I was indeed concerned today when the owner of Central taxis in North shields, was removed from the front position on North Shields Taxi rank, Yes the very same that he slates in his adverts in the paper, By a Traffic Policeman. He was taken down the yard and the Policeman inspected his vehicle and brought out his little black book.
It turns out the vehicle, a pristine ,top of the range, wheelchair friendly,Fiat doblo had a tyre so bald that the wires were showing through, He owns a tyre garage as well as Central Taxis you know. Apparently he got off with a producer! People come on here talking about double standards. Imagine you are renting one of these Doblos and it has a bald tyre, you get a pull on Saturday night..Bang! £60 fine and 3 points. Don’t anybody tell me you would get away with a producer. The advert in the paper also says something about customer safety! mmmm!
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
This article really made my blood boil for a number of reasons that I am going to explain!!!
(1) Mr Kennedy is supposedly thought to be a “FIT AND PROPER PERSON” to hold a NORTH TYNESIDE PRIVATE HIRE OPERATORS LICENCE, VEHICLE LICENCE and DRIVERS BADGE and all with the blessing of NORTH TYNESIDE COUNCIL`S finest Licensing Department is he not?
(2) MR Kennedy grew up, as part of one of the oldest families working in the NORTH TYNESIDE TAXI INDUSTRY with over 40 years of trading by CENTRAL TAXIS. FOURTY YEARS ON AND CENTRAL TAXIS DO NOT MAKE IT COMPULSORY FOR ITS OWNER TO DO A BASIC WALK AROUND THE VEHICLE CHECK THAT THE TAXI VEHICLE IS IN FULL WORKING ORDER BEFORE ENTERING SERVICE WITH HIS COMPANY VEHICLE. What kind of message does that send out to the PASSENGERS who used CENTRAL TAXIS about the HEALTH and SAFETY THEY SHOW FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS?
(3) Why did the NORTHUMBRIA POLICE TRAFFIC OFFICER with all the technology available within his TRAFFIC VEHICLE not establish MR Kennedy the DRIVER OF THE VEHICLE,(as the report alledges) was also the OWNER of a LARGE FLEET OF VEHICLES who trade as the CENTRAL TAXI COMPANY, a Company that operates around 140 vehicles alledgedly and has been in business for 40 years. Then when he had established it was the same Mr Kennedy who was driving this illegal vehicle with its defective tyre, that could not have gone as bald as the wires showing unless it had been driven for a long period of time on a baldly tyre, meaning no DAILY SAFETY CHECKS COULD HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT by any driver for some considerable time period I would suspect?
THIS PHOTOGRAPH ABOVE CLEARLY SHOWS THE TRAFFIC OFFICER, BUT NOT MR KENNEDY, BUT IF IT WAS MR KENNEDY NORTH TYNESIDE COUNCIL SHOULD BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT OF WARNING GIVEN TO MR KENNEDY IN THE PAST FEW YEARS REMOVE HIS “FIT AND PROPER PERSON” STATUS AS THIS STORY SEND OUT THE WRONG MESSAGE ABOUT OPERATOR LICENCE HOLDERS AND HEALTH AND SAFETY. DO YOU AGREE?
ROAD TRAFFIC ACT 1991
SECTION 8 CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF VEHICLES
(1)At the beginning of PartII of the[1988 c.52] Road Traffic Act 1988 there shall be inserted-
“USING VEHICLE IN DANGEROUS CONDITION”
40A Using a vehicle in dangerous condition etc
A person is guilty of an offence if he uses, or causes or permits another to use, a motor vehicle or trailer on a road when-
(a) the condition of the motor vehicle or trailer, or of its accessories or equipment,
or
(b) the purpose for which it is used, or
(c)the number of passengers carried by it, or the manner in which they are carried, or
(d) the weight, position or disution of its load, or the manner in which it is secured,
is such that the use of the motor vehicle or trailer involves a danger of injury to any person.”
(2) For section 42 of that Act there shall be substitued-
41A Breach of requirement as to brakes, steering-gear or TYRES
A person who-
(a) contravenes or fails to comply with a construction and use requirement as to brakes, steering-gear or TYRES, or
(b) uses on a road a motor vehicle or trailer which does not comply with such a requirement, or causes or permits a motor vehicle or trailer to be so used,
is guilty of an offence.
NORTH TYNESIDE COUNCIL SHOULD ENSURE CHARGES ARE BROUGHT UNDER THE TOWN POLICE CLAUSES ACT 1847 or the Local Government(Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 under Section 68 “Fitness of Hackney Carriages and Private Hire Vehicles” or Section 60 “Suspension and revocation of vehicle licences”
PERHAPS OF COURSE THE REAL REASON THE VEHICLE HAD A THREAD BARE TYRE IS BECAUSE OF THE LOW COST FARES MEANING PROPER MAINTAINENCE SCHEDULES ARE OVERLOOKED AS THE TAXI AND PRIVATE HIRE INDUSTRY IS NOT SUBJECT TO THE SAME SAFETY INSPECTIONS DAILY BY THE DRIVER AS WITH PCV OR HGV DRIVERS, AS THERE APPEARS TO BE NO “HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY” OPERATED BY THIS COMPANY FOR THE VEHICLE PROVING DISNEYLAND TAXI FARES DO NOT WORK UNLESS YOU NEGLECT SOME OTHER COST PERHAPS?
THIS WAS WRITTEN BY A HEALTH AND SAFETY CONCERN PROPRIETOR WHO WORKS WITHIN NORTH TYNESIDE.
I write in response to “thelighthouse keeper” and the others who write inaccurate stories.
The tyre was not illegal. The officer issued a standard producer and advised that the tyre was changed and the tracking of the vehicle checked. We have records of all tryes fitted to company vehicles at my garage. The tyre was 2 weeks old. The tracking was corrected immediatley and a new tyre fitted.
Simply writing out large chunks of the Road Traffic Act does not make you intelligent, nor does it win your argument. Anyone can copy and paste legislation. The fact is the tyre was not illegal. End of story.If you think you know better than trained traffic officers then I suggest that you take the issue up with them direct.
I have just spoken to Alan Newton, the licencing officer for North Tyneside council. He confirmed 4 official warnings have been issued to hackney carraiges in the last year for defective tyres along with “numerous” verbal warnings. These warnings are to people who only look after 1 vehicle, not 150! I suggest you put your own house in order before criticising mine.
Central taxis carry approximately 2 million passengers per year. In the 20 years I have been in charge there has NEVER been an accident caused by safety issues.
A suggestion to the administrators of this site:-
The site has quickly descended into a forum to criticise my office. An independent observer would quickly realise that this is because my office is right next to the main hackney rank and as such, we are to a certain extent, in direct competition. Surely the hackney drivers can open their eyes a little and look at the larger issues afffecting the taxi trade in general – for example rising fuel costs, costs of taxi tests, etc. They will quickly realise that these issues are beyond my control!
Finally – this site has its own dedicated forum setion which is barely used. I suggest the exisiting posts are moved into it and new ones “forced” into it. Surely this will make the posts easier to read in the long-run?
Graeme Kennedy.
davie you are a ****ing knob get a grip
marv i bet you dont put this on ha ha
As a Hackney Carriage Proprietor of some 11 years now and having worked as a Private Hire for 3 years before becoming a Hackney Carriage, I do take “Health and Safety” issues very seriously because Condition 1 of the North Tyneside Vehicle Proprietors Licence General Conditions Attached is:
1. Maintainance of Vehicle.
The vehicle, all of its fittings and any attached equipment shall at all times when the vehicle is in use or available for hire, be kept in a clean, safe, tidy and efficent state, and must also comply with all RELEVANT STATUTORY PROVISIONS including in particular those contained in the Motor Vehicles (Constuction and Use)Regulations 1986.
Relevant Statutory Provisions also includes the Road Traffic Act 1991 Section 40A and 41A as the above article written out shows.
I was trained in 1987 as a Passenger Carrying Vehicle Driver in a double-decker bus to carry out walk-around “Safety Inspections” before entering the Passenger Carrying Vehicle in Service to Transport the Companies Passengers and I have continued to carry out the same standard walk around “Safety Checks” prior to entering service with my Private Hire Vehicle and later with my Hackney Carriage Vehicle, because I believe in driving a safe vehicle myself and supplying a safe vehicle to my passengers at all times.
I have also, at a great deal of expense to myself, attended the OCR Level 3 Road Passenger Transport Certificate of Professional Competence Course and this involved Hours of Home Study followed 4 days in a classroom and ending with a day of exams on the last day of the course.
I was the only student in my class to pass all the units at the first attempt and those units were:
Unit 1, Understanding the Legal and Business Context for Road Transport Operations.
Unit 3, Understanding National Road Passenger Transport Operations.
Unit 5, Managing National Road Passenger Transport Operations.
Which then because I passed all 3 units gave me my National Passenger Transport Managers (CPC) Qualifications in 2007.
I then also attended later in 2007 the EDEXCEL Level 2 BTEC AWARD for “Transporting Passengers by Taxi and Private Hire”
Those Units Titles were:
Passenger Transport and Disability Awareness.
Taxi and Private Hire Safety.
Carriage of Luggage and Parcels by Taxi.
Route Planning.
Customer Service for Passenger Transport.
Taxi and Private Hire Regulation (UK).
Passenger Transport and Equal Opportunities.
I was Awarded the Certificates in January 2008 as I was also successful in passing these qualification.
Now Joe Steele you may think I am a ****ing knob and need to get a grip, but I believe there are many Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Operators, Proprietors and Drivers who prefer to operate with the same attitude to “Health and Safety” as myself and so do you believe they to are all ****ing knobs aswell?
With the above comment from Joe Steele this made me wonder as Joe Steele clearly does not agree with my comments about “Health and Safety” in the article above, there is a question perhaps North Tyneside Council Enforcement could answer, is Joe Steele a Licensed Proprietor or Driver?
Showing I put the Health and Safety of myself and my Passengers is clearly offensive to Joe Steele, I can only conclude was Joe`s point in his comment Marv did post.
Well it look’s like the CB Polaroid Mafia have been out in force, you just have to look at the Photo Gallery on this site….the word PATHETIC comes to mind!
All the CB Mafia, Sausage Man (Mr Walls) and every other whinging Hack think they are perfect!
So you think Golden Graeme should have had 3pts on for that Tyre eh?
Well what about the Hacks behavior, Speeding and Talking on their Mobiles (6pts there Girls for both), Rascist abuse/Assault on ethnic minority Berwick BOYS (Criminal Offence to add to your CRB checks), One critic of Central and member of the CB Mafia actually borrowed one of the Doblo’s in question when his Hack was off the road, HYPOCRITE!, many independent Doblo hacks refuse wheelchair work and they get away with it unless it has Central livery on the side of it!!!, I hear and stress HEAR that a certain member of the CB Mafia was turned down for his Newcastle Badge because of his “Druggie Past”, good job that was not a Central Driver eh? Ladies or Berwick!
And going back to the ever boring issue of “Out of town Hacks”, what about the NT Hacks working in Newcastle?, do you think they turn down work after they have dropped off a booking in the City of Newcastle Upon Tyne?, NO! is the answer, SO NONE OF US IS PERFECT!.
I think to combat all these silly Gangs, critics and reports to the Council about Private Hire and Berwick Boys, Graeme could buy us a Speed camera!, so we can take Photo’s of you lot doing 60mph in 30 zones on a Saturday night on the Broadway and Hillheads road, in fact the next time a hack flies past me like a missile when I am being noughty doing 40!, I will take a photo!, that’s 3pts girls!
Sunday July 7th at 2.03am a certain Hack was carrying 5 passengers in a standard licensed 4 person saloon doing about 50mph along the links at Whitley Bay, I don’t see a Photo about that in your Gallery of Horrors do I?
GROW UP!
Message from admin: We would encourage anyone to report anything that may impinge on their right to make a legitimate living. It’s a two way street Mr.Disneyland Enthusiast you are free to come on this site and spout your latest fairy tales. Fill Your Boots!
Thank you for that response Admin and thank you for sticking my post on here, I thought it was a one way assault on the Private Hire, Golden Graeme and the Male Berwick squad!, but most of all thank you for putting me in the 21st Century, if we are playing disneyland games then I will go out and a buy a sophisticated Mobile so I can take Photo’s of the perfect hacks overloading their Cars and send them off to the council and take Photos of them doing other wrong doings. Never been into Technology until now!
Say the word and I’ll build you your very own webpage and you can stick as many pictures on it as you want. I don’t understand you though! are you upset because hack drivers are trying to stop unlicensed cars taking the work that they are licensed for and if so, How would a hack speeding or using his phone whilst driving have any effect on the work private hire do? Your argument is hollow and spiteful with no sound basis.
Most of us have been Private Hire at some point and most of us have flimped the odd fare. But now you have P/H cars blatantly hacking, nobody cares if you drop off and a fare gets in when there are no hacks around, that’s always been the way it was. The whole point of this site is in the name, ‘Toomanytaxis’ that means hacks and P/H if P/H weren’t struggling with large numbers of cars then they would not find it necessary to look elswhere for work. Logic!
You can come here as often as you like but say something meaningful. We’ve had our say and Graeme gave a good response which everyone has respected. I understand you want to get things off your chest maybe you feel wronged by this site, But your comments are not in the least constructive. If you are happy to stay in a trade where the numbers keep rising and the work gets less and less. So much so that there won’t even be any work to flimp, carry on with the tit for tat if that’s what floats your boat but it serves no long term purpose! or..come back with something that readers will give more than a passing glance to.
Admin!
All those silly Pics of Private Hire Cars are hollow, I don’t see any of their Drivers asking people to use them instead of you!
Say something meaningful, you lot have’nt bothered, hiding behind Cameras
“How would a Hack speeding or using his mobile phone whilst driving have any effect on the work P/H do?”
It’s not about work, you lot want P/H drivers to be fined for Parking on yellow lines, defective tyres, parking at Bus stops etc, I was just pointing out that the CB Mafia commit offences too, and that non of us are perfect.
Your little sorry squad cannot stop NTC licensing more Drivers, you cannot stop Berwick either as they don’t go to court until the 15/09/08, but thats’ with Newcastle Council, as I have said on the forum you lot are selective on who you start on when it comes to others flimpin, lit Berwick top signs etc.
I agree that their needs to be something done about the behavior of out of town Hacks, and their needs to be cap on the number of Drivers licensed, however all you lot want to do is lurk around McD’s all day taken Photo’s of Central Cars, I don’t see any Blueline Cars in your little Photo album?
Remember the old McDonald’s ad jingle a decade or so ago “A visit to McDonalds makes your day”, they should remix it to “A visit to McDonalds makes your life” and dedicate to the CB Mafia at Shields Metro!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello Central Enthusiast,
I have read with interest the comment by you and if you really know the real me you would know sausage man(Mr Walls) as you referred to me, that nobody ever calls me sausage man.
The nickname SASSAGE is what every one called me after TC said to somebody have you seen sausages and after that most Hackney Carriage Drivers called me it, because of my surname and the famous brand of sausages and the “Thats Life” dog pretending to say sassages.
As we all know in this trade a nickname sticks if other drivers like to call you by it. I decided to change the spelling to SASSAGE, as I was thinking about in the future requesting the SA55AGE Registration Number on a NEW VEHICLE in 2005 before deciding not to bother with a new vehicle and purchased an older vehicle when I got rid of my Skoda Superb in 2005. I was experiencing a downward spiral in my profits because of my high expenses on new vehicles, meaning I started buying older ones again and I decided not to by a 55 Plate vehicle, meaning I never bought the registration that at the time was going for £1299 at the DVLA.
Now for the record, I have never ever picked-up outside of North Tyneside Council my “Appropriate Licensing Authority” area and personally I never will pick-up a street hiring passenger in another Borough, as I am a MAN OF PRINCIPAL who was brought up to RESPECT THE LAW and OBEY IT AS IT IS WRITTEN.
(Its called having Respect for the Law)
I was trained in 1987 by the GO-AHEAD GROUP on how to conduct myself when operating a Passenger Carrying Vehicle with “Health and Safety” being part of that training. I past my motor car driving test first time at the age of 17 years and 7 months and my Hackney Carriage Public Service Vehicle test first time also at the age of 23 years. I did not have a single point on my licence until I was 34 years old in 1998 and currently I have a clean licence again.
I am no saint, but I am not as you are trying to discribe me either, as I am to honest for my own good at times and I look out for every driver in this trade including you Central Enthusiast, if you only stopped and thought about the QUOTES FROM ACTS OF PARLIAMENT AND MINUTES FROM COUNCIL MEETING IN NORTH TYNESIDE FROM THE PAST. The only reason I started posting issues on here was to try to keep this website covering the FACTS ONLY and NOT THE FICTION that now appears to be all this site now contains.
I do not think I am anymore INTELLIGENT than any other driver, but because I hold probably more Qualifications than most in the TAXI AND PRIVATE HIRE INDUSTRIES, I though I would display my knowledge and assist everyone, unfortunately because certain Operators within the North Tyneside Trade, because they do not want drivers knowing to much, so they say writing out chunks of an Act of Parliament does not make me Intelligent, even though they as the Operator Licence Holder should not be allowing vehicles under their control that are defective, work Transporting Passengers at any time.
I hope you now understand me a little better Central Enthusiast and do not include me as part of the CB MAFIA, as I do not have a CB fitted in my Hackney Carriage and nor have I ever taken a picture for this website because I am not a member of this NEW ASSOCIATION THAT HAS BEEN FORMED.
Thank You to all drivers reading this posting defending MYSELF, as all I have done is try to help you defend yourself against the Operators in North Tyneside and nothing more was my objective on here. Most of the FACTS are now out in the open and now my job appears to be done anyway?
Good Luck All.
Mr Dave Walls
I never said that you personally have picked up outside of North Tyneside!, but many other NT Hacks have, and their is NT Hacks working at Newcastle offices, that is a fact.
Secondly I never said that you have one of those silly aerials on your car!, I am glad you have’nt followed this ridiculous bunch of dum dums, many NT Hacks have not and good for them.
Most Hacks outside the CB Mafia would rather earn than hide around corners taking pictures of vehicles parked outside of McDonalds.
So that’s my response to you and apoligies for spelling your name wrong, anyway I am off now to wait with great anticipation that my Car is going to be damaged!!!!, because these silly little Girls don’t like facts!
When you obtained all these qualifications did you also train to damage a Taxi if someone did’nt agree with your little gang???
Probably not!
I hope they whip me with there big Aerials!
Can’t wait.