A DEBATE has broken out about taxis parking illegally in the city centre after vehicles on double yellows circulated online.
A video posted to Twitter by a cycling safety advocate showed a large number of taxis parked on double yellow lines and mounting the kerb on Foregate Street in Worcester city centre.
@Mbayliss14 @UdallVoice out of interest, why have neither of you replied to the tweet above by @MTBfreedom? Is this not an important issue in Worcester (congestion, air quality, road safety)? Here’s a video from this afternoon. Any thoughts? pic.twitter.com/ff7uRn1Zbq
— SHIFT (@goSHIFTscheme) August 29, 2022
READ MORE: Taxi's mounting kerb on Foregate Street shared in cyclists video
The video sparked a debate among readers with some believing the taxi drivers were very much in the wrong and others defending the drivers.
One commenter said they witnessed it every day during the 11 years they worked on Foregate Street.
They said: "It annoyed the bus drivers trying to get to the stop.
"Traffic wardens move them on they drive down Pierpoint Street and back around to The Cross and back to the rank by which time the warden is gone.
"They don't care or don't feel rules apply to them. They could get an extra taxi in the rank but they never fill it to the front so it's easier to turn right into Pierpoint Street.
"Simple if the ranks full move on and if you are in the rank cut polluting and turn the engines off.
"Police it, issue fines and it will soon stop."
Another commenter shared how parents with pushchairs "struggle to get past" the taxis.
They said: "Parents pushing prams and pushchairs and wheelchair users struggle to get past and have to go on the road.
"I saw a lady nearly get run over a few weeks ago by a taxi driving down the path.
"It also forces vehicles to drive on the wrong side of the road down the bus lane which has caused at least one accident that I know of with a bus coming the other way.
"There is a taxi rank outside the Odeon. Any taxis waiting outside this area are illegally parked."
One commenter defended the drivers, believing the situation is not as bad as some commenters were making it out to be.
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They said: "What's the harm, really, what's the harm?"
The drivers were also defended by Councillor Basherat Ali, who claimed the area needed to be enforced better on weekends as many taxi spaces are being taken up by private vehicles.
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