by News Desk | May 17, 2015 | London News
Human rights expert Martin Chamberlain….Uber’s smartphone Taximeter
Chair of the Ubited Cabbies Group Len Martin, looks at who decides what constitutes a taxi meter…
Sir Peter Hendy tells us that he took legal advice on whether UBER are using a taxi meter or not, so who did he ask?
An emminent QC who he admits hasn’t a very memorable name!
(It’s Martin Chamberlain QC, Sir Peter)
So lets draw some parallels to compare how technical issues are dealt with in the legal system in the UK.
If a new house were built and If there were an electrical house fire where upon an occupant died, the developer may well end up in court facing manslaughter charges.
Would the court ask a barrister to determine the cause of the fire or an electrician?
Would you ask an eminent QC whether the electrical wiring Installation met the relevant standards?
Or….Would the eminent QC call a subject matter expert I.E. a qualified electrician to determine the cause of the fire and whether it were the quality of the wiring that caused the fire?
If there were an aeroplane crash, would you call an eminent QC to determine the cause of the crash?
Or would the eminent QC call a subject matter expert air crash investigator?
If a drug dealer were caught with a new synthetic drug, would an eminent QC determine whether the substance was a class A drug?
Or a subject matter forensic chemist?
So why would TfL not ask the BSi, Lucastronic, Digitax etc to give expert witness as to whether the UBER device is a meter? How can a safe ruling be made if the courts do not take expert testimonials from subject matter experts?
Who did TfL consult ?
(albeit two years after they licensed UBER)
Yes thats right…. The Taximeter Subject matter expert Martin Chamberlain QC….. !!!
And what makes Martin Chamberlain QC such an expert? Well, below is some of his recent cases… It’s not obvious to the UCG why they chose him to be their subject matter expert… Perhaps Sir Peter would be so kind as to shed some light upon this less than obvious choice…???
Martin Chamberlain QC
His measured and expert advocacy is particularly well respected in relation to issues of human rights, torture, sanctions and freedom of expression.
Recent work: Acted as leading counsel for the Foreign Secretary in the high-profile case of Sandiford, resisting an appeal for legal expenses on behalf of a British woman on death row in Bali.
Recent work: Acted as leading Special Advocate for Bank Mellat in the first ever closed hearing in the Supreme Court, in which financial restrictions imposed on the bank for the purpose of limiting Iranian nuclear proliferation were overturned.
Recent work: Appeared in Swiss International Airlines v Energy and Climate Change Secretary; a claim concerning Switzerland’s omission from the suspension of the EU emissions trading scheme.
Recent work: Represented Transport for London in the newsworthy case of Eventech v Parking Adjudicator. The case regarded Addison Lee’s challenge to the rules on the use of bus lanes in London, which raises free movement and state aid issues.
Well…. Having read his resume its pretty obvious really, of course you would call Martin Chamberlain, sounds just the right chap to us ! perfect choice Sir Peter.
I wonder what the outcome of this hearing behind closed doors will be ?
We’ll have to ask William HIll for some odds, no wait, don’t ask them, ask a window cleaner or a hospital porter
by News Desk | May 15, 2015 | London News
We have been informed that Uber Drivers are planning to go on strike and have a Drive In outside Ubers Office on the 6th June 2015.
Minicab drivers are apparently upset that Uber have increased their commission to 25% and they are trying to curb the number of drivers that are recruited.
It seems that their drivers are starting to feel the pinch and are not happy with the way in which they are being treated.
Below is a leaked text message sent between drivers.
by News Desk | May 15, 2015 | London News
A London Taxi was involved in a high speed car case around St Johns Wood after an unmarked police car’s Automatic Number Plate Reader (ANPR) picked out the fact the vehicle had been reported as stolen earlier in the day.
At approx 18:15 the Taxi collided with a tree at the junction of Prince Albert Rd and Avenue Rd Regent’s Park. The driver abandoned the cab and made off in the general direction of the Zoo.
After witnessing the chase and subsequent crash, I spoke with an officer at the scene who said the vehicle had been alleged stolen.
by News Desk | May 15, 2015 | London News
When it was announced last night that Boris would be making a major statement to the Taxi industry today, there was much speculation about the content of his statement
Was he going to resign as Mayor?
Was he going to Ban Uber?
Was he going to announce “Yes it’s a meter”
Was he going to announce a 10 year age limit on Taxis?
Nope, we were all wrong
Boris Johnson announced this morning that he would be “looking” to introduce legislation to limit the number of minicabs on London’s roads.
BoJo says the number of private hire vehicles in the city has risen by more than 13,000 in 18 months which is causing increased congestion.
In a statement made on LBC this morning, Boris said: “I’d like to talk about the congestion threat caused by the massive increase in minicabs. You may be aware of this as you’ll have seen it around you”.
Yes Boris we’ve notice, but not because it’s affecting bus time tables, TfL’s crazy light praising schemes, extended pedestrian crossing times and ridicules road works schedule would be the villain of the peace there. We’ve notice because it’s almost killed off the licensed Taxi trade.
He went on to say “In the last 18 months, Private Hire Driver numbers have gone up by 18%. They’ve leapt from 65,000 minicabs to 76,000 minicabs – and it’s growing at the rate of about 1,000 a month”. A bit of an under estimate as we have heard Uber are taking on over 100 new drivers every day! But then true facts have never been the Mayor’s or TfL’s strong point.
“We need to consider that there are 25,000 black cabs and we are starting to see a real threat to the movement of traffic on the roads”. Nothing to do with the thousands of new, empty buses that have appeared on our streets under his watch
“What we’re proposing is that you need to have some legislation and I’ll be looking to take that forward to restrict the number of minicabs that can come on the streets.”
Boris ever the politician, with under a year left of his Mayoralty, is he again writing checks with his mouth that his arse can’t cash?
Unsurprisingly, the LTDA are claiming the kudos for lobbing the Mayor in the run up to this momentous achievement. Their 7 years of fence sitting has finally paid dividends (in their eyes) other than splinters, with Boris currently “thinking” about introducing a cap.
Boris also announced he wants to ban rickshaws in London to a bid to help ease traffic congestion.
At present, he claims he doesn’t have the authority to do that, so he is seeking government legislation for a pedicab ban.
Meanwhile, back on the front lines with the rank and file…..the demo is still on.
Over the past few days the intention of the protest have been sort. The question has been asked
What is your objective, what would it take to happen for the demo to be called off?
That’s very simple….the only thing that can stop this demo at Windsor House, which now has the full support of the LCDC, is the resignation of Peter Hendy.
by News Desk | May 15, 2015 | London News
Dear Jim
This is my idea to hamper the rogue ph industry.
As we know, the police already use the Automatic Number Plate Recognition System (ANPR) to catch drivers who do not have road fund licenses or current insurance. My idea would be to give the police more powers in regards to the insurance data base, so that if a PH vehicle doesn’t have the appropriate hire and reward insurance, it should show up on ANPR system.
This would not be as hard as it sounds.
A data base of PH vehicles kept by the congestion charge agency, is already available to police. They also have access to insurance providers, DVLA and DoT databases to check for insured status, registration details and MoTs. To add hire and reward details would be a very simple operation. You can even approach the ERISA claims attorneys when you have any issues regarding the insurance and it’s claims.
If a vehicle has no hire and reward insurance, police should have the power to immediately remove roundels and inform congestion charge that the vehicle is no longer exempt. TfL should then revoke both the vehicle’s and driver’s PH licence. If you own a car make sure you have the proper car insurance, visit https://www.paddycompare.ie/car-insurance for more information.
If the driver rents from a proprietor or operator and there is no signed agreement tha the driver will provide his/her own insurance, then the operator/proprietor should also have their licence revoked. One of the benefits to my scheme would be more profits for CC/TfL and insurance company’s, who in turn could reduce not only our premiums but also the premiums of legitimate Private Hire. The lawyers from https://mslawllp.com/practice-areas/life-insurance/ can help with insurance related problems.
We would need to put this forward with all orgs and unions covering both Taxis and Private Hire. Hopefully it would make it difficult and uneconomical for legitimate PH to drive without the correct insurance. It would also go some way to discourage people from buying second hand PH vehicles with the sole purpose of avoiding Congesting Charging.
It would also make it much easier for police to spot unlicensed touts using minicabs bought complete with roundels from unscrupulous dealers.
As a post script to this idea, I believe the police should be given the power to immediately remove roundels from any PH vehicle found to be illegally plying for hire or touting. Roundels should be handed back to TfL, who would then contact the owner/driver to answer a complaint charges.
Regards
Paul Zola
Editorial Comment:
I was informed last year that TfL tried to link T&PH and Congestion Charge data bases, for use with compliance team’s hand held bar code readers. Apparently they made a right mess of it. They can’t even link their system with the NSL one at Heathrow to catch fake Taxi Drivers, it’s a joke.
This is a great idea and could be expanded so that Congestion Chaging would be able to pin point PH vehicles without hire and reward. If CC wasn’t paid, fines could be issued on a daily bases without involving police.
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