Q&A WITH DARRAN HARRIS: Taxi safety gap exposed by lack of daily checks, says CheckedSafe director
- Perry Richardson
- 56 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Safety concerns in the taxi and private hire sector have come under renewed scrutiny following a white paper by Darran Harris, solicitor, director and co-founder of CheckedSafe. Drawing on enforcement data, licensing reviews and industry observations, Harris argues that gaps in daily vehicle checks, inconsistent local authority standards and limited cross-border enforcement are allowing unsafe vehicles to remain in service.
In this Q&A, he outlines the evidence behind those findings, explains why common mechanical faults continue to surface, and sets out the regulatory and operational changes he believes are needed to improve safety, compliance and public confidence across the UK taxi trade.
Your recent white paper suggests there is currently a significant safety gap in the taxi and private hire sector. What were the key findings that led you to that conclusion?
“We came to this through our work with Pendle Borough Council and, amongst other things, reading your articles where we keep seeing that more and more vehicles that are being stopped for enforcement purposes are sufficiently unsafe as to require removing from the road immediately.
“When we started looking into the various licence requirements for the various local authorities we were surprised by how few made it a condition of the licence that a pre-use or daily walkaround check was completed before the vehicle enters service for the day. Some licensing conditions allude to vehicles being required to be safe but the enforcement stops make it clear that vehicles are not being kept safe.
“Indeed how bad would it be if the enforcement stops had not highlighted this issue. Those vehicles are only taken out of service because they have been stopped. Imagine the situation had they not been so, we would have vehicles driving around with bald tyres etc.
“Most people assume that if they see a taxi licence plate on the rear of the vehicle then the vehicle is safe, that is evidently not the case.
“Virtually every other vehicle or equipment used for commercial purposes is required to have a pre-use check, taxis should be no different.
“Lots of taxis are of course safe and comply with the law in which case where is the downside to undertaking a pre-use check to demonstrate that fact. It is a feather in the cap of the taxi driver that they are serious about their work.”
Tyres, brakes, steering and lights are listed as the most common faults found during enforcement checks. Why do these basic issues persist despite existing compliance systems?
“It is primarily because there is no mandatory pre-use check and no national objective standard, something that is currently being considered by the Government and the Transport Select committee.
“These items fail on the MOT, which we need to remember, is the minimum standard a vehicle has to meet in order to be legally driven on UK roads. So if a taxi, which is likely to be on the road much much more than a domestic family car, cannot meet the minimum standard then that alone tells us there is a problem.”
Your data shows that in some areas up to 49% of vehicles fail their annual inspection first time. What does that tell us about current maintenance standards across the sector and why does it vary so much from region to region?
“I would say that maintenance standards vary significantly primarily because there is no objective national standard. Take the standard MOT test, it is an objective standard, everyone knows what that standard is and has to meet it, it cannot be difficult to have a similar national standard for taxis.
“In addition if there is no enforced mandatory pre-use check backed up with random enforcement stops, standards will slip. If drivers are mandated to do something generally they will do so, otherwise they will chose the path of least resistance and do nothing.
“In terms of region to region variations some of this is because of the cross border issue (see below) and sometimes because of a lack of resources. I have had discussions in the past with the DVSA on this very issue and they told me that often if they want to carry out some enforcement stops the licensing authority does not always have the resources to supply officials to assist with such enforcement stops.”
How does the practice of cross-border working impact compliance and oversight?
“The primary issue is that usually it is only the authority that has issued the licence that can enforce licence conditions against the driver. So if a driver from Town A operates in Town B, and there is an issue, enforcement officers from Town B cannot take the driver to task. They need an enforcement officer from Town A present at such random stops, which is why we see lots of joint operations with Wolverhampton and other areas, given the volume of licences issued by Wolverhampton.
“If there was a national standard and any enforcement officer from any area could enforce those standards it will change the position significantly. It would mean drivers cannot hide behind the rule that they probably know currently prevents the same.
“It is a curious point as well because any motorist from anywhere in the UK can be stopped by any police officer for vehicle defects. Imagine being from Lancashire, being stopped in Yorkshire and saying to a Police officer, ah well you cannot do anything officer as I am from Lancashire and my vehicle is registered there.
“It just seems to me to be an odd anachronism.”
You make a strong case for mandatory daily walkaround checks. What difference would this make compared to the current inspection model?
“We do and for good reason. As I said, virtually every other area where commercial vehicles and or equipment is used a mandatory pre-use check is required. It is trite to say that a vehicle that has been checked to be safe is less risky.
“If a pre-use check is not carried out then how can anyone know there are no issues. Frequently someone will say to me, yes but I know the vehicle as I drive it all the time. I would say they are a bigger risk as that complacency is the enemy of safety. How can a driver know if they have picked up something during use, such as a gouge out of a tyre sidewall unless they actually look. And if the vehicle is in good condition then why not do a check to confirm the same? Where is the downside?
“The reason such pre-use checks are used for other commercial vehicles is because they are shown to prevent faulty vehicles being used on the roads. The DVSA have a statistic that 85% of issues found by the DVSA during roadside inspections should have been detected by the driver carrying out a proper walkaround inspection prior to taking the vehicle out on the road.
“With HGV’s, PCV’s and even Vans it is the norm, why would Taxi be any different. They are on the road as much. It is difficult to see a cogent argument to the contrary.
“In terms of the difference between that and the current inspection model I would say that the results would be axiomatic. We know it is not being done now, so it has to improve the condition and state of vehicles on the road.”
Looking ahead, what would success look like if your recommendations were adopted across the UK taxi and private hire sector?
“To me we would see taxis become more respected, professional and have the confidence of the public. All taxi drivers should be treated with respect and dignity so by professionalising it that will come, but rogue drivers need to be weeded out otherwise it can affect the public’s perception of taxi drivers generally.
“I went to a town hall meeting for Pendle Council a couple of years ago, before our system was adopted in Pendle and a local councillor told the chair that she would not allow her own mother to be carried in a taxi licensed by Pendle because the state of the vehicles was so bad. We cannot have that situation. The public need to be able to trust the state and condition of vehicles that are licensed.
“I would also go further and have mandatory driving/working limits for taxi drivers. I can see no justification for taxi drivers not being subject to either the GB Domestic Hours rules or the Working Time directive. A couple of councils have realised the ramifications of drivers being able to work as many hours as they wish unchecked is a recipe for disaster and have taken steps to address it. More councils need to do the same.
“I am aware of some drivers doing shift for a bus company and then when coming off shift do another shift driving a taxi, meaning they can be driving for up to 16 hours, sometimes more. This is not policed. There is a reason rules for driving time were introduced for HGV’s and PCV’s and that is driving is tiring and in short people need protecting from themselves as well as protecting the public.”
