taxi driver

bethscott1970

Excuse me whilst I have a little rant. My eldest son (he's 12) gets a taxi to school everyday as we live 6 miles from the school and his Aspergers means that the school bus is too loud and terrifying for him. The contract was given to a local one man firm much to my husbands disgust (the driver managed to reverse off the side of the bridge over a stream that runs beside the house when he was pricing up for the job). The first few months were ok then everything has gone to pot. He's rung up saying he wants to pick son up half an hour earlier (the school wouldn't be unlocked by the time he arrived) He dropped my son off stinking of alcohol once (the driver not my son ) on numerous time son has reported that the driver has sworn at other people on the road and even called one driver a black b**stard. OK I swear but I don't in front of other peoples kids and racism is a big no no in our house. And son isn't the world best liar and I believe him. Then to top it all off he rang me 2 weeks ago to say his car was going in for a service and could I pick son up, phone went an hour later to ask can I take him to school the next day as well. He rang again this morning to say he's getting a new gear box and will I pick son up tonight and take him in tomorrow morning?

I rang the council to ask that is there anyway I could get a petrol allowance and transport them (the others move up in august) myself next term, happened to mention that I wouldn't be in this afternoon as I'm picking son up and the council man went nuts :eek: Apparently if they fail to transport the child as arranged the firm get penalty points and enough points they lose the contract. He asked me to list the problems (we'd sent a letter about the drink and swearing but couldn't prove it) then said thats enough to lose his contract I'll ring you later.
Fast forward 15 minutes and the taxi driver is on the phone demanding to know why I've complained about him and how dare I risk his business and his livelyhood.

I know I shouldn't feel guilty but I didn't ring to take his contract off him now just to make sure he didn't get it next year

Bendybops19

I just cant believe how irresponsible this taxi driver is!! :eek: The fact that he stunk of alcohol obviously meant that he had alcohol in his system, therefore should NOT be driving children or any one anywhere!
Dont feel guilty, it wasnt your intention to cause trouble, you are just looking out for your child.
ARGH its made me really cross reading that!! :mad: I hope he gets whats coming to him!!!If he cared that much about his business he would have been more careful!! :rolleyes:
I hope it all works out and your given a proper respectable firm to take your boy to school and back.

Raggie

Whatever you do do not feel quilty... I would have complained long ago..

My father in law is a taxi driver.. and does the school run.. when he has children in the car he has to have a Chaperone (SP?) to ensure the kids are ok...

I do not know if thats because the council insist on it. or the company he drives for does it to cover themselvs..

Your kid comes first.. if you feel uncortable with him being with this man.. then you are doing the right thing..

moggins

I think you've done exactly what you should have done, this man has no right to be in charge of children if he does things like this.

I have an Aspie son too and I know how easily things like this can upset them. Well done.

lisa_cee

omg you definately dont the right thing by phoning up driver sounds like an idiot what a cheek turning up stinking of drink esp when he's transporting a child to school !

IvanOpinion

bethscott1970 wrote:

He dropped my son off stinking of alcohol once (the driver not my son ) on numerous time son has reported that the driver has sworn at other people on the road and even called one driver a black b**stard.

Maybe I am missing something but if I even thought that a driver had been drinking then there is no way any parent should allow their child back into the car; if someone was using inapproriate language in front of a kid then again there is no way any parent should allow their child back into that persons company.

I can not understand why it has taken so many incidents for you to complain. Personally I would take my own child to school to ensure their safety.

ivan

Bendybops19

I have to admit i would have probably stopped my child from getting in the taxi as soon as i suspected he was drinking BUT every one's different Ivanopinion, and i am sure bethscott1970 had her reasons

bethscott1970

The simple reason is I'm disabled myself and was having severe problems that week. I actually kept him off school for the rest of that week and complained to the school and the local council but they could do nothing unless the police had caught him, they didn't even though I had rung them the minute he left and given them the number plate, make model and colour of car and his route from here to his home. I was then assured by the school that they would be keeping a close eye on it and not letting him into the taxi until a member of staff had spoken to the driver to ensure there was no smell of alcohol.
As for the swearing, I can't prove anything as it's an adults word against a 12 year old boys (who has learning problems and therefore is assumed to be lying frequently when he isn't actually capable of it)


The council actually rang me at lunchtime to say they have arranged another driver to pick him up and take him tomorrow but beyond that I have no idea what's happening.

Wig

You only need a chaperone if there are more than 2 or 3 children being transported.

The taxi driver should have arranged one his pals to take take son on the times he couldn't do it. Asking you to do it is way out of order.

You should have phoned the police when he turned up smelling of alcohol, they might have been able to catch him on his way back to where ever he was going.

He won't lose his livlihood for this, worst will happen is he will lose the contract, they would need good evidence of the alcohol to take his badge off him, the swearing would merit him a few points on his badge if you had complained about it and the council licencing comittee were to believe your sons evidence. He could then have challenged the points in court and if your son did not appear as a witness then the points would be cancelled. The up shot of all this is that the council would not follow through on the swearing complaint given that the only witness is a child.

If he loses the contract...so what... he goes back to doing what taxis are supposed to do, working for hire off the street or working for a company with a radio call service.

If he doesn't lose the contract, you tell him straight, that he is not to use foul or racist language infront of your child. You tell the council too, and you give your child a mini tape recorder to record each journey, you can opt to (or not) tell the council your intention of recording the journeys. There would be no legal requirement to tell the driver that you will be recording the journeys. And nothing he could do to stop you if you did tell him that this would be the case.

Taxi drivers should be professional, this one obviously isn't.

Wig

I see you did phone the police, well done, sorry it didn't work out.

Smiley_Mum

Perhaps you may be able to get a taxi for your son which is run by a woman. She may have kids herself, older ones that can organise themselves in the morning, who knows so that she can do a school run. If you did manage to get a woman driver then she may understand things a bit better than the idiot that you've had the major problems with. What a real pain for you. The audacity of the guy to give you a hard time etc, what a complete tube. :mad: