Ban threat to Kirklees taxi drivers who eat or smoke at the wheel

Sep 17 2010 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

TAXI drivers could face a ban if they are repeatedly caught smoking or eating in their cabs.

The misdemeanours are on a list of ‘offences’ that would earn drivers on-the-spot penalty points under a new system being considered by Kirklees Council.

Other punishable breaches are behaving badly towards customers and using a mobile phone while driving.

A report to the council’s licensing and safety committee said: “While the majority of licence holders abide by the rules, there is a small number of drivers that consistently do not.

“Officers’ time is regularly unnecessarily spent chasing up drivers who do not produce required information on time and who contravene council conditions.

“The primary objective of implementing a penalty points scheme is to improve the levels of compliance within the trade and would subsequently help improve the standards, safety and protection for the travelling public.”

Each offence would carry one to four points depending on its seriousness.

If a driver clocked up more than six points in 12 months they would be referred to the licensing panel and could have their licence revoked.