So, Sadiq Khan and TfL like putting out statistics. Yet after a recent freedom of information request, TfL refused to give out the rape and sexual assault figures for passengers in Uber cars!
So here are statistics Taxi Leaks has managed to acquire
Rapes and sexual assaults 173% up over last four years 2014-2018There has been a 44% drop in cases being bought to court
Plus only 1in 25 cases result in a prosecution
Prosecutors are being encourage to drop,cases at an early stage. (Source, BBC News)
Back in the real world the number of registered Uber drivers working the app, rose from 17,000 to 45,000 from 2014-2018. Coincidence ????
According to TFL's own statistics, 13,000 Uber drivers had acquired their Private Hire Licence using DBS certificates obtained from an unreliable source. TfLTPH's General Manager Helen Chapman, said that every driver on the list would be contacted in writing to re apply for a police check DBS.
Only 2,600 drivers were contacted and the issue was dropped.
General Manager of TfLTPH said she would personally vouch for all the drivers on the list!
Has any one checked to see if any of the 13,000 have committed rape, sexual assault or other serious crime???
This whole situation is a disgrace.
And, it doesn't stop there.
The sun discovered that Uber drivers were obtaining medicals without actually being examined by a doctor. Many medicals (which should include eye tests and blood pressure examinations) on line, how is this possible.
Shouldn't bells be ringing when we hear that the Uber driver, who set out to assassinate a member of the royal family, who attacked police officers in the Mall with a Samurai sword got off!
Or what about the driver of an Uber car, without a PH Licence, who was said to be using an Uber app (not registered in his name) with passengers in the car....mounted the pavement outside the National History Museum and run over and injure almost a dozen pedestrians.
This case has never come to court, or if it has, it's been kept out of the national press.
The question here is WHY???
Why have alleged terrorist attacks from Uber drivers been treated so leniently ?
Why were fake medicals accepted by TfLTPH ?
Why were the fake DBS certificates swept under the carpet ?
The last question:
Why are TfL refusing to release the rape and sexual assault figures being withheld ? We know the answer to.
TfL have told senior trade reps that they are concerned that if these statistics get out, it may put passengers off using private hire vehicles.
But that's another question that needs an answer!
What are these TOPS and senior rep meetings really all about?
Nothing has ever come from any meeting with TfL, so why do we meet with hem at all ?
All that happens is TfL tell the trade what they intend to do and the reps go back and tell their members.
Surely the best way forward would be to scrap the engagement policy which has kept the trade divided since it was introduced back in 2010.
If TfL need to talk to the trade, they should come to us, all of us, no matter how small a representative body is, or how much they pay in subs, if a group represents drivers it should be on the list for every engagement which must be minuted and released to the trade ASAP after the meeting.
There must be no more secret meetings and done deals.
Perhaps they shouldn't be called senior reps, they should just be called messengers!
TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT :
Again today, we hear that TfL COs have been overstepping their authority at the Kings Cross station ranks.
Passengers have been stopped getting in the point cab on feeder ranks which are ranks in their own right....by these COs and also drivers have been stopped from moving up to queues of passengers while Badge and Bill checks are undertaken.
This is unacceptable.
Why are these COs not trained to a better standard, with a knowledge of the law. They are not law enforcement they are there only to check Badge and Bills when convenient.
Just more proof (if any was ever needed) that TfL have an agenda of harassment against the London Licensed Taxi trade and its drivers.
