Cabbie's 'no' to £4 trip costs him £715

By JOHN COLES



A TAXI driver who refused a fare because the journey was too short has been fined £715.

Brian Hawksworth broke an 1847 hackney carriage law when he would not drive Alexandra Lewis half a mile on the £4 trip to her home.

Miss Lewis, who is in her 60s, tried to get a lift from Hawksworth, 69, at the railway station in Barnstaple, Devon.

She told the town’s magistrates: “I approached the first driver I saw. I was very apologetic because I knew it was such a short distance.

“He didn’t swear, but he said, ‘Don’t be so ridiculous, you can get a bus.’ I was shocked and said, ‘I’ve got a suitcase.’”

Retired lecturer Miss Lewis, who is asthmatic, said his “truculent” manner left her “exploding with fury”.

She told North Devon Council about the incident and they brought the prosecution against Hawksworth.

Solicitor Trevor Blatchford said taxi drivers, like barristers, must work on the “cab rank principle” where they must take jobs whether they like them or not.

Hawksworth denied the charge of refusing without reasonable excuse to drive a passenger to a place of their choice.

He told the court: “I was suggesting having a bus because it would be quicker for her and it would have been cheaper.

“I was just thinking of her not spending so much money on a taxi.”

Scapegoat


He said the cab fare would have been £4 compared to a 30p bus fare.

Hawksworth claimed he was being made a scapegoat after the council said there had been complaints about drivers refusing fares which were “too local”.

He was fined £350 with £365 court costs.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2052872.ece

Credit crunch will see to it that nobody refuses a fare no matter how short.
Good to see some lads posting back here again, i set it up so that when someone posts on here I get an Email and noticed this coming to life, good work. Can we set one up just for private hire, anybody interested or have a section just for private hire stuff:scratch:

I'd advise posting a notice in PH offices and inviting people to your Private Hire forum, and then simply set one up that they copuld go to. It's not going to get a response if you are asking a few cab drivers if they are interested in setting up a private hire forum now is it?