English and local knowledge tests for taxi drivers?
Friday 2nd September 2011, 2:00PM BST.
TAXI AND private hire drivers could be forced to take English tests and be quizzed on local landmarks when applying for a licence in Shropshire.
Concerns have been raised that the current tests are not tough enough and the proposed new measures would ensure a good level of service and safety for passengers. Under the plans, applicants would be quizzed on their knowledge of local roads.
They would also face questions on landmarks in the county’s market towns including cinemas, hospitals and theatres.
Drivers would also be required to take a test of their understanding of the English language over the telephone or on a computer with their answers analysed by experts.
Under the proposals, If they fail three times they will not get a licence.
The test would take about 15 minutes to complete and would cost an additional £25 which would be added to the licence fee for applicants. If a person fails the test they will also be required to pay another £25 for each resit.
Members of Shropshire Council’s strategic licensing committee are being asked to approve amendments to the drivers’ knowledge test when they meet on Wednesday.
A report to the committee says: “The knowledge test can be amended to respond to concerns that the test needs to be more rigorous.
“In order to ensure the drivers being licensed with Shropshire Council have all the required skills and knowledge to provide this service, the knowledge test can be expanded to test local knowledge and the ability to speak English.”
It is proposed that the type and number of questions be increased along with a higher pass rate for certain elements of the test.
By Russell Roberts
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working for the council and speaking to these taxi driver wannabes everyday, this is a good measure.
Plus if i ask one more of these foreign applicants from out of Shropshire which TOWN they want to apply in and they say SHROPSHIRE I’ll scream.
If they can’t understand what town they are driving to as a taxi driver, they should automatically fail, as well as if they can’t speak english. Which 90% cannot.
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I wonder if they’ll also be tested on Dawley, Broseley and Whixall. Beaute
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This policy is long over due and brings shropshire into line with its neighbouring borough.
I know some people seek to make spoken english and literacy a racial issue but this is not a rational argument. Having been a Taxi driver for over tens years I can relate to the difficulties not least the unwarranted stress created collecting fares whose spoke english is non-existent or poor, heaven know what difficulties customers hiring taxis encounter when the situation is reversed. The knowledge tests are not sophisticated or designed to ” catch people out” they are a reasonable assessment of a persons’ literacy nothing even a dyslexic would be challenged of .
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If thats the case one “local” taxi company wont have any drivers left!
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Ha ha like it
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Yeah thanks to Central bringing in numptys who can’t even drive properly let alone speak English….
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they should be tested on the ability to have a shower too, a B.O ridden taxi is not pleasant at all!!
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Good, local jobs for local indigenous people
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There’s been too many times I’ve had to direct a taxi driver how to get into town. About time
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You have obviousley used a taxi company that does not originate from shrewsbury, the key is to use the old shrewsbury firms the drivers dont need sat navs, and are local people, well known by the people of shrewsbury, and as one companys advert says we know north street from the North star
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About time too.
When I was in the UK last December, we booked a taxi to go from Shrewsbury to Wem, with another pick-up at Hadnall.
The Hadnall pick-up was at the end of Ladymass Lane, about 20 yards from the A49.
The A49 was clear of ice, but the back roads were treacherous. After collecting the people from Hadnall, the foreign driver, against our advice, decided to go up Ladymass Lane towards Sansaw. He decide to use his phone approaching a 90 degree bend, and we nearly ended up in someones garden. Then he wanted to go left at Sansaw towards Harmer Hill. We talked him out of that and sent him towards the A49 again. When he reached the main road, the dozy pillock was going to turn right towards Shrewsbury.
He was clueless. We went from Heath Farm to Wem with the headlights on main beam. His odometer was not working, then he had the nerve to ask for a deposit for the return journey. We declined, rang his office and reported him.
He was not just clueless, he was a danger, and I’m sure he is not the only one.
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Question 1: How do you spell ‘SAT NAV’
Question 2: Are you a driver from the West Midlands who has come to Shropshire as the taxi work has dried up in Wolverhampton and Telford and you work for Central Cars?
Question 3: Do you know what that weird looking monument is by the river in Shrewsbury and why it was put there? Could you recommend a better thing the money could have been spent on?
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Hate to say it but these questions need to be asked, especially number 1.
LMAO!
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The tests should be done in person, because who is to know whether a doppleganger is used when done over the phone or PC.
It would also act as a deterrent for would-be benefit fraudsters!
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‘If they fail three times they will not get a license’.
I like the idea of getting a second chance, but with this third chance option, how long will it be till Andy Coulson is a taxi driver round these parts.
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I feel that this is long overdue, but amazed because I thought you have to have an understanding of english to get into this country.
Another thing I would add is that its rolled out nationally and a data base it set up, in case they try elsewhere.
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THIS IS AN EXTRACT OF A COPY OF AN EMAIL THAT I SENT TO SHROPSHIRE COUNCIL THIS WEEK–
Access cars as a company we not accept any drivers that you have licensed, that do not have a current CRB. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL WE ACCEPT A CERTIFICATE OF GOOD CONDUCT. In fact the policy of allowing these certificates is at odds with the policy of the Shropshire Council Passenger transport unit, they also insist that all drivers and escorts have a current CRB.
We are also very concerned that the drivers that are being licensed, have no knowledge of the local area, and are therefore not suitable to drive for our company, we had a driver that came to apply for a driving job, come with an interpreter.
We have traditionally taken the view that if a driver had obtained a private hire drivers licence, they had reached a minimum standard, this is obviously no longer the case. And we will perform further checks ourselves. As I said earlier no CRB no Job.
I would suggest that you look at section 4 paragraph 5 of the drivers licence and conditions again.
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Well done Robbie. A pity that all the other firms don’t have your standards and the council let’s them get away with it.
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Would-be taxi drivers in London have to acquire “the Knowledge” – you see them driving around on mopeds with clipboards on their handlebars, whilst they study London-specific navigation and subsequently pass the examination.
Why not the same here? Can you imagine a visitor, particularly a foreigner, to any of the local areas having to give directions to a taxi driver who should know the area like the back of his hand?
Blimey, call centres in Mumbai are bad enough to have to deal with without the same principle being applied to wannabe taxi drivers.
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“The test would take about 15 minutes to complete and would cost an additional £25″ Fifteen minutes isn’t anywhere near long enough to ensure proper competence and it sounds like just another easy £25 for the council. Proper identity checks should be compulsory as it’s all too easy for incompetents and illegals to get someone else to take the test for them. Also can we please have spot checks to put a stop to the illegal practice of taxi drivers smoking in their cabs?
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“Taxi mate…..how much you normally pay?”
That about sums it up in one sentence.
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oh dear
why are so many magnetised by the council creating a problem and solving it by charging people to work in order to increase revenue?
quite simply just as with any shop, industry or business supplier, if you dont like them, dont use them – in this clique of a community we live in word soon gets out
im staggered its only £25 to be honest
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its a national story if folk made a note of the good–the bad–and the ugly things could improve
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