taxi drivers

[Steve]

do they have to wear seatbelts?

do they have to obey speed limits?

do they have to obey other rules of the road (not putting others at danger etc)

last night i had a taxi driver who was using his sat nav to tell him where speed cameras are, and only slowing down when it said there were speed cameras - doing 50 thru a 30 zone, overtaking in a 30 zone when cars in front were doing 30. Oh, and he had his seat belt wrapped round the back of the seat, presumably so it is plugged in, to stop alarms going off.

Should i report him to the taxi co. or to the council licensing dept? I know the council have the power to remove licenses, but will they listen to little old me? And i doubt the taxi co. will do anything useful to improve this guy's driving.

suggestions? (i did get his private hire number)

 

[gcol]

did you ask him to slow down?

 

[markie]

Taxi drivers don't have to wear seat belts ( not law )

Yes they do have to obay the speed limits etc..
And why bother report him you got home in one bit,

 

[Gaz the Cab]

do they have to wear seatbelts?

do they have to obey speed limits?

do they have to obey other rules of the road (not putting others at danger etc)

last night i had a taxi driver who was using his sat nav to tell him where speed cameras are, and only slowing down when it said there were speed cameras - doing 50 thru a 30 zone, overtaking in a 30 zone when cars in front were doing 30. Oh, and he had his seat belt wrapped round the back of the seat, presumably so it is plugged in, to stop alarms going off.

Should i report him to the taxi co. or to the council licensing dept? I know the council have the power to remove licenses, but will they listen to little old me? And i doubt the taxi co. will do anything useful to improve this guy's driving.

suggestions? (i did get his private hire number)

I'm only going to comment on the seatbelt issues, you already know the answers to the speed limit/rules of the road.

When alone in the car a private hire driver must by law wear his/her seatbelt, however when carrying passengers it is not necessary.

As far as reporting him to the council goes, if (as a passenger)I felt endangered by another cabbies driving I wouldn't hesitate, I am quite sure you would be listened to and action taken, in fact I would report him to his company as well.

 

[Steve]

did you ask him to slow down?

no, but i was talking to my mate, we were both sat in the back, and i was saying stuff like "all my family would have died 4 months ago if it werent for seatbelts" (regular posters will remember my car accident which wasn't my fault) also was saying "you can be the safest driver on the road and still crash/have an accident" words to that effect, and "airbags only cause injury if you dont have your seatbelt on" trying to make driver feel guilty. Think he was too busy listening to his sat nav to hear me.

His general driving attitude and attitude to other road users just stank. He only had half a right wing mirror too not surprising given his driving style.

 

[AdamW]

Speaking as one whose car was hit-and-run by a minicab, and has ridden in some absolutely shocking LICENCED minicabs, I was labouring under the suspicion that driving skill and scruples are undesirable qualities in a minicab driver round here

I've never been dissatisfied with a black cab though.

 

[jbonding]

appart from the price and if you live local they wont take you for a couple of quid

 

[AdamW]

appart from the price and if you live local they wont take you for a couple of quid

I've actually found that black cabs are cheaper than illegal minicabs, and round here the saloon car -cabs are more expensive than London West-End black cab prices!

I was pretty surprised.

 

[jbonding]

I used to live 3m from manchester airport and it was nearly impossible to get a black cab to take you, the same travelling out of manchester if your not going far enough, forget it.

 

[jbonding]

unless you dont know where your going

 

[empip]

Get involved folks ... Highway Code consultation NOW !!

http://www.dsa.gov.uk/content.asp?id=13014

Let's hit them with the likes of giving way to vehicles ALREADY on a roundabout even if to the left !!

Hey up, that says Let's hit not Let'shit (ref. Mr SAB tech.) ... even taken out the space between s and h visible under 'edit' but not under 'quote' !!

 

[hermes]

A few weeks ago we got a taxi (pre-booked) from Manc airport back over the pennines to home. Our flight arrived at about midnight and we were both knackered. The driver started rabbiting on although I really wasn't in the mood and my wife went to sleep. He told me he had been working since 4am. Oh great, I thought. He was telling me all about his new sat-nav and when we left suburbia and hit the dark twisty roads he started pushing buttons on it to show me how it worked. I told him that if he only kept one eye on the road and one hand on the wheel I was only going to pay half his fare. He took the point.

 

[Gary_M]

Slightly off topic, but has anyone else experienced being in a Moscow taxi? I have been to quite a lot of cities/countires, but driving in Moscow is definitely the most scarey experience I have encountered

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Just don't get in if he's driving a red Saab:

http://www.collegedowntime.com/media/movies.php?title=coolmoviesaabperformanceteam

 

[Adam_151]

IMHO, if someone doesn't want to wear their seatbeat, then thats their call as far as I'm concerned, as long as they don't stop their passengers wearing them.

I wouldn't entertain the idea of not wearing one myself, but I'm sure there are things we all do that put out safety at risk more than need be