Taxi drivers and police row over casino parking
- By Katie Smyth
- Published in the Courier : 26.07.10
- Published online : 26.07.10 @ 10.13am
(Page 2 of 2)
He said, "The taxi drivers provide a good service and we are not looking to drive them out of the city centre.
"They help us disperse people from the city centre and I'm grateful to them for getting people home safely but we have to keep the roads safe not just for taxi drivers."
Inspector Szwec said far from placing a stringent ban on taxis picking up fares outside the casino doors, the police are exercising a bit of common sense.
"Officers have used a bit of discretion at the casino," he said. "They have got to manage the road. Once it starts building up, taxi drivers will actually be on the carriageway, which is a danger to other motorists.
"It's not just taxi drivers using the roads at that time of night. There are also people coming down to pick up their friends and relatives after a night out.
"When the nightclubs start kicking out we need to look at the safety of people who run across the roads. We are in a Catch-22."
Responding to Mr Stephen's assertion that it was better to collect drunk punters from the casino door, Inspector Szwec said, "We can't start saying it's better to pick up people because they've had a drink.
"The premise should be to look at selling alcohol responsibly to people. We look at the full picture."
Mr Stephen ruled out the option of taxis picking up punters from the courtyard to the rear of the casino as, being private ground, his insurance policy would not cover him in the case of an accident there.
Instead, he called for a reduction in the hours that the carriageway actually qualifies as a clearway.
Inspector Szwec said a more likely solution would be another taxi rank in the area.
He said, "It's not that police have anything against taxi drivers. They are trying to enforce the law. I would love to be able to allow them to do their business how they see fit but we must do so within the parameters of the law.
"What we are looking at is some provision of a taxi rank, which I would probably guess is something on the agenda with the city council."
11.02am - 26.07.2010 Sensible parker - Dundee, Scotland Report This
As usual Taxi drivers thinking they can do what they want and use the same old argument of 'earning a living.' <br /> I picked up my daughter from the town centre on Friday night. I came down the Hawkhill and into West Marketgait and nearly crashed into the back of the que of taxis outside the Casino.
02.10pm - 26.07.2010 SNaP Dragon - Dundee, Scotland Report This
Taxi drivers are completely inconsiderate road users and overcharge for a service which usually involves taking intentionally inefficient routes. <br /> They'll never make good on their threats to stop serving city centre at night as they love money too much. Public service, yeah right.
03.35am - 27.07.2010 Stuart W - Dundee, Scotland Report This
I'm surprised Mr S draws attention to other example of illegal parking to make his case. <br /> I've passed this area quite a few times, and the lack of visibility, drunks who can appear from anywhere and the usual boy racers careering around make this an obvious hazard, and not comparable to Fatties.
03.40am - 27.07.2010 Stuart W - Dundee, Scotland Report This
And Mr S's comment about insurance and private land is surely a red herring. What about taxis picking up at the likes of Tescos or a retail park? <br /> But I like the 'related content' headline 'Taxi firms volunteer Dundee cab cap', which is a bit 'Turkeys volunteer to postpone Xmas'. GSOH evident.
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