Sandwell Council’s taxi licensing team is carrying out spot check operations to make sure vehicles, drivers and passengers are safe.
The latest operation by Sandwell Council’s taxi licensing enforcement team, West Midlands Police, the DVSA and MOT testers stopped 22 vehicles – 18 from Sandwell and four licensed by City of Wolverhampton Council.
Of the Sandwell vehicles stopped, 14 passed the checks with flying colours. Four needed lightbulbs replacing, two were found to have brake pads that would soon need replacing and one vehicle had tyre and lighting issues as well as an insecure battery.
The tyre, bulb and battery issues were fixed during the checks.
One other Sandwell driver was issued with a delayed prohibition to get an excessively worn universal joint fixed – which will need repairing and a fresh MOT for the vehicle.
Of the Wolverhampton vehicles stopped, all four were found to have issues.
One driver was warned that their brake pads were worn and two front tyres were close to the legal limit, another driver was issued with a notice to fix an excessively worn universal joint and an Uber driver was found to have defective lights and seriously underinflated tyres. The bulbs were replaced on site.
Sandwell Council’s cabinet member for public health and protection Councillor Elaine Costigan said: “These operations are really important to make sure vehicles are safe to be on the road. Our taxi licensing team carry out these spot checks every couple of months.
“Many of the issues the vehicles need are easily fixed – such as bulbs - and are done there and then to get the cars back on the road.
“Our colleagues in Wolverhampton have been informed about the issues raised on their vehicles.”
