Friday
Feb202009
Driver fined for smoking outside his cab
Friday, February 20, 2009 A taxi driver has just rung Forest to say that, this morning, he was smoking a cigarette outside his black cab when a taxi inspector walked up and gave him a fixed penalty notice. His "crime"? Smoking "too close to the cab".
The cab door was open but it seems incredibly petty to fine someone £50 (or more) without having a quiet word first.
I'm not even sure the driver has committed an offence. We'll find out soon enough because I've been in touch with the local paper. Next stop, the council. Who do these tinpot dictators think they are?
Reader Comments (10)
Surely he is not breaking the law. He wasn't smoking in a substantially enclosed public area.
With this lunacy, and publicans now, at last, protesting the ban, and being met with a brick wall, it is time for mass defiance from the pubs and clubs, this could not be handled by the Government.It seems it's the only way forward.
'DEFY OR DIE' should be their slogan, because that is the reality now.
How long before the fines start coming in for smoking too near the pub door whilst standing in the freezing cold and rain to have a cigarette.
Will the ban maybe extend to fining people that are 'thinking' about having a cigarette ? Or actually having the nerve to carry a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.
This is now getting beyond a joke and it's about time people decided that 'enough is enough'
This overzealous taxi inspector (whatever that means) does be named and shamed. The taxi driver has committed no offence and should refuse the pay the fine. What a complete waste of public money. Unfortunately, this sort of public sector waste is not uncommon.
I hope you win with this. Please keep us updated with the devopments in the local press and with the council. There is no law against smoking outdoors
Does the 'fixed penalty notice' state the exact offence?
That officious pig's name should be revealed and he should be named and shamed, and also be subect to reciprocal petty intolerance from elsewhere and see how he likes it.
The problem is a lot of these enforcement agencies have too many personnel and probably have to show heads on a plate to their employers.
Its time that heads should roll in all these 'jobs for the boys' in these over subscribed agencies.
I can't find it on Google yet, but I believe you have to be a certain distance from the cab before you can light up. The numbers 5 and 10 yards come to mind but I can't track it down yet.
The police state is upon us.
How soon before one of these little tax/ratepayer-funded creeps picks on the proverbial Wrong Person (pref NOT wearing a hood).....................?
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