There was an underwhelming response to the first taxi driver medical drop-in sessions yesterday – as just six people came along.
Aberdeenshire council officers are assessing how all taxi drivers across the region should be given a rigorous health MOT – rather than those aged 70 and above which is the current requirement.
At the first of three drop-in sessions held yesterday in Stonehaven, council officers were on hand to receive feedback from operators and drivers about the best way to implement the new rules which has already been agreed by councillors.
Some drivers spoke out ahead of the consultation meetings to say the whole thing is an “utter farce”.
One was Stewart Wight of Safe Drive taxis in Laurencekirk who went along to the Stonehaven meeting yesterday. Commenting that he thinks more could have been done by the council to promote them, he said: “It was quite a poor show. I don’t think the trade is against medical checks, but for the council to have made it so complicated is not the way to go.
“I think the council should create their own medical form and go back to basics. They should scrap the DVLA Group 2 idea altogether.”
Derek Sedge from A&I taxis in Stonehaven agreed and said it would have a “knock-on effect”for the industry and said: “I have a pool of more then 60 drivers and some are retired guys doing it part-time.
“If this gets brought in, we will probably lose drivers and we wont have enough drivers for all our school runs.”
Four options were offered at the event. Firstly, applicants could provide confirmation that they meet the Group 2 standards when they apply for a licence or secondly, applicant get their own doctor to fill out the DVLA D4 form which would then be assessed by a council medical adviser.
A third option could be the DVLA D4 form is completed and assessed by the applicants own doctor and lastly the applicant is referred to a council medical adviser for the check-up.
The next two sessions are being held on Thursday, December 7 at County Hall, Banff, between 11am and 2pm and again on Friday, December 8 at Gordon House, Inverurie, between 11am and 2pm.
An online consultation will follow before a final decision on the way forward is made by Aberdeenshire Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee.
