Bastard black cab driver

[William of Walworth]

don't you rolly eyes at me rolly eyes

Your initial rant was fair enough, as I said, he sounded like a complete arse.

But the (presumably unintended) side effect was to encourage all the prejudiced cliches against cab drivers to come pouring out of the Urban woodwork ...

 

[Major Tom]

Your initial rant was fair enough, as I said, he sounded like a complete arse.

But the (presumably unintended) side effect was to encourage all the prejudiced cliches against cab drivers to come pouring out of the Urban woodwork ...

fine by me - they do me no favours

 

[nino_savatte]

Go down Cannon Street at 17:00 and watch the hordes of lemming like peds throwing themsleves into the path of the traffic!

You do realise that London is probably the most pedestrian unfriendly place in Europe. It's shit for cyclists but worse for peds...especially with all the idiot drivers on the roads.

 

[Major Tom]

You do realise that London is probably the most pedestrian unfriendly place in Europe. It's shit for cyclists but worse for peds...especially with all the idiot drivers on the roads.

I've just been slumming it as a ped for the last month after my back wheel started falling apart. I really hated it. Having to give way to every other road user - even though peds are in the majority and pollute less, use the least resources. They deserve every advntage we can give them.

Being a pedestrian in London sucks.

Thank Christ I've got my bike back.

 

[Pickman's model]

Thank Christ I've got my bike back.

so you'll be back on the road? nearer the black-cab drivers?

 

[nino_savatte]

I've just been slumming it as a ped for the last month after my back wheel started falling apart. I really hated it. Having to give way to every other road user - even though peds are in the majority and pollute less, use the least resources. They deserve every advntage we can give them.

Being a pedestrian in London sucks.

Thank Christ I've got my bike back.

It's the way you have to walk the long way around just to cross the friggin' road that gets me. Why do they have to have those silly staggered ped crossings?

 

[Major Tom]

so you'll be back on the road? nearer the black-cab drivers?

With an extra strong hand-built back wheel - they can do me no harm.

I reckon its pedestrians that cab drivers have got it in for - they hate fuckers who walk.

 

[Major Tom]

It's the way you have to walk the long way around just to cross the friggin' road that gets me. Why do they have to have those silly staggered ped crossings?

Probably cos of some risk assessment done by the MoT that came to the conclusion that without it certain %age of the population would feel the urge to throw themselves in fron of the moving traffic.

Or it could be designed to make us just give up on walking altogether.

And I hate the way that traffic lights are designed to let get half way across the friggin road.

What's that all about?

 

[William of Walworth]

fine by me - they do me no favours

They've bought me pints!!

No, seriously, a rounded view is a wonderful thing. I'm not denying some of them are arses, both as drivers and people.

Just sticks in my craw to see them blanketly written off ...

And in IMO, other categories of driver can be worse. I wouldn't write off all postmen/PO drivers though, even so

 

[William of Walworth]

Bad Karma will probably ensure I'm knocked off my bike tonight, on my way to the pub ....

.... by a black-cab driver

 

[Major Tom]

And in IMO, other categories of driver can be worse. I wouldn't write off all postmen/PO drivers though, even so

Bloody hell yeah - PO drivers are 100% shit - if I see one coming I get well out of the way.

And the ones on bikes ride on the pavements.

And while we're at it LUL maintenance drivers are maniacs too - and I know a few. Fortunately they usually recognise me before they get a chance to run me over.

 

[Pie 1]

I'm sorry, but this is unforgiveably sweeping judgementalism.

It's also based on 11 years of driving day to day around London with them. Yes it's a generalisation, and I'm sure there are some good guys , but my experiences over this period have led me to believe that the majority are pricks behind the wheel towards other road users in London. I'm sure there sweet as to most of there fares, but they are generally the opposite those that share the road with them - That's my opinion William, and it 's been consistantly confirmed on hundreds of seperate occasions over the past decade. Sorry.

 

[nino_savatte]

And I hate the way that traffic lights are designed to let get half way across the friggin road.

What's that all about?

That really fucks me off.

 

[Pingu]

anyone herer ever taken a taxi ride in mumbai?


now that is scary



black cab drivers are like every section of the community

some good

some bad

some complete fuckwits who try to rip you off just becasue you have a northern accent and they think you dont know the way from Tower Hill to rotherhithe... and then get pissed off and all shouty with you when you point out that its a journey you have made on at least 15 other occaisins in the past 3 weeks (cos I hate the tube and was on expenses) so have a rudimentry idea that heading away from the bridge is in fact not the right way. And yes I know the Rotherhithe Tunnel also goes to Rotherhithe but its just a smidgen longer isnt it? and it takes 9 million years to get through it at rush hour.

still most are probably like any other section of the community.

 

[brixtonvilla]

On the subject of The Knowledge... isn't GPS going to fuck that right up? Just about every cab I went in in Tokyo had it.

 

[FreddyB]

Hahahahahahahahahahaha!.......HAHAHAHAHA!!!

<composes one's self>

Stressful??
Stressful is working an A&E dept or checking the pipes on oil rigs for cracks. Stressful is juggling 10 projects that all have to be finished on Friday. Stressful is working a bar or restaurant after your day job in order to pay the child minding fees as a single mum.

Stressful is not sitting on your fat arse ignoring basic motoring requirements such as indicating beause your to bone idle to move your finger 2 cm and push down on a plastic stick and then toddling off home whilst wondering how little of todays overcharged cash bonanza you're going to tell the tax man about.

Irritating yes. Stressful - very mildly in terms of the World's top 100 'stressful' jobs, i think.

(and yes, I have driven around london for a living - for a year once)

Clueless twat

 

[JWH]

On the subject of The Knowledge... isn't GPS going to fuck that right up? Just about every cab I went in in Tokyo had it.

I think all ComCab (or maybe it's the other big network) terminals now come bundled with GPS. I notice that black taxi drivers quite often furtively check it when I ask to go to my little-known road.

On taxi drivers, earnings and routes: we'll never know how much they earn because London taxi meters don't print receipts after every trip (like in NYC and many other places) so the taxman can't check up effectively, and we'll never know how many punters are ripped off by going the long way around because receipts don't feature start and end points (like I understand they do in Barcelona with GPS-enable meters). It would be good if they could be installed.

 

[maomao]

On the subject of The Knowledge... isn't GPS going to fuck that right up? Just about every cab I went in in Tokyo had it.

Speaking as a cab controller who's worked with drivers who use GPS: no, not until they make them a hell of a lot better. The routing on those things is fucked. They're alright for telling you where something is but not how to get there.

 

[equationgirl]

It's mainly black cabs up here in Edinburgh, and they are normally pretty courteous, although it is a standing local joke that they get points for each pedestrian they hit, and the highest score each month gets a prize.

Up here its the buses you have to watch out for...

 

[Pie 1]

Clueless twat

And your point is?

 

[BrixiSteve]

That's why 'The Knowledge' takes so long: they have to re-train what was once a perfectly good driver into someone that has a reverse understanding of what all the rules of the road are. i.e. Red light = a danger of having to stop so put ya foot down. Yellow box = a safe place to rest when the roads are very busy.

I think you're all being very unfair. I once had a black cab driver (Oh, Jesus, I mean a Black-Cab driver) take me on an entire round trip of Shorditch, a trip that took about 40 mins. On arriving at my destination and checking the A-Z I realise that he avoided a direct route that would have taken about a quarter of the time. All he wanted to do was to show me the sights and sounds of a part of London with which I was not familliar. A true gent in my opinion......!


I also had a fuck of a situation where a cabbie went off on a racist rant. Not savage, but subtle and arguementative(Sp?). It was fucking awful. It was about 2 in the morning and pissing down with rain and I didn't know where I was or how else to get home. I couldnt get out as much as I wanted to. This was years ago and I'm still ashamed of myself for not pissing on his seat as I got out.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Up here its the buses you have to watch out for...

......as pointed out by Flanders & Swann

When cabbies try to pass me, before they overtakes,
I sticks me flipping hand out and jams on all me brakes,
Them jackal taxi drivers can only swear and cuss
Behind that monarch of the road,
Observer of the Highway Code,
That big six-wheeler scarlet-painted London transport diesel-engined 97-horsepower omnibus.