The ITA Urge London Taxi Drivers Concerned About Their Livelihood To Join Them At The Elephant And Castle Today 3:30 pm

The driver led Proactive ITA will be holding a mass ply for hire this afternoon at the Elephant and Castle, 3:30 pm. 

They are hoping to draw awareness to the fact that TfL have conspired and colluded with, an illegal, unfit private hire operator. 

Today's gathering is just the first in a series of gatherings which will take place this week.

The ITA urge every driver, concerned about their livelihood to attend. 

Below is a list of grievances currently being experienced by London's Licensed Taxi drivers. 

• TfL, are currently allowing an unlicensed, unfit and illegal operator to flout the law

• TfL are currently allowing a third of the unlicensed, unfit, illegal operator's workforce (13,000 drivers) to work in London, after presenting fake DBS certificates when applying for their private hire licence

• TfL are allowing private hire drivers to work, after producing fake medical certificates when applying for their private hire licence

• TfL are allowing Private hire drivers to illegal accept direct hirings in their car

• TfL accept private hire drivers who's licenses have been revoked by other licensing authorities

• TfL colluded with an unfit operator during a police investigation

• TfL conspired with an unfit operator to streamline private hire applications

• TfL refused to initiate checks on an unfit private hire operator for 5 years

• TfL assisted an unfit operator to illegally circumnavigate regulations

• TfL lied to the GLA about PH on/off insurance cover

• TfL lied to the GLA about checking an unfit, illegal operators modus operandi

• TfL lied to the GLA about an unfit, illegal operator's nonexistent contact phone number

• TfL have caused mental, physical and financial stress to legitimate licensed Taxi drivers. 

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New Justice Secretary To Review Worboys Parole After Pressure From Cabinet Colleagues

Justice Secretary David Gauke has requested advice from lawyers on whether the release of black cab rapist John Worboys could be challenged in court.

The decision of the Parole Board to approve the release of Worboys later this month caused outrage amongst his victims, charities and MPs.

According to the Sunday Times, Mr Gauke, who became Justice Secretary last Monday, has come under pressure from four fellow Cabinet ministers to bring a judicial review of the decision.

In a statement, a Ministry of Justice spokesperson confirmed lawyers had been asked to make an assessment on the merits of an intervention.

Although we were told the parole board decision was final and couldn't be changed, we are now told that's not the case. 

Can these four fellow cabin ate members now put pressure on the Justice secretary David Gauke to now have a look at a few other problems the London Taxi trade have been told can't be amended or changed.

Let's see this man put a complete halt to the unsafe, illegal car service, currently working on a theoretical licence in the interest of public safety!

Let's see him put an immediate stop on the 12,000 private hire drivers with fake DBS criminal record check DBS certificate!

Let's see him revoke the licenses of the many hundreds of private hire drivers who presented fake medical checks!

This posted earlier today on the LCDC FaceBook group by Chairman of the LCDC Grant Davis :

Let’s hope the Justice system sees sense and reviews this whole situation:

And why they are at it, let’s scrape the whole PH “letter of good conduct sham” and also put a stop to the remaining 12,000 PH drivers with fake DBS working and putting woman at risk!

If the Govt actually want to do something for woman safety, let’s do it properly for woman’s safety now and going forwards.

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Part 2. The Future....The End Of The Road For Those Who Will Not StandUp And Fight

The Future....The End Of The Road For Those Who Will Not Stand Up And Fight...by Dave Davies.

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.

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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. 

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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.

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