Worthing taxi driver's licence suspended following accident

Worthing Borough Council’s Licensing and Control Committee took the decision in private last month to protect the individual’s identity.

According to draft minutes from the meeting, the cabby’s driving ‘fell below the standard that was expected of a professional driver’.

He ‘did not slow down’ when he saw a woman in the road and was ‘driving with one hand on the steering wheel’, according to the minutes.

“It was apparent that there was an accident and the respondent failed to stop and failed to report the incident,” say the minutes.

Members of the committee decided it was ‘proportionate and necessary’ to suspend the man’s hackney carriage licence immediately, in the interest of public safety.

They were concerned that the driver failed to show he would act any differently in a similar situation.

The cabby must complete a driving assessment course if he wants to work in the area again.