Official Close Pass Licencing response

[col]

Umm, the Highway Code provides a pretty good understanding of the way drivers are expected to drive, nothing to do with me!

Of course its nothing to do with you, there is your wipe your hands clause. Your educational ways take a dark turn there.

I would like to also point out at this point that in the original letter to the licencing board I did stress that I did not want the driver to loose his job, but stressed that some retraining might be in order. Glad to clear that up!

Your opinion doesnt stop procedure,you get the ball rolling,and then keep nudging it so it doesnt lose momentum,and someone is going to suffer needlessly. But hey your covered, read above.

 

[col]

In general drivers should and need to be much more aware of how and where a cyclist can use the road and not be in a position to disregard or compromise the safety of others.

Ignorance is bliss then is it? Oh great, I feel so much safer.

FWIW Mags has always been an advocate of educating drivers and raising awareness. No one is out to deliberately lose people their jobs.

Ignorance is not bliss, but it exists aplenty on the roads.

Are you sure? Educating is great,but hounding and pressuring to get someone disciplined in some way is another thing completely.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

Your opinion doesnt stop procedure,you get the ball rolling,and then keep nudging it so it doesnt lose momentum,and someone is going to suffer needlessly. But hey your covered, read above.

So if Mags doesn't do anything and someone is hurt/killed due to the lack of driving skills displayed by the idiot in the taxi... that'll be Mags' fault too will it?

 

[col]

So if Mags doesn't do anything and someone is hurt/killed due to the lack of driving skills displayed by the idiot in the taxi... that'll be Mags' fault too will it?

As usual you miss the point.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

If you made one it might be a first...

 

[col]

If you made one it might be a first...

That you actually understand you mean?

 

[Arch]

Aha! It seems that one of the junior licencing officers in Glasgow has been a naughty boy!

I've just received this very speedy e-mail:

This gets better...

(unless it's the same person, suddenly realising they aren't dealing with someone they can fob off - even so, that's a good thing)

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

That you actually understand you mean?

Yes... that's it, Col. You're just too damned smart for me.

Your point about Mags "getting the ball rolling,and then keep nudging it so it doesnt lose momentum,and someone is going to suffer needlessly*" was lost on me. Obviously my response saying that if "he didn't do anything it would be his fault too" was completely irrelevant and misplaced because I didn't fully comprehend the finer nuances of your deep and meaningful comment...

You were blaming Mags for his approach and your thoughts that it would lead to "someone suffer(ing) needlessly" and my counter argument that if he did nothing then someone would also suffer needlessly... Gosh, I really don't know why I made such an out of context, stupid and vacuous comment which clearly showed my low intellect for reasoning... what a fool I have been. Thank you Col for showing me the error of my ways.

Muppet.



* Sorry about the sh*t spelling and lack of decent punctuation, it was taken verbatim from Col's post.. and he doesn't *do* punctuation properly.

 

[Origamist]

I appreciate what you have said (highlighted above) but the guy is looking more likely to lose his job the further you push this. How on earth could a taxi firm continue to employ someone who has been found in need of re-training? How on earth could they justify putting a passenger in his car, in the full knowledge he was not good enough to do the job? Also, what re-training can he have, is there a taxi driving NVQ or something equivalent? (and that is not meant to be sarcastic, is there such a qualification?)

No, I am afraid that our taxi driving friend is doomed (which, with the video taken at face value is no bad thing). Like I said a few pages ago, what did you really want for an outcome? You have to bear in mind that any punishment you may see fit may not be at the licencing authorities disposal, I would think he either has or has not got a licence, end of. Lets hope he doesn't find out where you live eh?

The driver isn't necessarily doomed! If the licensing authority is anything like the PCO in London (a supine and toothless body) the driver will not lose his job - I'd wager a slap on the wrist and apology is the most likely outcome (with the possibility of some remedial training thrown in if they want to be seen as taking the case seriously).

 

[magnatom]

I appreciate what you have said (highlighted above) but the guy is looking more likely to lose his job the further you push this. How on earth could a taxi firm continue to employ someone who has been found in need of re-training? How on earth could they justify putting a passenger in his car, in the full knowledge he was not good enough to do the job? Also, what re-training can he have, is there a taxi driving NVQ or something equivalent? (and that is not meant to be sarcastic, is there such a qualification?)

No, I am afraid that our taxi driving friend is doomed (which, with the video taken at face value is no bad thing). Like I said a few pages ago, what did you really want for an outcome? You have to bear in mind that any punishment you may see fit may not be at the licencing authorities disposal, I would think he either has or has not got a licence, end of. Lets hope he doesn't find out where you live eh?

If he looses his job then, that is unfortunate. However, it is his doing, and his doing alone. I will lose no sleep over someone else's mistakes. I would however, be surprised if he did loose his job, but there is no point in second-guessing the investigation.

As for training, there is some training that all taxi drivers have to take at the start . Now I understand that this is focused on the knowledge etc, but how hard would it be to add a road safety module to this, and if a driver is not up to standard he could be asked to resit. If there is no safety aspect currently then I am happy to push for this. Taxi drivers are like any other group, there are good and bad, but they are on the road significantly more, so the effect from the bad is more significant. Therefore, is it wrong to expect high, in fact higher standards than non-professional drivers?

As for finding out where I live. That is quite a jump to make about this taxi driver. Would you be the sort to take revenge this way maggot? The vast majority of people would not. So I suggest that this is very unlikely. If in the unlikely situation that something did occur, I would deal with any consequences as best I could, and without a doubt the police would quickly find out who he was. I will not bury my head in the sand because of the small risk of theoretical reprisals.

 

[4F]

As for finding out where I live. That is quite a jump to make about this taxi driver. Would you be the sort to take revenge this way maggot? The vast majority of people would not. So I suggest that this is very unlikely. If in the unlikely situation that something did occur, I would deal with any consequences as best I could, and without a doubt the police would quickly find out who he was. I will not bury my head in the sand because of the small risk of theoretical reprisals.

I would as I can be quite a vindictive b*****d and will often hold grudges for years I recently got my own back on someone who stiffed me 10 years ago hohum

 

[MacB]

Aha! It seems that one of the junior licencing officers in Glasgow has been a naughty boy!

I've just received this very speedy e-mail:

Mags, the cynic in me suspects that the first letter may well have been a standard response to limit workload. Like insurance companies denying all claims out of hand knowing that a certain %age will not pursue further.

 

[magnatom]

I would as I can be quite a vindictive b*****d and will often hold grudges for years I recently got my own back on someone who stiffed me 10 years ago hohum

Ah, but I stiffed no-one. In fact I should be trying to find out where he lived!

 

[Arch]

I wonder if all this is part of the issue about how we value jobs. Driving, unless perhaps it's an HGV, police pursuit car or F1 racer, is seen as a pretty basic job that anyone can do if they have a driving licence. And yet it's really very important that it's done well, and with the right attitude. It's a similar problem to that of care workers and so on - maybe thought of by many as the preserve of the unqualified, and hence not highly valued either in monetary or status terms.

Has there ever been a society in which jobs are 'properly' valued, I wonder?

 

[magnatom]

The 'I know where you live' bit was supposed to be light hearted

Have you thought what you will do if the licencing people come back and say "we've fully investigated this, no further action will be taken"? At what point are you going to let it go? What do you want as an outcome?

Again you are jumping the gun. Let's wait until I get a response and then I will decide on any further action if any.

I would still be keen to get the licencing board or someone connected to be involved in positive publicity for cyclists road safety, so that could be a follow up regardless of outcome. We'll see.