New rules on breaks could ruin us, say cab drivers

Taxi drivers said new working rules would really hurt them during the recession
12 April 2012

Black cab drivers today warned that proposals to limit their working hours would force them out of business.

Road safety campaign group Brake has called on the Government to make taxi and minicab drivers take regular breaks and for their working hours to be regulated.

Lorry drivers are already subject to strict working time rules and the campaigners say a similar law for cabbies could save hundreds of lives. Some MPs are also calling for ministers to look into regulating drivers' working conditions.

But taxi drivers told the Standard they are already struggling to make ends meet in the recession and such a law would put them out of business.

Mark Phillips, 47, from Basildon, said: "If this happens I will go and give my badge back. It would finish the job completely."

Ron Stevens, 44, from Lewisham, said: "I think it will be the end of the cab trade. Most cab drivers are sensible in that they would not want to work on past what they are capable of doing."

Brake says 300 people are killed every year in Britain by motorists falling asleep at the wheel. The charity, which advises drivers to take a rest every two hours on long journeys, says the current lack of legislation for taxis is dangerous.

But cabbies say they regularly take breaks and do not pose a danger by working long hours.

The Department for Transport said drivers had a duty not to drive while tired, but there were no plans for regulation.

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