Passenger care

Caring for your passengers is an important part of taxi driving. As the driver, you’re responsible for the safety and comfort of your passengers as they get into and out of your vehicle, as well as during the journey. Your job is to carry your passengers to their destination

• safely
• comfortably
• efficiently
• courteously.

This includes the care of your passengers as you pick them up and drop them off at their destination in a safe and convenient place.

Remember that you’re the representative of the licensing authority and the way you perform your role reflects on the authority.

Ask yourself the following

• Do your passengers feel safe and comfortable during the journey? Are they getting a smooth ride? If they aren’t, you may need to improve your driving style to give them a more pleasant journey.
• Do they need help getting into or out of your vehicle? Be aware of passengers with special needs, particularly when they’re entering or leaving the vehicle.

To help your passengers, you should

• look directly at them when you speak to them; it can help you to communicate effectively
• make sure they’re comfortably seated before you move away.

In the event of a breakdown, show consideration for your passengers’ safety and the completion of their journey.

Passenger seat belts

Passengers MUST wear seat belts where they’re fitted.

• Adult passengers are responsible for their own actions.
• You’re responsible for making sure that children under 14 wear their seat belts. The only exception is where there’s a fixed partition separating the front and the rear of the taxi, in which case you’re not responsible.

It’s unreasonable to expect the right child seat or booster to be available in a taxi unless a parent or carer has brought it with them. So there’s an exception to the law, which says that if child restraints aren’t available in a licensed taxi or licensed private hire vehicle

• a child under three years old may travel unrestrained but in the rear only – this is the only exemption for a child under three years old
• a child aged three years and above MUST use an adult belt in the rear seat only.

Any child up to 135 cm (approx 4 feet 5 inches) tall and sitting in a front seat of any vehicle MUST use the seat belts or child restraints available.

Dealing with lost property

If you find any property in your vehicle after the passenger has left, you should normally hand it in to a police station as soon as possible.

Some licensing authorities run their own lost-property section. If this is the case in your area, you should hand in the lost property there, as soon as possible. Check with your licensing authority for the regulations in your area.