Speeding complaints relating to taxi drivers proved false after GPS data used as evidence

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A number of speeding complaints made towards taxi and private hire drivers in Wakefield have been proved false after data collected from GPS devices was used to prove the drivers' innocence.

During a Licensing Committee meeting held by Wakefield Council, members discussed taxi and private hire enforcement figures. An unspecified number of “malicious” speeding claims were lodged with the council’s licensing team this summer by passengers.

However, tracking data used by the council later proved that these were false.

A separate complaint from a passenger who claimed his taxi driver had kept him in the vehicle was also deemed to be false, the local licensing committee heard. Council Licensing Officer Christopher Burnett said that since April: “We’ve had complaints of drivers driving at high speed dangerously.

“Those have been investigated by the enforcement team.

“Because of the GPS system in many of these vehicles now, we’ve been able to establish that those complaints have been made maliciously. “No further action was taken.

“We also had a complaint from a passenger who felt he was kept in a taxi when he shouldn’t have been, and that was also found to be malicious.” In separate developments, the committee was also told that nine local taxi drivers had had their licences either suspended or revoked following other complaints that had come to light.

Other enforcement actions taken by the licensing authority were for drivers smoking inside of their taxi/private hire vehicle, as well as driving away from a scene of an accident and swearing towards a passenger.

Mr Burnett said a number of those cases remained ongoing and therefore further information couldn’t be provided at this time.