Taxi drivers take liberties

S432GEC - taxi - red Nissan Primera SI

This taxi driver came speeding along Blackpool Road, Preston as he passed the traffic lights at the junction with the A6 trying to barge into traffic where two lanes merge the other side almost going into a Mini.

Later at the traffic lights by Deepdale he overtook me when I stopped at the lights and then went through a red light.

This happened at 08:40 on 30/01/10.

Mike, you're right on that one. I've met so many taxi drivers that are the bottom of the food chain; can't get a proper job no doubt. Personally won't take a taxi unless I really, really have to.

I really loved the taxi driver I got from Manchester Airport at 2 in the morning. No choice as public transport had finished hours before and the plane was delayed. Called the taxi co., booked it and when the guy arrived half an hour later he said, 'Oh, I was hoping you'd have left. It's really late for me'. (Well, I thought, I'm hardly doing this for fun myself...)

Good start. He then drove like a madman down the motorway, complaining all the way, charged me 65 pounds and when I didn't have enough money left to give him much of a tip, he raced off with my suitcases in the back. I had to run after him and wave my arms to get them back. Nice one. Still, it gave the neighbours a laugh.

Taxi drivers are at the bottom of the food chain with regards to professional drivers. Taxi drivers in provincial towns are the worst. They are usually fat, ugly, pig-thick retards that have their bluetooth headsets on all the time, probably even wear them to bed. They usually drive crap cars as well(Fiat doblos and any Peugeot made after 2001).

Why do taxi drivers beep there horns outside of peoples homes at all hours of the day? If they just got out of the car and walked to the door they may get some exercise instead of sitting down all day. It drives me mad when they wake up my children. Its lazy and against the law in built up areas from eleven pm til seven am.

I just wouldn't get a taxi even if I was desperate. They are a complete rip off if you're travelling on your own. The other week I walked home from my local train station which was 5 miles in the rain, along a main road with no pavement and then a section through a wet muddy field - rather than paying £10 for a taxi.

My boss lost his mobile. We'd just got out of a cab where he was sat in the front and he had it before getting in as he was using it.
He phoned the company within minutes of getting out of the taxi. They got on the radio and the driver claimed it wasn't in his cab, so we assumed it had been dropped getting in or out of it.
He phoned the company and stopped the phone, all within about 10 minutes.
When he received his itemised phone bill the next month he showed me it - 4 calls to Pakistan minutes after the time we got out of that cab. I told him he should have got a receipt. This is a true story.

Your post only skims the surface of taxi drivers taking advantage. I live in Manchester and some of the people who drive taxis are probably committing extortion many many times a day. All taxis are metered, yet some of them claim they can make up their own fares as "set fees". Yeah right. Being a little drunk and getting a taxi can cost a fortune - there's a particular company about whom I hear the same story again and again. When getting into the cab they ask for a £20 fair upfront. Okay, a deposit to secure against someone being sick maybe. A receipt? No. Legal? Probably not. At the end of the journey they ask for the fare hoping the hapless victim has forgotten they've already paid over the odds!

Both the invention of set fares and the disgusting abuse of the fact the someone is drunk are very very common.

Also speeding and going through red lights is so common. I travelled from Spain on a plane not being concerned for my safety once. On the taxi journey home the driver answered his phone twice, actually dialled out once and went through three red lights. I made sure I got a receipt - proof of my journey for when I complained!

Well done Peter, you should've been nicked for wasting police time. Some poor person was probably being mugged whilst you were arguing over £2. I would've just given him the money minus the £2 and walked away.

Brighton & Hove Taxis:
Well I used to be a cabby in Brighton for many years. Got into IT about 9 years ago, but I have noticed a large influx of Arabic cabbies in Brighton. I have had a couple of bad experiences with these chaps. They can barely speak English, how they get through the Brighton & Hove knowledge exam, no body knows. One took me right round the houses when I got in his cab at Brighton station and asked to go to Patcham. We eventually arrived, £2 more than it should be, I refused to pay the extra fair as I said to him, I used to this job and I know my home town without a cabby driving me round the houses. Anyway we sat there wasting his time as he would not back down, to be honest he wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. I offered to pay the fair at the correct price, but he wouldn't have it. I got on my mobile phone and called Brighton police, they eventually turned up. They listened to both stories, as I said previously, I know my routes through Brighton & Hove and I know if a cabby has gone the wrong way. Even the police officer could barley understand the cabby. Anyway in the end, as I sated previously, I know exactly, give or take how much the fair should be, so in the end the police offer agreed that I should pay the fair that I usually pay. The cabby now having wasted all that time, when he could have been ripping other customers off.

The majority of taxi drivers I've seen driving or have been desperate enough to use are lazy and pretty shocking drivers. They also charge way too much which is why I'd rather walk for an hour in the rain than get a taxi.

Lazy = some don't even get out of the car to ring the door bell or open the boot, now that new cars have the opening mechanism inside the car. They also can't find the energy to use indicators or change gear very often.

Shocking drivers = they will either be 1 of 2 kinds - the really fast kind who just wants to get you there as fast as possible so they can think about their next robbery, sorry, job, without much regard for your safety. Or the really slow kind who just drive at the most fuel efficient speed possible despite the road conditions. And lets not mention the other driving antics, impatience, abusive etc.

I know there are good taxi drivers out there but they are still my least preferred travel option behind train, car, bus, bicycle, walking, rickshaw, camel & donkey.

good idea take the bus if you can get one you wingy pants