Taxi driver!

[e20rod]

Yet another close pass by a taxi this morning on my commute to work so I penned the email below to the company concerned. Initial reaponse was that the manager is off today and will get back to you tomorrow. Not good enough I said, so they replied that I'd misunderstood and they would speak to the driver today. I await further response!

Text of email....

I am writing to you following an incident this morning with one of your school run taxi drivers. The incident took place on Kingsfield Road between Lethenty Cabinetmakers and Kinellar at approximately 7.45am. The taxi involved was a silver people carrier, Aberdeenshire Taxi licence number 80. It is not decorated with your livery but a I've had similar experience with a taxi in the same area at the same time which was one of your liveried vehicles.

The road in question is narrow, being single track with occasional passing places. I was cycling south along the road when the taxi initially over took me opposite Lethenty Cabinetmakers. He chose to pass me very close, less that 1/2 a meter from me. He then stopped less than 100m along the road to pick up a passenger, so there was no need for him to pass me. I carried on and as I cycled up the hill towardsd Kinellar I heard the taxi approaching behind me again. This time he drove very close to my rear wheel and was revving his engine. This section of road is very narrow, barely wider that a large car. He then proceeded to mount the verge to pass me, leaving so little room for me that I could bang on his window as he passed.

This driver clearly has no regard for the safety of other road users or the children in his care. As I mentioned previously I have had similar experiences on a number of occasions over the past few weeks, presumably with the same driver.

I trust you will take appropriate action to educate the driver in question that his driving is below the standard that is acceptable. You may want to refer him to the relevent sections of the Highway Code. I am putting this in writing so that there can be no doubt that you are aware of the danger that he poses to other road users and the children in his care.

If there is a repeat of this incident I will be contacting the police with supporting video evidence to ensure that they can secure a conviction for careless, or more likely dangerous driving. Given that you are aware of the situation this would reflect very badly on Premier Coaches and may even leave you open to prosecution. I will also advise the Aberdeenshire school transport officer.

I look forward to hearing what action you propose to take. My phone number is below should you wish to call me to discuss.

Regards,

Rod.

[Lance Dopestrong]

You might get a more useful response from the licencing office at your local authority?

[e20rod]

>You might get a more useful response from the licencing office at your local authority?

Good point, I'll also contact them if response from the company in not satisfactory.

Thanks,

Rod.

[Lance Dopestrong]

Good luck. Glad you're ok, but I can see why you're rightly narked.

[LollyKat]

Police Scotland has just launched Operation Close Pass: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-48181424 . Maybe it will help a little - it seems to have had some effect in other areas, though I expect your taxi driver may be hard to convince.