Dodgy Taxi

On Wednesday, for reasons I haven’t yet written about, I had to get a taxi into Bedford in order to sort some stuff out. (I’ll write more about all that at some point soon)

The taxi was – to be blunt – fucked. It was a minibus-type, based on a Ford Transit. The engine management light was on the whole time, it vibrated worryingly when we went above 50mph (on a dual carriageway), and when it came to braking, there were some *very* nasty noises coming from the brakes – the sort of noises that usually mean “no pads”.

And then there, on the windscreen, was a little notice saying “If you’ve got any concerns about this taxi, email us”, and the email address of the local council’s licensing office.

And so, when I got into work, that’s exactly what I did. I’d taken the registration plate, just to make life easier, and emailed them.  Since then, this is what’s happened:

• Within the hour, I’d had a response back from the council, saying they’d look into it. (Pretty much as expected)
• By the end of the day, they’d told me the taxi in question had been booked in for a full vehicle check on the Friday
• By the end of Friday, I got a confirmation that they’d checked the vehicle, it’d failed spectacularly, had it’s plate pulled, and couldn’t go back to being used as a taxi until it had a full signoff from their inspection team. Oh, and the taxi company in question was also being checked now, along with all the maintenance records for all their vehicles.

I’ve got to say, I’m impressed.  Considering the same council has taken a month to inspect/repair a couple of very dangerous potholes in one of the roads I commute on – and that’s a month since I reported it –  it’s been a real surprise to see how quickly they’ve handled this complaint about a taxi.