Taking into account the "short distance" complaints of the passengers, the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality tightened its controls on the taxi drivers serving in the city. Civilian teams got into taxis like passengers. Taxi drivers who did not pick up passengers on the grounds that they had a short distance to travel were fined.
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Police Department Police Traffic Branch continues its inspections to ensure uninterrupted and safe traffic flow. Evaluating the complaints from the citizens, the teams took action after the complaints that the commercial taxis did not take passengers by saying 'short distance'. Civil police teams asked the taxi drivers, who they boarded as passengers, to take themselves a short distance at different points of the city. A fine of 427 liras, determined by the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Committee, was imposed on the taxi drivers who made the passengers suffer by not going short distances.
“Even if it's a short distance, you have to drive”
Police Traffic Branch Manager Fatih Toprakdeviren said that during the inspections they carried out by civilian teams, they encountered short-distance objections from some drivers. Toprakdeviren said, “Taxi drivers cannot victimize passengers even for short distances. The distance they will go can be 3 kilometers, 1 kilometer or even 500 meters. They have to take the passenger. The passenger will maybe go to the hospital and the distance is 300 meters. There is an old man who cannot walk even for a short distance. He has to take the passenger. In our practices, our civilian teams took the necessary action when faced with such a situation.”
Controls have been effective
Fatih Toprakdeviren, who stated that nearly 35 actions were taken in the last month in civilian inspections, said, “We have also seen that the inspections have been effective over time. We inspect 100 taxis a day as civilians. If we were encountering 20-25 taxi drivers who did not comply with the rules before, this number has now decreased to 5 or 3,” he said.
“There will be no problems thanks to the measures taken”
Celil Anık, Chairman of the Izmir Chamber of Drivers and Automobile Craftsmen, also stated that they are working together with Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Police Department, Izmir Provincial Police Department Traffic Branch Directorate, and thanked the inspection teams. Saying that Izmir Chamber of Drivers and Automobile Tradesmen set an example for Turkey with its sensitivity and work, Celil Anık said, “We are already doing the necessary work to prevent such incidents from happening. But in every profession, there are people who make mistakes. The important thing is to minimize them. According to the previous study by the Traffic Branch Directorate, the negative rate was 2 percent. He is gone now,” he said. Stating that they can follow the vehicles with the system they have established, Anık said, “You are standing on the side of the road and you wanted to stop a taxi. When it does not stop, we can determine whether the vehicle has stopped or not if we are given the plate or route and time information. These are, of course, deterrent measures. However, the important thing is that our friends behind the wheel are sensitive. 2 taxi drivers operate in our city. I think our taxi drivers are 823 percent sensitive and I congratulate my sensitive friends. "I don't think there will be any problems thanks to the measures taken," he said.
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