A licensed taxi insurance driver has been stripped of his taxi badge after being suspended for a period of 12 months by North West Leicestershire District licensing committee. This was after the hackney carriage driver had failed to stop after an accident.
A taxi driver from Burton has had his licence suspended for 12 months for failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
The public hire driver was involved in an accident in his taxi vehicle with a motorbike in Ashby-de-la-zouch last year. This information was bought to the attention of the N.W. Leicestershire District Councils taxi and private hire sub-committee after the taxi driver was given eight points on his driving licence.
The motorbike driver was left with multiple injuries to his legs including a dislocated elbow after the collision with the taxi driver. The hackney carriage taxi driver failed to stop at the scene of the accident and drove off leaving an injured motorcyclist on the public road in Ashby.
The taxi driver admitted his guilt when he appeared before the magistrates at Leicester Magistrates Court and as a result was charged with careless driving and also failing to stop at the accident scene in Ashby.
The taxi driver received eight penalty points in his driving licence and also was fined £300 by the court.
This matter was passed to the sub-committee by the taxi licensing offers, raising the question as to the fitness and proper conduct of the taxi driver to drive a public hire vehicle due to the convictions obtained.
The committee members decided to suspend the taxi driver’s hackney carriage licence with immediate effect for a period of one year after a meeting that lasted for over 2 hours.
The councillors stated that this type of behaviour is not acceptable of any licensed taxi driver and as such a decision was reached to suspend the hackney carriage driver for 1 year.
A council spokesperson said that any taxi drivers not meeting or obeying the conditions of their taxi licenses will be clamped down and appropriate action will be taken against them.
On this occasion the seriousness of the case left the committee no option but to suspend the taxi driver.
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