New Ruling on Turning Circles for Taxis

A High Court ruling could have a major impact for the black cab trade in UK cities including London. In the past taxis have had to comply with turning circle requirements in order to operate in UK cities.

The turning circle ensures that the taxis will be able to maneuver in tight spots and perform u-turns easier. However this has meant that the LTI brand of taxis has had an advantage over other taxi manufacturers who don't comply with the turning circle requirements.

In a case brought against Liverpool City Council, Mr. Justice Blake found that the turning circle requirement infringes European law on the free movement of goods, by restricting the use and sale of Cab Direct’s E7 black cab.

He found that the restriction on use of the E7 taxi is contrary to Article 28 of the European Community Treaty, as well as finding that the Council had acted contrary to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Given that the E7 operates successfully across most of the UK without difficulty, the restriction was not justified on safety grounds.

The ruling could be good news for taxi passengers with disabilities as some of the LTI taxis for sale are not wheelchair accessible. Liverpool City Council was found to have breached the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

In a landmark judgement the Court found that, contrary to the Council’s claims, its existing hackney taxi fleet - composed mainly of LTI’s ‘London-style’ cabs - was not safely accessible to all wheelchairs.

By failing to take steps to improve matters by licensing the E7, which has a larger flat floor area for manoeuvring and securing wheelchairs - the Council had failed in its legal duty and discriminated directly against a significant number of wheelchair users.