 black cabs in London kitted out with mapping equipment.

By using cutting-edge advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) fitted to London taxis, a network of “high definition crowd sourced maps” will be created, detailing streets and key infrastructure in the capital for autonomous cars to use, while also helping London itself become ‘autonomous ready’.

The mapping hardware and software, developed by Intel-owned tech company Mobileye, can be fitted to any vehicle, and comprises a single windscreen-mounted camera. As well as building up a dynamic data picture of city streets, the company’s equipment could bring extra safety features, thanks to its collision prevention features.

The project, due to start in early 2019, will also see Uber drivers in New York and cabbies in Düsseldorf help shape the self-driving future while, in the US, up to 2,000 trucks are expected to be kitted out with the necessary equipment.

Is this a case of London cabbies sowing the seeds of their own obsolescence ?

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2FrIgYu
via IFTTT

How Come Our Orgs Aren't Demanding Uber's Full Suspension Under Section 26 (2), PHV Act 1998

What exactly have our trade orgs and unions been doing ?

They seem to have accepted that Uber have the right, under the act of 1998 to carry on regardless!

Have they (the orgs and Unions) not read the act?

Where are these fantastic lawyers we've been promised ? 

What is their very expensive opinion?

It doesn't take a genius to read through the act, and find section 26 (2).

Let me lay it up for you, section 26 org the act reads:

 Effect of appeal on decision appealed against.

(1)If any decision of the [F1licensing authority] against which a right of appeal is conferred by this Act—

(a)involves the execution of any work or the taking of any action;

(b)makes it unlawful for any person to carry on a business which he was lawfully carrying on at the time of the decision,

the decision shall not take effect until the time for appealing has expired or (where an appeal is brought) until the appeal is disposed of or withdrawn.

This is what we've been led to believe is the legislation laid down by the act and we've been told there's nothing we can do.....but there is a caveat.... It's in subsection (2).

Effect of appeal on decision appealed against.

(2)This section does not apply in relation to a decision to suspend, vary or revoke a licence if the notice of suspension, variation or revocation directs that, in the interests of public safety, the decision is to have immediate effect.

IN THE INTERESTS OF PUBLIC SAFETY

Isn't this the reason TfL have given for not renewing Uber's operating licence....or are we not being told the full story here?

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2ARtrLi
via IFTTT

Taxi Drivers To Sky Dive With Red Devils, In Aid Of The Taxi Charity For Military Veterans.

On 26 July 2018, 'Team Be Lucky', made up of four London cabbies, a war veteran and a Taxi Charity committee member, will be undertaking tandem skydives with the Red Devils to raise much needed funds for the Taxi Charity.

In aid of TAXI CHARITY FOR MILITARY VETERANS

Team Be Lucky to skydive for the Taxi Charity

On 26 July 2018, Team Be Lucky, made up of four London cabbies, a war veteran and a Taxi Charity committee member, will be undertaking tandem skydives with the Red Devils to raise much needed funds for the Taxi Charity.

Team Be Lucky is made up of cabbies Michael Calvey, Dean Euesden, Jon Southcott and Brian Heffernan; veteran of the Korean War, Bill Parr; and Taxi Charity committee member and vice president, Frances Wyhowska.

Donated Total raised so far

£100.00

Target total:

£3,000.00

If you would like to sponsor 'Team Be Lucky' by making a donation, please click on the link below:

http://ift.tt/2mjF88a

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2D4ihbf
via IFTTT

Lewis Norton Branch Secretary of RMT London Taxi Branch has resigned tonight:

*RMT London Taxi Drivers 0930 Branch*

Notice of resignation:

Unfortunately due to 

both personal & professional reasons I have decided to stand down from the post of branch secretary. 

This has been a very difficult decsion to make but one I believe that is right for me. 

Please may I take this opportunity to thank you all for the support and for giving me the opportunity to represent the RMT within the licensed taxi trade. 

An election will be held on;

*Tuesday 13th February*

*7 - 9pm*

*Savoy Tup*

*2 Savoy St, WC2R 0BA*

For nominations please email assistant branch Secretary Andy Nicholls;

vitoandy1@yahoo.co.uk

Please copy in regional organiser John Leach

j.leach@rmt.org.uk 

In Solidarity 

Lewis Norton

Branch Secretary 

RMT London Taxi Drivers

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/2CR76iD
via IFTTT