I write in response to “thelighthouse keeper” and the others who write inaccurate stories.

The tyre was not illegal. The officer issued a standard producer and advised that the tyre was changed and the tracking of the vehicle checked. We have records of all tryes fitted to company vehicles at my garage. The tyre was 2 weeks old. The tracking was corrected immediatley and a new tyre fitted.

Simply writing out large chunks of the Road Traffic Act does not make you intelligent, nor does it win your argument. Anyone can copy and paste legislation. The fact is the tyre was not illegal. End of story.If you think you know better than trained traffic officers then I suggest that you take the issue up with them direct.

I have just spoken to Alan Newton, the licencing officer for North Tyneside council. He confirmed 4 official warnings have been issued to hackney carraiges in the last year for defective tyres along with “numerous” verbal warnings. These warnings are to people who only look after 1 vehicle, not 150! I suggest you put your own house in order before criticising mine.

Central taxis carry approximately 2 million passengers per year. In the 20 years I have been in charge there has NEVER been an accident caused by safety issues.

A suggestion to the administrators of this site:-
The site has quickly descended into a forum to criticise my office. An independent observer would quickly realise that this is because my office is right next to the main hackney rank and as such, we are to a certain extent, in direct competition. Surely the hackney drivers can open their eyes a little and look at the larger issues afffecting the taxi trade in general - for example rising fuel costs, costs of taxi tests, etc. They will quickly realise that these issues are beyond my control!

Finally - this site has its own dedicated forum setion which is barely used. I suggest the exisiting posts are moved into it and new ones “forced” into it. Surely this will make the posts easier to read in the long-run?

Graeme Kennedy.

Note From Admin:  I could show all the comments posted from your ip address which would show who’s calling who. I choose not to as I agree to some extent that the site is in danger of going off course and I would hope that by publishing the preceding article, we go someway towards a site for the good of all.  How many readers read the ‘News Guardian’ every week compared to the tiny readership of this site. Your advertisement continually casts a bad light on the Hackney Carriages. We are a Minority, we are no threat to your business. Your real competition is and always will be other large private hire offices. You don’t compare yourself to them in your ads. You continually pick at the Hackney Rank were maybe as few as 16 street working cars scratch their living. I was here before you left school, I even worked for your Dad for a time, the Hacks and the Private Hire drivers had a lot of respect for Colin and he reciprocated. There will be no more ‘Picking’ on Central Taxis from this site, if that’s what you think it is, But how soon you have cried when someone pushed back.

http://www.toomanytaxis.com/2008/07/04/central-taxisdefends-safety-record/