Minicab safety under scrutiny
Updated on 27 July 2009
By Channel 4 News
Minicab drivers' working hours are under the spotlight amid concern from MPs and road safety charities.
Now some MPs are calling for urgent research into working conditions, following the experience of a Barnsley family whose son was killed by a taxi driver at the end of a 13-hour shift.
Gary Glymond had been out celebrating his 18th birthday and was walking home in the early hours in March last year when, just yards from the family home, he was hit by a minicab as he crossed the road. His body was thrown 30 metres, and he later died from his injuries.
In the course of the investigation it emerged that the cab driver, Lee Sewell, was not only breaking the road's 30mph speed limit, but had been working since 1pm the previous day. He was convicted of driving without due care and attention and banned from driving for a year.
Gary's family are convinced long hours contributed to his death and are now campaigning for a legal limit on cab drivers' hours.
Stuart Jackson, Gary's step-father, said: "You're driving around in three quarters of a ton of metal; even if you're sticking to speed limits it's still a dangerous weapon. And if you're a little bit tired or your concentration's going, it doesn't take a couple of minutes to have an accident, it takes a couple of seconds."
Figures given to Channel 4 News by the department of transport show that in 2007 (the most recent statistics available) there were 1,050 accidents involving taxi drivers; 222 were serious, 11 were fatal.
One minicab driver, who did not want to be named, told Channel 4 News: "I've had airport jobs in the early hours, and you can feel your eyes closing as you're driving. It's worrying. If I'm working long weekend shifts back to back, I'll sleep in the car, get a few hours' sleep in and then start again."
Read Jon Snow blogging on taxis.
Research from road safety charity Brake and the GMB union found that 60 per cent of taxi drivers surveyed worked at least 11 hours per shift, and the same proportion felt "coerced" into working more hours than they should.
Half worked a 70 week. That is almost double the limit set by the European working time directive, but taxi drivers are not covered by this legislation after taxi industry bodies lobbied for an exemption.
Minicabs (officially known as "private hire vehicles") are different to black cabs, in that they can only be pre-booked. Drivers are self-employed, and pay a fee to the cab operator and then keep what they make (after paying out for licence fees and vehicle up-keep).
The body that oversees minicab operators argues that drivers aren't actually on driving every hour of their shift, and that legal limits will affect earnings.
Patrick Raeburn of the private hire board said: "A driver's shift may be 14 hours but he'll only be on road for six hours. Legislation is an unnecessary measure which will mean a pay cut for drivers with no increase in public safety."
Calls to look into the issue have now reached Westminster. The chairwoman of the transport select committee, Louise Ellman MP, says it is an area of concern and is writing to the transport minister to ask for more research to be done