We are the Newcastle Hackney Carriage Drivers. We work unsociable hours, to ensure your loved ones get back home to you safely. We believe customer safety is paramount.

You maybe aware that Newcastle City Council are implementing a new policy, where every Taxi needs to have a white bonnet lid. We strongly object to this new policy, that Newcastle City Council are forcing upon us. 

The council claim that this policy will be beneficial and keep everyone safe. We, as drivers strongly believe that white bonnets, will not make the public safe, in fact, if white bonnets become an image of Hackney Carriage, it will put the public in danger especially at night. At night when all cars have their headlights on, the colour of taxi bonnets will not be visible or clear to people, especially to visually impaired people. Implementing this policy is a form of discrimination, as it excludes people with visual disability.

We think that this policy is a waste of taxpayer’s money because anyone can put on a white bonnet wrap and target vulnerable people. It also allows predators to merge in easly with all the drivers.

Newcastle City Council, don't allow CCTV in taxis. Drivers have a duty of care towards our customers as well as the right to feel safe at work ourselves. We would rather Newcastle Council allow CCTV in taxis and on top of ranks which can be monitored in a case of an incident. -
We believe that having the right checks done on drivers and also regularly checking driver’s vehicles will make the public safe.
We feel that tax payer's money, should be used in more positive ways, to implement safe guarding in the city. Street Pastors, policing, Council enforcement, Taxi Signage on ranks are all means in which safe guarding could be improved to a higher standard, than having white bonnets on vehicles.
We all feel, if ranks were added to these locations and in plain sight of the public, this would be of great benefit to the public. We believe that more 24 hour ranks should be made available for the trade, this would be beneficial for the public.
Taxi ranks that are available after a certain time in the evening, are generally taken up by private motorists who have driven into town and end up parking their vehicles on these designated ranks, therefore stopping hackney carriage drivers from operating on these ranks.

We have been in situations where police, rank marshals and pastors, have brought young adults to our vehicles, after they have been spiked and are highly vulnerable. I'm afraid to say, once these authorities walk away, those youngsters get dropped off and when they leave the car, they are alone. As drivers we are restricted on the measures we can take, by the time you find one of the authorities to inform them, that young person has gone. Instead of putting white bonnets on taxis, the council need to invest in measures to actually keep these youngsters safe until they are in the right state of mind, instead of putting their safety down to white bonnets.

Many of us, have private work, customers use our cars for the prestige look on our vehicles. Though the look of a vehicle is not one of our main concerns, the revenue we loose is. Some of these customers are footballers, business men attending meetings, funeral services, doctors and judges. Adding wraps to our vehicles making the vehicle look like they have been in an accident, could potentially mean we loose this work. This will make many drivers loose revenue they depend on, forcing them to join taxi offices and ranks in the city, resulting in more taxis and less work for drivers.

The same council opened up badges for drivers, whilst all the drivers pleaded with them not to, to the point that the city is flooded with taxis and they can't govern them. Hackney carriage taxis under current the policy, must operate with: • An illuminated top sign • An illuminated for hire sign in the front windscreen • Internal widow decals showing license number and expiry date
If the council were to look at the following points, that all of the drivers, working in the trade propose, it would have a more positive impact as a whole.
There should be more taxi ranks made available within the city centre especially in areas where there is a high volume of people on a night out. Such examples are Grey street, the Quayside and around by the Centre for Life. Currently there are limited taxi ranks in the town and therefore less accessibility for the public.
Newcastle City Council’s view is to create, black in colour and white bonnet taxis to represent Newcastle United Football Team. This is very concerning for the driver’s safety, as we work all over the Northeast and in certain areas like Sunderland, our taxis will get vandalised, as there is a rivalry between the two football clubs. Also we’ll be a target for the away fans too.

Newcastle Hackney Carriages have always had a visible roof sign, the whole car being black, clear door stickers and a rear plate. All of these together makes the taxis identifiable, presentable and most importantly, clearly visible to the public.
We hope that you see these concerns from our perspective. We would kindly appreciate it, if you could support our concerns about public safety as well as ours and sign our petition