Major taxi defects frightening, says councillor

The number of taxis found to have dangerous or major defects has been described as "frightening".

Huntingdonshire District Council suspended 23 taxi licences between October and 10 January, the majority of them because of vehicle issues.

A report presented to a licensing and protection committee meeting on Wednesday said dangerous defects were categorised as faults that "pose an immediate risk to the driver, passenger, or public safety".

Independent group councillor Barry Banks said: "I find it a bit frightening, obviously how long have they been driving round with these major defects?"

As well as two licences being revoked, 10 were suspended due to major defects and four for dangerous defects.

The report said dangerous defects could include things like severely worn brake pads or disks, tyres with exposed cords, cracked suspension parks, or fuel leaks.

Major defects were described as "serious faults that affect the safety, environmental impact, or overall roadworthiness of a vehicles" and could be a headlamp not working, damaged tyres, or windscreen wipers not functioning properly.

Banks asked if any measures were taken to check taxis were compliant, or whether issues only got picked up when the car was taken to a garage.

Officers said they did undertake additional checks, giving examples of linking up with Cambridgeshire County Council to carry out checks at schools, and working with police to stop and check if taxis were safe.

Two licences were also suspended for drivers failing to provide a medical.

Officers explained that drivers had to provide an updated medical every six years, or yearly for drivers aged 65 and older.

They explained that if this was not carried out they would give the driver a period of time to provide it to the district council.

However, they said that if the driver failed to do so they would suspend them on safety grounds.

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