"Mike Hughes" wrote in message
...
In message , David Cantrell
writes
On Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 01:54:53PM +0000, Mike Hughes wrote:

It's always a judgement call. Sometimes I can see some 'undesirable'
nearby and wrongly assume that they are with the person flagging the
taxi. In those cases I just drive straight past and I'm sure the flagger
will think I'm just being bloody minded as s/he can't see the whole
picture.

If it's me that you drive past, I'll write down your number and be on
the phone to the PCO the next morning.

There is absolutely no offence committed by not stopping, even if you have
your for hire light on. Even then it is common practice for a night driver
to keep the doors locked until s/he has established that the customers are
'reasonable' i.e. they are not eating and drinking, are not likely to
throw up, not just stopping the cab to put another, comatose person in the
back and then leave them, etc.

Only after that will I ask where they are going. Personally I don't care
where I go but there is a legal right to refuse any fare which is going
outside the licence area, going more than 12 miles or is likely to take
more than 1 hour. That last part could be especially important on some
occasions as there may well be serious traffic jams.

--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England
Interested in American trains real and model?
Look here http://mikehughes627.fotopic.net/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Are taxi drivers still allowed to take a pee on the rear nearside wheel of
their cab?finding a public karzi in London is rarer then hens teeth it is
scandalous, I suppose cabbies have to take a plastic pee bottle with them to
work

In message , RobWilton
writes
----
Are taxi drivers still allowed to take a pee on the rear nearside wheel
of their cab?

No

inding a public karzi in London is rarer then hens teeth it is
scandalous, I suppose cabbies have to take a plastic pee bottle with
them to work

You are absolutely right. the problem is compounded by the relentless
way that local authorities enforce the parking restrictions even when it
is obvious that the driver is in a nearby toilet. It happened to me only
this (Monday) morning at Regency Place (near Victoria). Went into urinal
and came out the find parking attendant with machine poised ready for
action, but fortunately didn't get ticket. However, if I'd walked across
the road to get a cup of coffee....

That is one of the reasons that taxi drivers are often seen in
McDonalds restaurants, especially those that have parking facilities.

We have been getting similar problems with stopping of red routes to
drop off passengers [1] who then walk across the pavement to get cash
from a machine. There have been some efforts to allow up to a maximum of
5 minutes for this purpose. It all seems to be just a money making
exercise, especially when you get a ticket at 4 a.m. in the morning when
there is no other car around [2]

[1] Taxis can stop on red routes for the purposes of boarding and
alighting only

[2] High Street Lewisham outside local takeaway with police car just in
front that was stopped wile the occupants got their meals. Cost me 60
quid!


--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England
Interested in American trains real and model?
Look here http://mikehughes627.fotopic.net/

In message , RobWilton
writes

"Mike Hughes" wrote in message
...
In message , David
Cantrell writes
On Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 01:54:53PM +0000, Mike Hughes wrote:

It's always a judgement call. Sometimes I can see some 'undesirable'
nearby and wrongly assume that they are with the person flagging the
taxi. In those cases I just drive straight past and I'm sure the flagger
will think I'm just being bloody minded as s/he can't see the whole
picture.

If it's me that you drive past, I'll write down your number and be on
the phone to the PCO the next morning.

There is absolutely no offence committed by not stopping, even if you
have your for hire light on. Even then it is common practice for a
night driver to keep the doors locked until s/he has established that
the customers are 'reasonable' i.e. they are not eating and drinking,
are not likely to throw up, not just stopping the cab to put another,
comatose person in the back and then leave them, etc.

Only after that will I ask where they are going. Personally I don't
care where I go but there is a legal right to refuse any fare which is
going outside the licence area, going more than 12 miles or is likely
to take more than 1 hour. That last part could be especially
important on some occasions as there may well be serious traffic jams.

-- Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England
Interested in American trains real and model?
Look here http://mikehughes627.fotopic.net/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
Are taxi drivers still allowed to take a pee on the rear nearside wheel
of their cab?finding a public karzi in London is rarer then hens teeth
it is scandalous, I suppose cabbies have to take a plastic pee bottle
with them to work

Tell me about it. You try finding somewhere for 40 people to pay a
visit in a group.

(Well, not literally in a group of course but you know what I mean!)

--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

In article ,
(David Cantrell) wrote:

On Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 08:02:51AM -0600,
wrote:
In article ,
(Walter Briscoe) wrote:
I much prefer a black
cab to the green and white saloons used by most Brighton taxis.
Others prefer saloons as easier to get into, my mother for
example, a typical older person who has difficulty with the high
step into black cabs.

Of course, while it might be harder to get into a black cab, it's
harder to get *out of* an ordinary car!

Not according to my mother (who has only just given up driving).

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In article ,
(Ian Jelf) wrote:

Tell me about it. You try finding somewhere for 40 people to pay
a visit in a group.

(Well, not literally in a group of course but you know what I
mean!)

What you meant, of course, was 40 people in a group to pay a visit.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message ,
writes
In article ,
(Ian Jelf) wrote:

Tell me about it. You try finding somewhere for 40 people to pay
a visit in a group.

(Well, not literally in a group of course but you know what I
mean!)

What you meant, of course, was 40 people in a group to pay a visit.

As a (fairly regular) German speaker, I naturally speak backwards
sometimes. ;-)

--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

In article ,
(Ian Jelf) wrote:

In message ,
writes
In article ,
(Ian Jelf) wrote:

Tell me about it. You try finding somewhere for 40 people to pay
a visit in a group.

(Well, not literally in a group of course but you know what I
mean!)

What you meant, of course, was 40 people in a group to pay a visit.

As a (fairly regular) German speaker, I naturally speak backwards
sometimes. ;-)

:-)

--
Colin Rosenstiel