Molecule Man
Well-Known Member
- Location
- London
Am I just experiencing a statistical anomaly, or are London cabbies getting worse?
I used to have a fairly positive view of them as being very skilled drivers who have a good idea of what's going on on the road, and who generally get the point of assertive cycling. They might cut things fine a bit sometimes, but could pull it off okay and were doing so to get on as quickly as possible. I've had few problems with them over the last 5 years, maybe a couple of incidents a year.
However, I've had three incidents in the last fortnight where a taxi driver has behaved with pure bloody-minded obnoxiousness. Maybe the state of the economy is getting them all stressed, maybe I'm just unlucky, I don't know.
1. I was coming into town on the Old Kent Road today, at a point just before where two lanes broaden out to four (one left, three straight ahead, the junction with Albany Road for locals). I was going straight on, so I was in the middle of the left lane, right behind a van who was signalling left. A cabbie pulled up alongside and started shouting and swearing at me to keep left. I tried to stay calm, didn't swear, just shouted that I was going straight on, not left. He kept on at me and at the lights I was in the left-hand straight-on lane behind a bus, he was in the middle straight-on lane, ahead of me by now, and still ranting away. After the lights there's plenty of room to filter safely, so I told him to have a nice day as I passed and he never caught up with me all the way into town.
2. Last week I was coming south through Covent Garden (Bow St./Wellington St.), where the streets are quite narrow and busy. I was right behind a car, a taxi right behind me, the car in front stopped at a pedestrian crossing, I slowed and stopped a bit further back to let a van pull out from the left, the taxi driver objected to this, beeped his horn and overtook me quite aggressively to block the space I had left for the van. So he managed to cut up me and another driver, and make himself look like a petulant prick, just to jump one space ahead in the queue.
3. Almost the same place as above (Endell St. just before Long Acre), I was right behind one taxi, in line with the driver's seat as the roads are too narrow to overtake without changing lanes, and there wasn't any space in front of me anyway. The taxi behind overtook, forcing me to brake to prevent him hitting me. He wasn't going any faster than me though, so I was right behind him until the pedestrian crossing, where I tried to explain how inconsiderate he had been, but I confess I lost it a bit and wasn't very convincing (I was tired, I swore, he claimed victory because of that).
I used to have a fairly positive view of them as being very skilled drivers who have a good idea of what's going on on the road, and who generally get the point of assertive cycling. They might cut things fine a bit sometimes, but could pull it off okay and were doing so to get on as quickly as possible. I've had few problems with them over the last 5 years, maybe a couple of incidents a year.
However, I've had three incidents in the last fortnight where a taxi driver has behaved with pure bloody-minded obnoxiousness. Maybe the state of the economy is getting them all stressed, maybe I'm just unlucky, I don't know.
1. I was coming into town on the Old Kent Road today, at a point just before where two lanes broaden out to four (one left, three straight ahead, the junction with Albany Road for locals). I was going straight on, so I was in the middle of the left lane, right behind a van who was signalling left. A cabbie pulled up alongside and started shouting and swearing at me to keep left. I tried to stay calm, didn't swear, just shouted that I was going straight on, not left. He kept on at me and at the lights I was in the left-hand straight-on lane behind a bus, he was in the middle straight-on lane, ahead of me by now, and still ranting away. After the lights there's plenty of room to filter safely, so I told him to have a nice day as I passed and he never caught up with me all the way into town.
2. Last week I was coming south through Covent Garden (Bow St./Wellington St.), where the streets are quite narrow and busy. I was right behind a car, a taxi right behind me, the car in front stopped at a pedestrian crossing, I slowed and stopped a bit further back to let a van pull out from the left, the taxi driver objected to this, beeped his horn and overtook me quite aggressively to block the space I had left for the van. So he managed to cut up me and another driver, and make himself look like a petulant prick, just to jump one space ahead in the queue.
3. Almost the same place as above (Endell St. just before Long Acre), I was right behind one taxi, in line with the driver's seat as the roads are too narrow to overtake without changing lanes, and there wasn't any space in front of me anyway. The taxi behind overtook, forcing me to brake to prevent him hitting me. He wasn't going any faster than me though, so I was right behind him until the pedestrian crossing, where I tried to explain how inconsiderate he had been, but I confess I lost it a bit and wasn't very convincing (I was tired, I swore, he claimed victory because of that).
