Help Us Campaign against Blacked out windows in Mini Cabs....By Thomas the Taxi

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Campaign against Black windows in Mini Cabs

The situation where a sexual predator can flick a switch and imprison a lone female in their PCO/TfL licensed minicab with blacked out windows, has got to come to an end.

It’s as simple as that.

Many years ago, it was deemed unfitting for London’s licensed black cabs (Taxis) to have dark glass in the rear window. Reports of prostitutes using Taxis to service their clients “ twice round the outer circle, slowly driver” had been wildly exaggerated in the press, but the powers to be thought it enough reason to ban darken rear windows fitted in London's Taxis.

Over the past six years, we have seen the rise in use of PHV people carriers with black glass on rear and side windows. In the same period of time, there has been a shocking rise in the numbers of sexual assaults, including rapes, which is now running at

20 a month, (Last year saw 140 rapes alone and that's just the ones that reported the attacks and its not just women that are being sexually attacked)

.

Passengers have also been the victims of personal robberies, mainly women, have reported having phones, handbag's and other property taken whilst being held prisoner in these blacked out vehicles.

We have concerns that it is “unethical” that Private Hire Vehicles (Mini Cabs) have blacked out windows in the rear and side windows of their vehicles. Combined this with central locking, an attacker just flicks a switch and imprisons a lone female. No one is aware of this passenger’s dangerous predicament.

The responsibility of the Public Carriage Office should have been not to allow "Blacked out Windows" in Private Hire Vehicles in the first instance. However, lack of insight has and will continue to be detrimental to the travelling public, especially women late at night. Cost should not be an issue as in most cases these black windows are just a sheet of film applied to the vehicles glass

See YouTube Video: http://bit.ly/drqMsx

Please got to WWW.theandersonshelter.blogspot.com and join the campaign and sign the petition.

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The Anderson Shelter Campaign.

We ask ever Taxi driver to help. We would ask you all to write, email or tweet every person you can think of that could add weight to this campaign. MP’s, Local Councillors can be found by entering post codes in the box provided. Most of these people have twitter accounts and we have composed a set of tweets below that can be used to draw there attention to this issue.

Tweeting.

If a full stop is placed in front of a persons twitter address, then the tweet is sent to every one of that person follower’s. Example;

.@DarrenJohnsonAM will be sent to every one who follows this green party member of the London Assembly.

Just by doing a little digging you can find an address of you MP or Assembly Member. These people follow many important names in local government and in turn are followed by many important people. Just by each driver sending just one tweet, our message could go viral at the speed of light.

Tweets:

Please support the campaign to ban blacked out windows in mini cabs and help stop sexual assaults on young women http://bit.ly/cZM933

8-10 sexual assaults including rape every month. Join our campaign to banned black rear windows in mini cabs http://bit.ly/cZM933

Flick of a switch, she's a prisoner in the PHV with black windows. Join our campaign to ban black windows in minicabs http://bit.ly/cZM933

Emails.

You can find the address of your MP, MEP and Local Councillors by entering your post code in the yellow box in the right hand column. We have decided against a template as when some one in authority starts to receive the same worded email from lots of different senders they take little or no notice of the content.

If you really can not compose your own email just copy and past the article at the beginning of this post, between the red lines!

Other email addresses;

Boris Johnston, mayor@london.gov.uk

Transport commissioner Peter Hendy, peterhendy@tfl.gov.uk

Stephen Hammond MP de facto Minister for London, hammonds@parliament.uk

Philip Hammond Secretary of state for Transport
hammondp@parliament.uk

Letters to MP’s and Assembly Members.

Letters are the hardest form of complaint to arrange as most people have not written a letter for many years. But it is a very powerful medium that adds much weight to a campaign.

Again if words do not come easy to you, just use the article between the red lines.

Hand Out Leaflets.

If you have the facilities, we would also ask drivers to print out the article (between the red lines) and hand to customers. It will be a good way to get support from the general public that use Taxis and PHV’s.

Richmond drivers hold Demo over touting issues.

This Demonstration was called regarding the giving of licences to mini cabs who abuse their remit. Its scandalous, but to then rub salt into the wounds by operating from another nearby venue without having any licence is the pits. and yet we have the legal remit to operate from PCO/TFL approved nearby ranks!

Photo by Stormcab.

This issue touches on so many areas, the Police don't know what to do (yet)....

Therefore, (as touting is a criminal, arrestable offence) we need the Police to work plain clothes and see these illegal activities, whereby the Clipboard Johnnies are approaching people directly in the Street blatantly asking people if they want a mini Cab! (Central London's Green badge Cabbies have been complaining about this issue for many years and still it goes on)

I stopped outside B@1 and told a mini cab guy that his colleague in the high visibility jacket was operating outside the law by standing outside in the Street and approaching people....

His answer was: ''That's ok, he's operating from inside... that's where his Office is'' !!!!

The law is: They MUST operate INSIDE the building and not approach the public on the Street - This is illegal.

We know Dave Allan (local Police officer) is checking furiously the law side of things as we speak and has said he will crack down where it is being abused - He is a fine Officer and a wonderful person really and knowing him for just this brief period - he doesn’t put up with any nonsense ?

(I think when Dave has his answers we sit down with him and discuss how to improve safer travel for people in Richmond).

The law is being abused, but so far no action by the authorities?

We need Richmond Council, Richmond Police, PCO, TOCU and others checking all this out and put a stop to it before our drivers lose their patience and step up the drive ins.

Finally, just to say - I was coming across Richmond Bridge and it was like a scene from a scary movie... there were mini cabs parked facing the wrong way outside Pitcher and Piano with their lights flashing, blocking traffic, without fear of the law - also parked up on the opposite pavements also with their lights flashing (I thought pavements were for people to walk on and they are called pedestrians who use them)

One guy was there for so long it's a wonder his battery didn't fail as his hazards were on forever!

Another guy was parked on Hill Street rank also with his lights flashing, again no action,... there is a clear sign up which states that this is a Taxi rank from 7pm! not a place where mini cabs can park with hazards flashing... I do believe that the only time one should use hazards is if your vehicle has broken down - not to signal to people that you are touting ?

We have now got to the stage where all Richmond drivers will take similar action, but next time, there will be all the drivers involved, not just the forty last night.

People are being urged by TFL(PCO) to use a licensed Taxi or Mini cab and not to use a mini cab that solicits themselves on the Streets, but the above shows the whole thing has got totally out of control.

p.s. We did discuss the topic of touting and Satellite Offices at our recent meeting at the Palestra Bldg and the PCO are aware of all of this and I did receive a reply from Luke Howard that he would instruct his officers to get involved in Richmond - so far nobody has come here; they did arrive in Kingston the previous Friday night as they have serious problems down there.

A meeting was called by drivers for Monday 8pm.

I would stress to our drivers to please hold back on drive-ins, as people are now aware of what's going on, and we have been assured that action will be taken.

Editorial Comment;

Les and Richard, thanks for the email.

This issue is a major problem all over Greater London.

The problem has been made worse by local councils who have an agenda to get the streets clear of late night revilers, some extremely drunk and abusive, by any means possible. The authorities do not care how these people are taking off the streets just as long as they are!

The instances of serious sexual assaults, including rape has been subdued and is currently at an all time high of between 10-12 every month.

TfL have added to this problem by dishing out satellite office licenses like confetti just to raise revenue and have failed dramatically to enforce the legislation that allows these licenses.

Sounds like you have an good relationship with officer Allen.

Good luck with your future actions and please keep us informed.

Thomas the Taxi.

Daily Mail reports “Parking wardens giving out ‘illegal’ fines to hit targets”

“Motorists have been tricked into paying tens of thousands of pounds in ‘illegal’ parking tickets issued so that wardens can meet targets.

Thousands of the wrongful tickets have been paid by drivers who were unaware that they should have been cancelled by the council contractors who dole them out.

The tickets were issued by NSL, formerly NCP, Britain’s biggest parking enforcer, which patrols the streets of 60 local authorities and Heathrow and Gatwick.

The Daily Mail has seen evidence that wardens are issuing the penalty charge notices simply to hit personal targets set by NSL – and even give this reason to management in writing.

In one case, a warden placed a ticket on a vehicle, waited an hour and then issued another for the same offence knowing that this was unlawful.

On the paperwork, seen only by his supervisor, he wrote in poor English: ‘I issued PCN to keep my performance on reasonable level regardless of that it will get spoil as soon as challenge.’

Parking bosses who review the penalty charge notices know the fines – costing £120, or £60 if paid within two weeks – are wrong, but do not tell the drivers and instead wait to see if they pay the fine.

In some cases bailiffs have pursued drivers for not paying up. On official paperwork, managers have described the fraudulent practice as ‘commonplace’.

During one month last year at one London local authority, managers wrote ‘only cancel if appealed’ on paperwork for dozens of tickets issued for no legitimate reason.

For example, tickets in Westminster have been issued for vehicles unloading, cars temporarily parked on pavements while the driver is opening a gate, and scaffolding trucks at the side of building sites.

NSL wardens say that if they do not hit their targets they are told they are ineligible for overtime and even face losing their jobs.

Parking bosses who are supposed to cancel these tickets simply write ‘cancel if challenged’ – placing the onus on the motorist, who is unaware of the illegality of the fine.

An NSL source said: ‘All councils deny setting targets for parking tickets but they do by giving them another name such as the “expected rate” or “base level”.

‘Some wardens have resorted to issuing tickets they know are unlawful just to hit their target. The company knows most people will pay it rather than appeal.’

NSL has denied setting targets and claimed it is simply monitoring performance, but monthly NSL figures show a ‘PCN target’ in the documentation.

In Westminster, traffic wardens, now called Civil Enforcement Officers, are given a target to issue 1.5 tickets an hour despite the council denying they have specific quotas to fill.

It is also in breach of Government guidelines outlawing target setting. Westminster Council has begun an investigation.

An NSL spokesman said: ‘With any contract we monitor the performance of our Civil Enforcement Officers, as there is a great deal of trust associated with the role.’

He said ‘Performance Indicators’ were simply a guide to whether CEOs were doing their job properly.”

If you have any enquiries in relation to parking fines, please feel free to contact, www.noparkingfine.co.uk

This is an extract taken from the Daily Mail article http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1290090/Parking-wardens-giving-illegal-fines-hit-targets.html which proves how parking fines are being issued illegally.

Editorial Comment:


If the Wardens or Civil enforcement Officers of Westminster City Council want to up their quota of tickets issued, they can do it without breaking any regulation or moral code.


Just go along to Regent Street, Berkeley Street , Clarges Street, Dover Street, Piccadilly, any street in Soho, Conduit Street, Berkeley Square, Argyll Street, Shaftesbury Avenue, Coventry Street, Wardour street, Charing Cross Road, The Haymarket (just to name a few)
and give out parking tickets to all the illegally parked PHV's (mini cabs).
If they are unsure about the ones parked on Licensed taxi ranks, the contravention code is;
no45 (parking on a licensed taxi rank)


If they are being threatened with violence from the drivers then they need to contact the Cab enforcement officers under the command of Chief superintendent Joe Royal.


joe.royle@met.police.uk


They could have a field day but no, parking chiefs at Westminster continue to issue these illegal tickets and victimise Taxis that have over parked on licensed taxi ranks by a few feet.


Its amazing how many taxis have received tickets for this contravention on the Claridges Hotel Rank and yet with the same CCTV set up not one touting mini cab has received a ticket for contravention code no45 on the Taxi rank outside Tiger Tiger, which also happens to be a 24 hour bus lane and bus stand.


The Anderson shelter has in the past shown video evidence that Westminster City Councils mobile CCTV smart car, has victimised Taxis while turning a blind eye to PHV's committing the same offence. Plus wardens walking past illegally parked minicabs refuse to talk to a driver pointing out an illegally parked PHV!


Another strange fact is a statement made by Mr Martin Low, that he works in close relationship with the United Trade group, and is proud of his achievements !

Quote
"It was on that basis that I declined an additional visit with you as my night time visits until after 2am on 2 May 2009 and 9 May 2009 had already given me a very good understanding of the problems and my focus was then on developing proposals and delivering the improvements introduced since then.

I regularly talk to taxi drivers whether they or not they are in a trade association, but I consider that I am very well informed through my day to day contact and the more formal discussions with LTDA, LCDC and Unite.

The City Council is proud of what we have achieved with our partners. The emphasis has been very much on getting on and doing something and we certainly have done that over the last year.

Martin

Martin Low
City Commissioner of Transportation

Built Environment

Email: mlow@westminster.gov.uk‬ "

Well Mr Low you may be proud of your achievements, but there are 25000 Licensed taxi drivers out there that are disgusted with your handling of the illegal parking by Touts.
Also if you are being informed of the trades problems by the UTG why are they not banging on your door about this particular issue?
Perhaps you need to get your info from a new source.
Thomas the Taxi.

Comment left on "Bikers need our help" by anonymous Taxi driver...

Lets be fair the problem with the touts has been going on for years, but in the past they did not push thier luck to far. At that time we were under the control of the police and if the scabs ranked on our ranks they would nick them.
Then TfL took us over and gave us a new boss Ed Thompson, who made that now famous statement "TAXIS AND PHV where I come from, their all the same".Then from checking lamposts in Westminster, MARY DOWDYE came on the scene. So now you can see where I'm coming from.


What knowledge did this pair have of the Taxi or phv trade?
But still, they were allowed to go on making decisions and pushing them through, right up until the killer on the knowledge story broke.
Suddenly the public realised, we were not all wingeing cabbies and got behind us. Ed resigned, Mary got sidelined and we were given the tough talking, tough acting JOHN MASON. Oh how he was going to sort it all out. What he did not mention was, his mouth writes cheques his arse wont cash.


Now Ed and Mary can be forgiven in a certain way, as they admitted they never had a clue when Ken Livingstone gave them thier positions. But not so JOHN MASON, he stated "its my priority,to get these touts off the street".
So JOHN, if that was your priority, what have you been doing since you took over?
Because the touting situation has got worse.


Maybe Boris should look into this... After the last Demo John, you made a statement that you were dissapointed that the trade felt they had to take this action. Did you think we gave up an afternoons wages for fun?


We did it because the man in charge has no backbone, yes you JOHN MASON. To me its not rocket science, if the CBJ is on the street revoke thier license.
Surely you must have seen that the SKETCH CLUB in Conduit st want a rank outside and are willing to pay the cost for it, purely because they dont want thier clientle to be ripped off or raped by touts.
Yes John those same touts that was your priority to get rid of. But John there is a way you can get all your respect back, RESIGN and admit you are just not man enough for the job.


Editorial comment.
The Anderson Shelter now realise that Mr Mason, like Martin Low of Westminster City Council have little or no power to change anything.
We will not be seeking to meet with, or deal with these people and suggest all future complaints be directed to their respective superior's, until such time when appointments are made of people we can deal with.

London Councils may have to refund 1.5m drivers 'fined illegally'.

Up to £150m in fines given to motorists for traffic offences may have been unlawful.

In 2009 a motorist fined for taking an illegal turn had his penalty quashed because of the wording on his ticket.
It has now led to questions over millions of tickets issued in similar circumstances.

Local councils and Transport for London (TfL) have erected hundreds of signs stopping drivers from making left or right turns or carrying out other manoeuvres classed as "moving" traffic offences.
In the last three years about 1.5 million motorists have been fined £120 for not obeying the "moving" traffic signs.

In the test case, which has just emerged, motorist Zeesham Sheikh challenged a ticket issued by Waltham Forest Council for failing to comply with such a sign.

The Parking and Traffic Appeals Service (Patas) upheld Mr Sheikh's appeal.
The adjudicator found that the wording on the ticket referred to the sign itself and not to the traffic order that legally gave it power.

For technical legal reasons Patas ruled that mentioning the sign alone on the ticket was not sufficient to enforce the fine.
London Councils, which represents the city's local authorities, wrote the wording which was then printed on tickets issued across the city.

Parking campaigner Barrie Segal, who helped bring the issue to light, claims the ruling means any tickets issued with that wording were not enforceable.

He said: "Millions of pounds of London penalty charge notices are illegal.
"TfL and other local authorities will have to cancel all outstanding tickets issued and refund millions of pounds illegally claimed."
'Not legal precedent'

After the adjudicator's ruling London Councils amended its recommended wording for tickets issued over moving traffic offences.
That happened in October 2009 but Mr Segal believes any tickets issued before that date could be challenged.

Moving traffic signs include those which prohibit right and left turns, u-turns, entry to and waiting in pedestrian zones and signs which prohibit motorcycles and sometimes cars in certain areas.

In 2007, 418,512 moving traffic tickets were issued in London, rising to 611,130 in 2008 with 418,512 awarded last year, totalling £150m in fines.

Nick Lester, director of services for London Councils, said: "I don't know why they cancelled it [Mr Sheikh's ticket].
"But the adjudicator's decision does not act as a legal precedent."
'Too late'

He insisted drivers who paid up in similar circumstances were too late to reclaim money, adding: "If they don't appeal against the ticket the council has a right to say they accept culpability."

Mr Lester said that, while they changed the wording, they did not accept the original phrasing was wrong.
Transport for London has also been issuing fines to motorists who have not been following the signs.
A TfL spokesman said: "TfL has complied with legislation and it is up to any individual to challenge a penalty charge notice within the appropriate time scale."

Waltham Forest Council said it was examining the ruling.
The disclosure comes after BBC London revealed every ticket given to members of the public using diplomatic parking bays until 2009 may have been unlawful.

Bikers need help...By Travis B

Spoke to the guy organising the bikers protest outside the Law Courts. They have WCC in there today
dy and tomorrow challenging the TMO (Traffic Management Order) that set the charging scheme up as it has NOTHING to do with Traffic Management.

Anyhow he needs as many people as possible to get along and if possible sit in the gallery so the Judge knows it is an issue of public importance. I will do so this afternoon.

He is even less complimentary about Martin Low than us!

The bikers view Low as little more than the paid front man (Is Mason another?) and that the council leader and especially the power behind the throne the deputy leader Robert Davis as the one to go for as he hates it, he is also in the company of Simon Milton and Kit Malthouse (Ex WCC and now Boris Cronies).

We can learn great lessons from these guys and we need to stand with them.

http://www.notobikeparkingtax.com/

Lets get this out ASAP.

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Tiger Tiger Update

The Bus Lane, Bus Stand and Taxi rank, outside Tiger Tiger is still not being enforced by;

TfL/PCO, Metropolitan police, PCO cab enforcement or Westminster City Council.

Even with TfL appointed marshals standing there (Value for money? comes out of your license fee!) touting minicab drivers still park outside the club...

while, just a few streets away, CCTV cameras are dishing out penalty charge tickets to licensed Taxi drivers, day and night!

Why is the CCTV camera outside Tiger Tiger not being utilised?

John Mason

The time has come to step in with this satellite office and revoke their license. They have proved over many years they have no intention of adhering to the confines of the license issued by your department.

Plus if they continue to keep breaking the law with these potential sexual predators outside, waiting to pray on lone females who have been served too much alcohol, by a bar manager who is only interested in their money, then the clubs alcohol license should be revoked by trading standards. TtT.

Crooked Lambeth Council staff 'let themselves off parking fines'...By Matt Watts

Crooked council workers have avoided heavy fines by letting themselves off parking tickets, a town hall whistleblower has claimed.
A member of staff at Lambeth Council exposed the actions of an unknown number of workers from the town hall’s parking monitoring team who have allegedly been cancelling their own penalty charge notices(PCNs).

The corrupt practice within the team that is supposed to oversee the parking fine appeals process allegedly took place up to April this year, but only emerged in a whistleblowing report published last week by the town hall.

Other allegations against staff included misuse of emergency parking badges, which employees had been using outside their own homes or when out shopping.

Neil Herron, head of parking lobby group Parking Appeals called the behaviour sickening.
He said: “This is on a par with the MPs’ expenses scandal. We can’t have civil servants abusing their positions in such a fashion.
“Given the difficulties many motorists and commercial fleets have with PCNs issued, often after the most minor of contraventions, this sort of behaviour will stick in everybody’s throats.”
Eight people have allegedly carried out a potential breach of trust in the parking division and action against them has been instigated by the council’s human resources department, according to the report.

Lambeth Council said for legal reasons it could not reveal exactly what they were guilty of.
The whistleblowing allegations update report, that was due to be discussed by Lambeth’s standards committee on Tuesday, stated: “Action is being taken against staff who are using their position in a number of ways that risk serious reputational damage to the integrity of the parking enforcement and dispensation processes maintained by the council.”
The council prides itself on a “firm but fair” parking policy, that saw the number of parking tickets given out by Lambeth parking attendants fall by 50,000 in 2008-09 to 181,375 tickets.
But £8.8m of parking fines were still handed to motorists in the borough in 2008-09, more than the cities of Manchester and Birmingham combined, according to campaign groups the Drivers’ Alliance and Taxpayers’ Alliance.

Mr Herron said Lambeth could not expect people to see the parking policy as fair until bad practice by workers was stamped out.

A Lambeth Council spokeswoman said: “The council places great importance on whistleblowing by staff as part of our determination to prevent and root out any fraud or malpractice. Lambeth is committed to a zero-tolerance approach against any wrong-doing, and our employees are well aware of that.
“They also know we value their contribution and co-operation in helping to ensure this. All allegations are investigated thoroughly and the council complies fully with its duty to protect whistleblowers.”

A Letter I sent on the 22nd June, 2010....By The English Capricorn.

Dear Suzy Lamplugh Trust.

Two of my representatives from the U.C.G. (United Cabbies Group) recently met with Stephen Hammond MP de facto Minister for London, at Portcullis House Westminster. Certain issues regarding the London Taxi Trade and P/H, (Private Hire) were raised and discussed.

Specifically, Mr Hammond was very concerned to learn from my colleagues that: “Eight women are sexually attacked by minicab drivers, some of them unlicensed, every month in London according to figures released” To see article click here... (Taken from Evening Standard).

Personally as a Father of Two Daughters, a Licensed London Taxi Driver, and also a member of the U.C.G. We have concerns that it is “unethical ” that P/H have Blacked out Windows in the backs of their vehicles. This being for obvious reasons. The responsibility of the Public Carriage Office should have been “Not to allow Blacked out Windows” in the first instance. However, lack of such insight has, and will continue to be detrimental to the Travelling Public, especially Women late at night.

We, at the U.T.G. believe it is a grave misconduct to the travelling public, (Especially Women) by the Public Carriage Office to have ever allowed this to happen. We, therefore, are protesting that all blacked out windows be removed and replaced by “Normal Glass” in the best interests of the Travelling Public, especially Women late at night.

One switch turns this vehicle into a virtual prison

We look for your Support and Condemnation of such a practice as isolating Women in P/H with Blacked out Windows and Central Locking. Furthermore, many P/H vehicles now have windows that do not open conventionally making the situation more like a prison cell than a means of transport home late at night, especially for Women and our Daughters

Yours Faithfully,

Name and Address supplied... Licensed London Taxi-Driver, Member U.C.G. and the Father of Two Beautiful Daughters!
------------------
EnglishCapricorn,

PS.
Passengers Safety and specifically women, will take precedence over anything in this particular situation/subject. There is no arguing point and the statistics back it up. I really believe you can’t turn a blind eye to the situation that has arisen out of the incompetence of the PCO allowing Blacked out Windows in P/H in the first instance. Their Paramount Responsibility is to the travelling public and they “should” have seen the implications way in advance based on the data they had at hand.
For Gods sake, it’s their job!!!
In this instance, they have shown their complete incompetence. And I believe, it is up to “us” to discredit them for the bumbling mistakes they have made and constantly make. They are not fit to govern and this issue is the Knife in their back to prove it. Inquiry?

I’ve got my Teeth in this one and I’m not letting go!
I hope there are some Taxi-Drivers out there that are compassionate as I am about this issue? And get their heads together to raise the point with those in Authority.

The only problem I have is: I don’t get to get near a computer that often, but I will try my best to think of ways to get this coverage. Any Ideas?