Cabbies could face stricter training amid fears they have lost their way – thanks to their love of sat navs.
City bosses are considering a crackdown on drivers after uncovering a series of failures.
Officers believe that once they have undertaken the ‘knowledge’ – the rigorous industry test that makes sure cabbies know their way around Manchester – they no longer pay attention to learning the city’s layout.
A new report due to go before council bosses says some drivers cannot even find Manchester’s most iconic locations.
It says: "It is claimed by trade reps that drivers are no longer developing their route knowledge once they have passed their knowledge test and rely instead on satellite navigation technology for journey planning.
"This has been identified as problematic by the trade representatives who indicate that it is not unusual for fellow drivers to ask them for locations of popular Manchester landmarks."
As the M.E.N. revealed last week, complaints about the city’s cab drivers have soared in the last year.
At the time one industry representative called for a council crackdown on drivers who are rude or discriminatory – by providing better training.
Now officers have admitted training is ‘inadequate’.
As well as route knowledge, they believe disability discrimination could be a problem.
The report says: "Following receipt of a complaint from a disabled passenger, licensing officers visited the taxi rank at Piccadilly station and ascertained that most drivers on that rank claimed not to know that their vehicles were fitted with a swivel seat and ramps."
It adds that despite Manchester College creating a disability awareness course for drivers – at the council’s request – it was ditched because too few drivers showed any interest.
Now training is to be reviewed.
Manchester town hall bosses will now consider whether drivers need more customer care, conflict management and disability awareness training – as well stricter driving assessments and route knowledge tests.
Meanwhile half of taxis fail their regular vehicle tests, introduced in 2008.
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The chairman of the regional taxi authority responded "Sorry was that M19?"
I'd be more concerned about the shocking state of repair of some of these taxis, how many do you see driving around with out working lights for example, poor vehicle standards quickly followed by poor driving standards
Why not have them sit an exam each year, at the same time they apply for a renewal to their licence, as well as a driving test every 3 to 5 years
isnt thats why sat navs were made for????
Don't have a sat nav, never will. That's what A-Z's are for! Life skills are slowly being erroded by technology. What happens when the technology fails like in the shops? Everything goes to pot.
try using private hire in Farnworth they dont know where anywhere is they only know `five pounds` even if you only gone 2 hundred yards
Government should get out of the taxi business! If a taxi company is incompetent it'll soon be history. Leave qaulity judgement to the public.
Just an excuse to get more money out of the drivers.
look lets face facts ! go out and get a taxi in manchester at night and it will almost certainly be a foreign driver.why do we continue to blame all taxi drivers for not knowing where they are going? the licensing laws are a joke and drivers are given the answers to the questions to the knowledge test.you are lucky to get one that actually speaks english at the weekend.the council is to blame for putting these people behind the wheel.i was a taxi driver for 4 years and it was the worst job ive ever had....the council give out the licence so lets see them giving out english lessons before we start blaming anyone else !
As a ex manchester private hire driver i found that the majority of drivers are scruffy ignorent and dosnt show manchester in a good light ,ive seen drivers go to work in their pajamas, and quite a few are hung over from the previous night.Most dont know what a shaver is? Along with very little knowledge of the highway code never mind the layout of manchester.Sounding horns rather than get out of the cab.
Correct, Sat Navs are not allowed in our Company, it brings poor standards, the council should improve the test that the trade have asked for in the last 4 years !!!!!
Bolton Lad (23/08/2011 at 17:19)
Don't have a sat nav, never will. That's what A-Z's are for! Life skills are slowly being erroded by technology. What happens when the technology fails like in the shops? Everything goes to pot
I think city bosses need to take away all the technology from thier offices and see how well they know thier jobs.
This is nothing to do with a Sat navy problem. Manchester Licensing have shot themselves in the foot and realised that they have dropped a huge one because it was THEY who bowed to pressure ,from certain quarters, to change the test,from the 'knowledge',to a multiple choice test. Too many immigrants found it impossible to pass the old test and it doesn't help when you have an 'academy' that guarantees a pass at any cost. Hmmm...