Drivers are being alerted to a little-known UK law that could see them risk being fined up to £2,500 along with the seizure of their vehicle.
And it’s all by simply by giving their friends and family a lift.
Or more specifically, drivers could be hit with these massive penalties if they are found out to be making a profit from charging people, or accepting money for giving lifts, as the law does not legally permit this.
While it is legal for drivers to accept petrol money or reimbursement of costs for travel, the RAC says drivers face fines and invalidating their insurance if they turn a profit.
Offering a further insight into the law by speaking to the Daily Express, Tim Schwarz – a spokesperson for motoring experts at Moneybarn – warned about the dangers of what is known as ‘taxi touting’.
ADVERTISEMENT
He said: “Taxis home from the airport, train station and even nights out are notoriously expensive [and] in this scenario, many of us turn to the kindness of friends and family to give us a lift home.
“But did you know it’s illegal for them to accept payment for this service?”
ADVERTISEMENT
Drivers risk risk being fined up to £2,500 and the seizure of their vehicle / Credit: Flickr
He continued: “Cab services are very heavily regulated in the UK, especially since the rise of Uber in the modern age, so accepting money when unlicensed is not okay in the eyes of the law [and] without the right documentation, be prepared for a £2,500 fine, six licence points and even seizure of your vehicle.”
So why is this then? Well, experts at Paul D’Ambrogio Solicitors said the law is there to protect people from the dangers of unlicensed drivers, with the company’s site explaining that: “Taxi touting is an offence that both licensed and unlicensed taxi drivers can fall foul of.
“Touting for trade involves soliciting people in a public place to hire a vehicle to carry them as a passenger.
ADVERTISEMENT
“For taxi drivers without a licence, it is an offence to solicit people in public or display the word ‘taxi’ on your vehicle [and] for licensed taxi drivers, it is an offence to transport a passenger who hasn’t booked through a licensed minicab operator.”
They reiterated that: “The regulations regarding booking a taxi in advance have been enforced to help preserve the safety of both passengers and drivers.”
72% of Brits claimed close friends didn’t offer to pay towards car journey costs / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
It turns out however that securing payment from passengers may not being the easiest task anyway, as a recent study by insurance provider Admiral has revealed that 73% of people don’t offer money towards petrol after accepting a journey.
Around 72% claimed that even close friends didn’t offer to pay towards the journey costs.
To top it all off, 63% of British road users say they would found it awkward to ask for money in return for a lift, and 35% said they would turn down the offer of petrol money because they would feel too uncomfortable accepting it after all.
Featured Image – Unsplash
UK News
An old clip of Tyson Fury talking about Oleksandr Usyk has come back to haunt him – twice
Danny Jones
This weekend saw Oleksandr Usyk emerge victorious over Tyson Fury for a second time in less than a year as the Ukrainian won the highly-anticipated rematch on points, and now an old clip of the Manc fighter dismissing his opponent has resurfaced online. Again.
Oh, the irony…
After losing following a split decision for what was his first career defeat back in May, Fury lost following a unanimous decision this time around and while some have questioned the scorecards (as tends to happen with these things), there can be no question over Usyk’s dominance now.
However, rewind to a few years ago before the 37-year-old had even won his first fight against Anthony Joshua and Fury’s naive not to mention controversial comments regarding the possibility of ‘giving’ him a fight look pretty silly now:
Tyson Fury a few years ago refusing to fight Usyk
“I want the big fights and that ain’t one of them. He’s a foreigner in a westernised world. The heavyweight champion should be from Britain or America and nowhere else.”
As you can see in the interview from 2020, the now 36-year-old Wythenshawe-born boxer was pretty dismissive about the prospect of fighting Usyk, who ultimately went on to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 2000 following the first win over Fury.
Despite already having an Olympic gold, multiple cruiserweight titles and an undefeated record to his name, Usyk had only fought and won two heavyweight bouts at this point, which is perhaps why ‘The Gypsy King’ felt comfortable downplaying his potential back then.
However, although Usyk had a comfortable division debut against Chazz Witherspoon in 2019, he also went on to best Fury’s familiar foe Derek Chisora – a man he’s beaten on three different times but maintains he admires both in terms of personality and ability – so there were signs of what was to come.
Moreover, not only was Tyson clearly foolish enough to underestimate him back then but the divisive and inflammatory nature of his remarks in this clip has been labelled ‘offensive’ and ‘xenophobic’ by many online, both at the time and after reappearing on social media once again.
Regardless, it seems that Usyk was just as unphased by his posturing then as he is now, coming out in the post-fight press conference to shrug off his trash-talking to reiterate his “respect” for someone who ultimately believes is “a good man”.
Nevertheless, Fury has now lost two him twice and still maintains he didn’t get the right decision on both occasions, dubbing this latest defeat “an early Christmas gift” for his opponent.
In the previous clash, the Greater Manchester athlete even claimed that fans and judges unfairly favoured him because of the war in Ukraine – a response which also received plenty of backlash.
You can hear how he believes he was ‘robbed’ along with his full reaction following the fight down below:
Featured Images — iFL TV/Sky Sports (screenshots via YouTube)
UK News
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has increased his stake in Manchester United
Danny Jones
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has increased his investment in Manchester United Football Club, taking his current stake from 27.7% to 28.94%.
The Failsworth-born billionaire officially became a minority shareholder in Man United earlier this year, bringing in the Sports arm of his INEOS petrochemical company and plenty of new personnel with him following an initial £1.25 billion acquisition which saw him buy over a quarter of the club.
While his tenure at Old Trafford has been a somewhat turbulent affair so far – having pleased most fans by taking at least some control away from the family but making a number of less-than-popular decisions of late – he is, at the very least, putting lots of money where his mouth is.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has injected a further $100m into Manchester United and now owns 28.94% of the club. This completes a planned $300m investment pledged at the time of purchase. $200m was paid back then out of Ratcliffe’s personal funds.
As per multiple outlets, the 72-year-old has pumped a further of approximately £79.3m into Man United to increase his overall stake just before the end of the year.
This latest figure payment was actually promised as part of his initial partial takeover which was completed back in February, with a filing listed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirming the final payment this week, with Ratcliffe receiving additional shares in return.
It also detailed that the ownership of the shares has transferred from Ratcliffe personally to the INEOS Group as a whole, who also have stakes in French football club OGC Nice, the INEOS Grenaiders cycling team (formerly Team Sky), as well as Formula 1, sailing, rugby and more.
Although supporters will be pleased to hear that Ratcliffe is committed to investing in the club, Keegan’s article details that the money itself won’t be strictly put towards any potential signings in the upcoming transfer window.
Similarly, Press Associates (PA) understand that the funds will be put towards infrastructure rather than player recruitment, as it is also expected that some squad members could be offloaded this January.
Could Man United’s homegrown number 10 really be on his way out after nearly two decades in red?
News of Ratcliffe increasing his United stake won’t do much for many of his early detractors, however, as the Greater Manchester local has been accused of ‘forgetting his roots’ and ‘betraying the working class’ with some recent internal steps.
Most recently, Sir Jim and his newly rebuilt executive board received immense backlash for increasing ticket prices for remaining games this season to a whopping £66 across the board, with no concessions made for young, old or disabled fans.
With sporting director Dan Ashworth having been dismissed after just five months – a man who spent just as much time on gardening leave at his former club as he did in his actual role at United – it’s fair to say Ratcliffe and co. could have been more economical.
The Manc -
21st June 2021 
