Taxi drivers given 'no warning' of skills test

Carlow52

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0511/breaking53.htm

The campaign group Taxi Drivers for Change has said it was not given advance notice of this morning's introduction of new driver skills tests, by the Commission for Taxi regulation.

The Commission announced it will be mandatory for all new entrants to the small public service vehicle (SPSV) industry to engage in a skills development programme, and an area knowledge test.

The skills development programme will be rolled out to existing drivers on a phased basis.

From today new entrants to the industry will face a test on:

- The basic rules of operating in the SPSV industry, including licensing, regulations, rights and responsibilities

- Vehicles, including standards, testing and maintenance

- Area knowledge, route selection, map reading, testing and fares

- Delivering customer satisfaction, including disability awareness, diversity and equality and complaints

- The SPSV business, including planning, promoting and running a business

- Safety, including personal security, health and safety and emergency situations.

Commissioner for Taxi Regulation, Kathleen Doyle commented; "I acknowledge that many drivers already offer an excellent service, however, ongoing personal development is a necessary requirement of any successful business and it is part of the Commission's objective to ensure that the SPSV industry has highly skilled drivers delivering high quality services."

Map reading :)This should be good.

Random

Existing drivers get 2 years to take the test don't they? How much notice do they need? If they can't pass it within that time frame then they shouldn't be taxi drivers.

TaxiManMartin

This will be a doddle.

If you cant get over tyhis you shouldnt be allowed to drive a taxi anyway.

DarkJager

How about they add in a module entitled "The Basics of Driving" as well? They can teach taxi drivers about:

*respect for other road users; that plate doesn't give your ownership of the whole ****ing road
*why cutting across 2 lanes of traffic from your rank is a dangerous manoeuvre
*how to negotiate roundabouts in a safe and legal manner
*Quick routes to your passengers destination instead of milking the meter

shenanigans1982

Guarantee 99 percent of them would fail a test on merging with traffic or identifying where the switch for the indicator is located.

javaboy

Moved from After Hours.

consultech

Yeah I dont see how any genuinely deserving taxi drivers can have any gripe with this.. if anything it's a bit light.

How about an English language test?

I really don't think it matters what's brought in in this corrupt sh1thole anyway... this will be just another regulation procedure that will be possible to get around with backhanders anyway.

limericklad87

DarkJager wrote: »

why cutting across 2 lanes of traffic from your rank is a dangerous manoeuvre

Definitely referring to William street/ Sarsfield street (Outside debenhams) in limerick ya???