Fare's fair, if you're lucky

What's the story with taxi complaints? Taxi drivers aren't shy about fighting for their rights. But what about their passengers? Will the new Taxi Regulator help them?

I'm a complainer. I strongly believe in complaining about products and services that don't do what it says on the tin. I complain about small things such as no price labels on bread, cheese that goes mouldy before its sell-by date and under-cooked food in restaurants. I also complain about bigger things, such as freezing trains and buses.

But there's one service I won't bother complaining about any longer - and that's taxis. I won't complain about over-charging, rudeness, deafening radios, the pall of cigarette smoke, dirty seats or drivers who insist on spouting racist, sexist rubbish.

I won't even complain if an abusive taxi driver threatens me with violence. I'll just meekly hope to escape from the cab without any injuries.

Why? Because I complained in October 2002 and the taxi driver involved is still driving around picking up passengers who are, naturally, unaware that he has one previous conviction for assault and another for failing to behave in a civil manner.

The saga started when I "dared" to ask the taxi driver for my change. He became abusive and racist (I'm from England), and when I started to search for a pen to take down his licence number, he threatened to drag me out of the car. At the time, I was too angry to be afraid, but soon afterwards realised how vulnerable I had been - as a woman alone at night on an empty street, with a very angry man.

Following the incident, the Carriage Office decided to prosecute the driver and asked me to appear as a witness. I said I was delighted to be able to make Dublin a safer place for taxi users. A year later, I turned up in court, where the taxi driver was being charged with verbally abusing a passenger, but the case was delayed as the taxi driver's solicitor hadn't appeared. Another year later and I was in court again. This time, neither the taxi driver nor his solicitor turned up. The judge heard my story but decided not to pass sentence on the driver in his absence - and issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

At this point I was ready to forget the whole thing as my "civic duty" was turning into a time-consuming and expensive undertaking. However, when the garda from the Carriage Office assured me the driver would lose his licence if the case was successful (and the State would reimburse my out-of-pocket expenses) I decided to give it one last shot. After a further delay (my fault this time), a date was set for March this year, three and a half years since the incident.

All parties were finally present at the same time. The judge fined the driver, who pleaded guilty, asked him to apologise and awarded me expenses. The garda from the Carriage Office who'd encouraged me to go through with the case thought the taxi driver would now lose his licence. But he didn't, so four months later, he's still free to pick up passengers. He is also appealing the fine.

Tommy Gorman, president of the National Taxi Drivers Union, says taxi drivers who are convicted of assault or abusive behaviour, "should be prevented from driving taxis". He adds that "There is no sympathy from this organisation for someone who has committed assault. Taxi drivers are public servants and shouldn't behave in this fashion."

Gorman sees enforcement of the law as one of the problems. "There are nearly 10,000 taxis in Dublin and the Carriage Office has the same staff as when there were 2,000. Under the new complaints system that'll be introduced in September, the Taxi Regulator has applied for nine enforcers to cover 35 areas across 26 counties. How can nine people police more than 20,000 taxis, hackneys and" limousines? It's just not sufficient."

Another reason drivers with assault convictions are still on the road is that after a public service vehicle (PSV)licence is revoked the District Court often returns it, says Gorman. "Because taxi drivers say that they have to earn a living."

In September, the Taxi Regulator becomes responsible for PSV licences - and has the power to revoke immediately the licence of any driver with a conviction for a serious crime such as manslaughter, assault and sexual offences.

In my case, I wouldn't necessarily want the driver to lose his licence permanently because that would solve the problem only for taxi passengers. A more valuable solution might be for him to take an anger-management course and do some community service.

Was my complaint a waste of time? Probably. Would I complain if something similar happened again? I'd certainly think twice about it.

Complaints about taxi drivers in Dublin should be made to the Carriage Office: 01-6669850. Outside Dublin, contact the PSV officer in the local Garda division or refer the complaint to your local Garda superintendent. After September, the Taxi Regulator will operate a countrywide service to deal with complaints