New figures show that a total of 2,898 black cabs failed their mid year pollution test prior to the London Mayor abolishing the tests in November last year. A further 1,452 cabs were temporarily taken off the road for failures relating to the brakes. The mid year inspections operated for thirteen months between the 1st October 2007 and 6th November 2008.
Darren Johnson, Green Party London Assembly member and chair of the London Assembly said:
"The Mayor has put Londoner’s lives and health at risk by abolishing this perfectly sensible safety measure. These new figures reinforce my view that the Mayor has rushed to implement an election promise to the taxi trade without a proper examination of the evidence."
"Passengers and fellow road users expect black cabs to be a quality form of transport, with a high level of maintenance. They expect the mayor to promote quality and safety by not letting standards drop. The Mayor has betrayed the health of Londoners by letting black cabs off the hook when there is such clear evidence that many are driving around causing even more pollution than they need to." Notes to editors
Notes:
- The inspection of a Motor Hackney Carriage taxi (a black cab) comprises a large number of items, of which there is the potential for a taxi to fail one or more items. The tests ran between 1st October 2007 and 6th November 2008.
- An initial set of figures from TfL related to the period 1st October and 31st July. The PCO figures show a failure rate of 39% for the mid year inspections. 2,389 black cabs failed pollution tests. A further 513 were failed for brakes and 591 for suspension.
- New figures from TfL show that between 1 August 2008 and 6 November 2008, 2122 black cabs initially failed the mid-year inspection. There were 939 failure items recorded relating to the braking system and 509 for emissions.