Erewash cabbies face stricter rules on vaping and tyre treads, but CCTV deemed not necessary

Taxi and private hire drivers licensed in Erewash are to be handed stricter licensing standards which includes a ban on vaping and minimum tyre treads higher than the legal limits, but cabbies will not be forced to splash out on mandatory CCTV units.

The Erewash Licensing Committee have brought in the new vaping measures to help enforce smoking bans which have restricted cabbies from smoking in the region since 2006.

Other strict new licensing proposals include increasing the minimum tread depth permissible for licensed vehicles to 2mm to reduce the likelihood of vehicles being used with unsafe and illegal tyres. The legal standard is currently set at 1.6mm.

Also proposed is an amendment to the driver policy to include a statement advising that new applicants seeking a driver’s licence will be expected to pass a knowledge test that will include an assessment of language proficiency.

Drivers in the region will not however be forced to fork out money on mandatory CCTV units after the authority rejected the need for the equipment. The council confirmed it did not consider the mandating of CCTV installations in licensed vehicles as ‘necessary or proportionate’.