Usual London black cab antics

[gezza]

Slightly off topic but I haven’t been in a black cab since May 1st – who are they moaning about know that Ken has gone, or are they still moaning about Ken anyway?[/quote

its the price of fuel and G brown we're moaning about !!

 

[walker]

so we have meagre brain cells and limited brain capacity User ???

can you please explain to me how i got my license in less than 3 years,

You still know nuffin about SE London

 

[gezza]

You still know nuffin about SE London

and with good bloody reason B)

 

[Batch]

After a few drinks on a Friday night about a month ago I jumped in a black cab home, I was surprised to find that the driver was courteous, well mannered and drove with consideration for others. It wasn't till I went to pay and comment on his excellent driving that I noticed the cycling mag on his dashboard.

I've often thought there should be an exchange program (normally as a BC driver does a U turn into oncoming traffic on Fenchurch Street) between cab drivers and cyclists.

 

[BentMikey]

I saw a several of cabbies taking good care around cyclists on my ride yesterday, I thought about this topic.

 

[Notsoblue]

I cycle daily in central london and don't share OP's experiences. Black Cabs always seem to take the most notice of cyclists. I generally try and avoid delivery vans because I assume they don't give a cr*p anyway. All the near misses I've had recently have been with people driving 4x4s or sportscars. There seem to be alot of absent minded luxury car drivers around Bayswater and Notting Hill at the moment!

 

[swee'pea99]

I've been riding in London for over 40 years and can count the number of incidents I've had with cabbies on the fingers of...well, probably of both hands, but still, that's not bad. And once, when I came off going round marble arch, a black cab pulled up broadside in the middle of the road right behind me to shield me from the traffic, got out of the cab, waved a cheerful f**k off to all the beepers and came over to check on me with a 'you alright mate?'. There's a handful of twats of course - they're a lot like people in that respect. But nothing like as bad as WVNs, at least in my experience.

 

[lynx]

Hmmmm here we go again. As a London Cab Driver myself for the last fifteen fifteen years I have clocked up close to 500 000 passenger miles. Except the one occasion, when a passenger (without warning) jumped out and unhorsed a cyclist I have not hit, let alone 'exterminated' anyone. As for limited intelligence, I tend to reserve that statement for people who attempt to group disparate sections of our society under some sort of general heading. So for example, all Muslims are....., all black people are...., all taxi driver's are.....


So what is required when a Taxi Driver does drive badly or in a threatining manner. I would like to say that in the 'old-days' the PCO (Public Carriage Office) would take a dim view of such behaviour. It does seem now that it is not the institution that it once was. What is required is that the PCO gets back to what it was, and deals with complaints about bad or dangerous driving.

Oh, and an interesting thing that came out of the Mayoral election. London Taxis are responsable for 1% of accidents (not the word I like but how it was reported) in London. So can't all be homicidal manics then otherwise that figure would be considerably higher..

So why do so many black cab drivers swerve accross traffic to get that fare? Or do the u turn, without looking of course, and carry on their merry way? Don't use indicators? Knock people off and then lie through their teeth?

Is it all the one cab driver causing all the mayhem? I won't start on the red light jumpers or the ones that cut other people up.

I'd say the good are in the minority.

Now what about mini cab drivers?

 

[Absinthe Minded]

Another one in favour of the Black Taxis; I ride from one side of London to the other on a regular basis and they are among the best drivers around.

Only ever had a couple of twats in nearly fifteen years of cycling in London.

 

[Jakob]

I get the odd one that passes closer than it should, but in general, I trust cabbies far more than any other road users in London.
If we need to paint with broad strokes, I'd say that the worst road users are the cyclists!

 

[swee'pea99]

...the worst road users are the cyclists!

Nah - bloody pedestrians...they're a menace.

 

[hackbike 6]

Cab drivers are fine 99% of the time...had a slight run in with one last night near Blackfriars as I thought his road positioning was 5hyte and as it turned out he was throwing a left although his indicators were not used.So once I realised I was on my merry way and that was that.

 

[hackbike 6]

Got to agree.

 

[Notsoblue]

Got to agree.

Aye. Worst accident I've had involved a pedestrian who just blindly walked out into the road.

 

[BentMikey]

And some more excellent driving from cabbies last night, and a chuffed grin from two of them in response to my thank you.

I reckon Hackers is the hazard to pedestrians in this place.