Any of us regularly using the M4 back and forth between town and Heathrow will have seen a very obvious and completely shocking deterioration of driving standards and ability in recent years. Lack of simple lane discipline and general motorway driving knowledge has dropped to dangerous levels because far too many PCO licensed drivers just don’t have enough experience on UK roads to be considered safe.
Of course there are bad British-born drivers, but I stand by my view that it is far too easy to swap an overseas driving licence for a British one and start earning a living carrying fare paying passengers.
I don’t care where you were born or what your skin colour is, surely the time has come to introduce a requirement to produce proof that some form of advanced driver training has been undertaken and you are actually competent behind the wheel before you’re handed a licence in London, or anywhere else for that matter.
The fact that the PH industry has been allowed to get to a point where drivers are able to buy a seven-day insurance policy and hire a Prius by the hour says everything about the lack of professionalism and pride in what they do. Let’s hope the PCO actually do crack down on this corner cutting, and soon.
The other factors
Licensing is only one issue chauffeurs in the capital are having to fight with on a daily basis. Transport for London’s obsession with forcing the car off London’s road system is making earning a living in the smoke a very difficult thing to do. Boris Johnson recently announced the Congestion Charge would need to be raised in the coming months to help reduce gridlock, a bizarre statement to say the least when he’s the one overseeing the loss of great swaths of the road network to placate the cycling fraternity.
TfL refuse point blank to listen to London’s professional drivers when they say the major cause of the gridlock is down to the so called ‘improvements’ Boris and his cronies are putting in place, but I’m convinced that in an office somewhere at TfL HQ, there are a small number of people who are already realising the negative impact these changes are having on businesses but just can’t admit it. How did the planners ever think removing entire stretches of road on the main route between West London’s major transport hubs and one of the world’s most important financial districts wasn’t going to cause complete chaos? They clearly didn’t learn anything after being forced to remove the infamous M4 bus lane all those years ago.
[su_button url=”https://www.thechauffeur.com/chauffeur-crisis-in-the-capital/4/” background=”#99ca3c”] Next >> Who’s to blame? [/su_button]
