30% of London ride-share vehicles fail inspections: City

More than 30 per cent of ride-share vehicles inspected by the city in a blitz this week failed to meet safety requirements.

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About 100 private vehicles-for-hire were randomly selected for an inspection to ensure they comply with London’s vehicles-for-hire bylaw, the city says.

Drivers were asked to submit a Ministry of Transportation summary with the number of demerit points in their driving records and a police background check.

Of the 33 vehicles inspected so far in the four-day blitz at Silverwoods Arena that ends Friday, 10 failed for reasons including bald tires, excessive tint on the front windows or having the check-engine warning light on.

Other issues include vehicles that were too old to operate that were removed from ride-share platforms.

Vehicles that failed the inspection were ordered off the road and cannot be used as a vehicle for hire until a new inspection is done. Owners who didn’t show up were taken off the platform and charged.

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The blitz is a follow-up to field inspections last month, during which 57 penalties were issued for violations such as unsafe vehicles, unlicensed drivers and unmarked vehicles. Nearly 60 penalties were issued for a total of $23,300, the city says.

“An inspection is about the driver’s safety and the consumer’s, and it’s good for everyone,” said driver Yoseph Asfere, who’s provided private services through Checker, a limousine service in London, for more than 20 years. “Standard service is always good for the city and public.”

There are about 7,500 vehicles-for-hire in London that provide about three million rides a year, said Orest Katolyk, the city’s director of municipal compliance. Inspections in the fall are necessary to ensure consumers are protected, he said.

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“We do these (inspections) all the time, but our population greatly changes in September with students coming in, so we want to make sure they’re safe and that there are consumer protection regulations in place,” Katolyk said. “There were complaints that drivers would negotiate cash deals and shut the app off, which concerns us.”

Limousines and taxis operating in the city will be checked during the license renewal period during the next two weeks.

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