Taxi testing takes off in more areas

09.21 | 15 May 2009 | | 1 comment

Taxi drivers wanting to work in seven more council areas now have to be assessed by the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) before being given a licence to drive a cab.

More than 120 councils throughout Britain have now agreed to take taxi testing on board. The latest seven council areas are Broadland District Council, Durham County Council, Harlow District Council, Hastings Borough Council, Rushcliffe Borough Council, Stevenage Borough Council and Swale Borough Council.

Specially trained driving examiners assess the ability of applicants to drive safely and professionally in a ‘real’ environment. The test includes manoeuvres designed specifically with the operational taxi driver in mind and is set at a higher standard than the practical test for learner drivers.

For further information contact Chris Lee at the DSA on 0115 936 6135.

 

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    Excellent Idea. Last Monday myself and my husband arrived at Gatwick we rang for a taxi from a local firm in order to get home, this was at 3a.m. From the moment the driver moved off he did not stop fiddling with one of his two satallite Navigation boxs this continued along the M25. The driver stayed fixed in the middle lane [despite motorway almost empty] the vehicle kept moving into outside and inside lanes because driver was adjusting and looking at his sat nav., not at the road I asked him if he would like me to direct him and also commented on the fact that the sat nav is supposed to talk [he had it on silent] therefore there would be not need to keep looking at it. The driver informed me it was a new unit the company had given him to try as it was supposed to be better that his own one. I did sugesst that he should have been given some training or time to familiarise himself with it before taking fares. Perhaps this should be incorporated into tests ie ability to set sat nav and use it correctly. I am still convinced theses devices are a cause of crashes and this confirmed my fears. Needless to say we wont be using that company again and the driver did not get a tip. NOTE The holiday was the final part of my husbands recovery from a hit and run driver that knocked him from his pedal cycle last september [4 months in hospital, 4 operations and 4 months rehab. the holiday was prior to his returning to full time work he was very distressed and a lot of harm has been done to his recovery by this drivers appalling behaviour.


    Susan Martin – Surrey England
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