Safe Speed Forums

i have noticed more when off duty rather than on duty, the driving standards of taxi drivers. a couple of things tailgating, overtaking whenever possible, using the mobile, not wearing a seat belt (not sure if this is required) generaly looking distracted from driving whilst talking to the fare

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now retired

You missed off parked on the wrong side of the road, with lights full on facing oncoming traffic, and reversing out of cul-de-sacs rather than turning around!

I would be in total agreement with you, if it were not that I know a couple of drivers who are fine.
Maybe we just notice the dodgy ones more.

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

Hm, I was shocked today to see a police car reversing out into a road instead of reversing into the place he parked... I know that's not illegal, but it's something I tend not to do.

I had a taxi driver last night that left his beam on, was quite dazzled, to the point where I was finding it hard to see the line at the side of the road, I eventually gave him 3 flashes of my beam, when he knocked his off...

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Mike

Do Taxi drivers (Or "White Van Man" for that matter) tend to have more or less accedents/100,000 than other drivers?

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"The road to a police state is paved with public safety legislation"

Furthering my point on getting 'dazzled' by main beams, recently I've seen a terrible number of drivers with dipped headlights out of alignment, which essentially gives you the same amount of light into your eye as a main beam...

On Thursday I witnessed a white van coming off the motorway slip, and he just pulled right into lane 1 without checking, he was briskly met by a bit of main beam from the car in front of me... He then proceeded to force his way onto the carriageway, and he did so... Causing everything in lane 1 to slow down (lane 2 was full, or I would have pulled out, and so would have the car in front I think)

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Mike

On this subject - are all Cayenne, X5 and recent Range Rover headlight switches miswired so that mainbeam is selected with the switch in the dipped position, or is there a bit of a problem with the design of the headlight units on these 3 vehicles, or are all of their drivers just complete muppets? I haven't noticed a widespread dazzle problem with other vehicles where the headlights are mounted at a similar height, but encountering one of these 3 almost always results in dazzle...

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Chris

From experience - the first two - no excuses - mobile - not unlike the radio .
Seatbelts - ok in a black cab - minibus/ordinary car - not recommended -you might just want to get out in a hurry , before the passengers in the back start using your head as a target.
Distraction - try getting information from a passenger through the screen in a black cab - and some passengers regard taxi drivers as mind readers.You could stop - and sort it out , but with some that would be every 50 yards.

Headlights on on wrong side of road - never done it -when i drove - i stopped on right side - switched off lights and made passenger get out onto pavement -

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

I use taxi's to go on the lash now and then and they rarely fill me with the confidence I would have expected a professional driver might.

I'm not a particularly nervous passenger but do find myself pressing the passenger brake pedal quite often...

How exactly do your cameras solve these problems?

Hate them. They seem to have absolutely no knowledge of acceptable driving standards and appear to drive like they would do in Bangladesh.

U-Turns without checking, turning without indicating (mind you, most car drivers are guilty of that), stopping without indicating etc...

Having said all that, I actually think that the fact they advertise themselves as a taxi actually serves as a beacon to all other road users, signifying that there is a dangerous car driver present!

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Pecunia Prius Equitas et Salus

Yep.
As do blue neons, ruddy great whale-tail spoilers, sunstrips, copy of Hello/OK/Celeb Goss mag on the dash etc etc.

My GF refers to the taxi plates as "stupid plates" and then acts accordingly when a car fitted with said plates is around.

Apparently when the police in Aylesbury did a crackdown on unlicenced minicabs a few years back, they found 47 identical driving licences.

Taxi drivers round my way aren't too bad. I find skip lorry drivers are the worst by far. It's them that drive like they are late for a fare careering round without a thought for anyone else. They're usually on their phone whilst trying to stuff a sandwich down their throats being accompanied by obligatory fierce looking dog in passenger seat (which bears a striking similarity to said driver.)

Oh and if they're not heading towards you at breakneck speed with thundering skip on the back, they're tailgating you.



(No offence to all skip lorry drivers I'm sure some are lovely, thoughtful and considerate )