Has anyone noticed how bad our taxi drivers are? There was a collision involving one on Ecclesall Road yesterday and I can't say it surprises me. I have found that 99% of taxi drivers speed heavily, switch lanes on roundabouts, cut you up, tailgate you, pull out on junctions right infront of you, do U-turns where signs clearly state no U-turns, run red lights, and generally just drive badly. I'm surprised they don't get caught more by police or crash a lot more than they do really. I know this won't apply to ALL taxi drivers, though I have to say in my experience it applies to most. Are there any taxi drivers here? If so do you realise how much you annoy me, and many others, with your bad driving? What is everyone elses experience of them?

Taxi drivers think they own the road just cos they get paid for driving.
Add people with exessively expensive cars to that list.

Yeah yeah youve done well for yourself and got yourself a bit of money and bought an expensive, vulgar car (how very selfless of you to do so - but thankyou for letting us know how rich you are and how classy for being so subtle about it) but youre still on the road for the same reason as those of us with cheaper, smaller and less powerful cars. We all want to get from A - B and just because your vehicle cost 50 times what mine costs doesnt mean you can push infront of me and have right of way at roundabouts, junctions etc. Also a bus lane is for the use of BUSES and TAXIS only - even those of us with the most limited of intelligence can work out that short list does NOT contain EXPENSIVE CARS - just cos you paid ridiculous amounts for it doesnt mean you have the right to use these lanes) Im still young and believe me ill have a car like yours in good time (unless i find something more useful to spend my money on). Im not inferior, i can drive, i had to do the very same thing you did to pass my test and you own the road just as much as i do.

To that IDIOT on ecclesall road yesterday in the vulgar convertable BMW (ive seen better by the way) - I have your reg no. and when i get my mercedes when im oh so much more sucessful than you are (and i wont take as long as you did you grey haired balding old fart) THEN we can try racing and cutting each other up. THEN see who feels like king of the road mr up his own arse.

Taxis have been bad as long as I remember. A few years back we got one into town from woodseats. It was raining really heavy and the taxi driver hammered it down Heeley, got to the bridge on Heeley bottom and hit a massive puddle doing 70, the car travelled on two wheels for 20 yards and missed a bus before returning on its normal (and rather high speed) journey. And why did this happen...cos he was racing his pal!!!

I wouldn't pay em in buttons, I would rather not drink and take the car than risk my life and have to pay a tenner for the privilege.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Try getting a taxi when you're drunk and they won't let you in. The law advises you to leave your vehicle at home and don't drink drive and get a cab instead. BUT taxis refuse to take you anywhere if you are drunk.

I had a customer last week who was drunk and staggering. I asked a taxi in the petrol station next door if he'd mind running the customer home, not only did the taxi agree and then drive away quickly to avoid the customer, but he went through a no exit sign to get as far away as possible from the man waiting outside the pub for him!

Interesting innovation in taxi etiquette last night. Instead of beeping the horn outside, as they normally do, I was given the option of callback. What this entailed was the driver ringing my mobile to let me know when he was outside. How civilised.

I find that the taxis (i.e. Mecury, Alpha etc) seem to be better driven than the black cabs you flag down. I got a black cab from the station a few weeks ago and the young driver must have thought he was driving a rally car the way he was carrying on. The older drivers are bad, but don't seem to drive as fast as the younger ones - in my experience anyway.

I always use Mercury Taxis since they offer the callback service, instead of parking outside your house and honking the horn (which does get on my nerves).

I've found the drivers to be perfectly reasonable and not unsafe.

Cabbies spend their lives on the road, and many of them think that makes them better drivers, when in reality it has just ingrained bad habits. But I see worse examples of dangerous driving on the motorways virtually every week.

Originally posted by huwj
Interesting post kittykat. You mock and insult drivers of expensive, executive cars and then proceed to add that when you have enough money you will buy one yourself and behave in exactly the same fashion. Your post smacks of bitterness and jelousy :?



I don't think taxi drivers are any worse than BMW drivers, boy racers, old women or arrogant men. We just have to accept the fact that there are a lot of very bad drivers on our roads, across all age groups, professions and classes.

Some people obviously havent grasped the concept of irony. sorry - i was assuming people had

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i give up!

This thread wasn't created to start promoting certain taxi companies.

I find taxi drivers to be hit and miss. In the early hours at weekends during the busy periods most of them generally do put their foot down racing around trying to get as many fares as possible during a short period. I can't remember seeing many taxi's pulled over by the police for a spot check. I was recently in the town centre at 4am on a Friday where I was waiting for a taxi, I noticed many taxi's speeding around doing U-turns wherever they could, jumping red lights etc, it was like watching a rally. I used the ring back service which I find useful when out and about. the only trouble is that the driver admitted that the only reason he bothered attending the call was because I used this service, he said that if I had not got ringback he would not have bothered turning up incase I wasn't there. Now that is their choice but I dread to think that some young girl could have been stuck around stranded in town at that time. Another issue is the local knowledge of some of these taxi drivers. I always thought a test had to be taken that consisted local knowledge of the area concerned. I have since been told that not all the drivers for a company have to have passed this test only a percentage, the others are classed as trainees. Not 100% sure on this but I find it odd that I frequently have to navigate.

My dad is a taxi driver and I have worked in taxi offices myself. My Dad obviously is the good driver in a bad pounch, but since he works in Chester that wont help any of you. What I would say though is that the police dont stop taxi drivers for several reasons. Firstly its the taxi drivers who take trouble makers home. If they didn't do it the city centre would be in chaos every Friday and Saturday night. The police dont want to slow the taxi drivers down at these times. Mostly though they know taxi drivers have few points on their licences. In Chester if yu get 6 points your pulled up before the council authority to explain how you got the points and you often leave with a warning that any more points means that you dont drive taxis any more. Also all taxi drivers (except minicab drivers, in London only, for some reason) have to pass a police check before they get their licence. What they are refused from depends upon local authority, in Chester I think it's no violent crime in the last 20 years and no crime in the last 10, although there is a right of appeal and they can act on a case by case basis.

As for the quality of driving I think that varies a lot. My Dad drove as a Chauffer for Shell for 20 years and they put him through the Advance Drivers Institue Course, he didn't get any points on his licence for 25 years. How many can say that?

Originally posted by t020
This thread wasn't created to start promoting certain taxi companies.

With the vast numbers of clearly dangerous and crazed cabbies on the streets of Sheffield, people may like to know of a cab firm that is actually very good, punctual and whose drivers don't honk their horn on arrival.

And here are these cabbies getting away with flagrant violations of the speed limits and highway code whilst the police sit idly by arresting unsuspecting tokers, what a travesty.

My girlfriend left her bag in a taxi the other night. I was shocked when I phoned her mobile and the cab driver said he'd return the bag if I reminded him what our address was. Nothing had been touched (even her snotty tissue!) apart from the phone when he answered it.

He wanted £5.10 for the taxi journey. I gave him £15 for his honesty. It's not often you get a taxi driver like that...

Also, last weekend we went up to my mate's new house in Frecheville. The taxi meter said around £9 but he said, "Just give me £7.50 because the football traffic was bad!" :o Gob smacked!

Both were black cabs. Amazing init!?

Originally posted by kittykat

To that IDIOT on ecclesall road yesterday in the vulgar convertable BMW (ive seen better by the way) - I have your reg no. and when i get my mercedes when im oh so much more sucessful than you are (and i wont take as long as you did you grey haired balding old fart) THEN we can try racing and cutting each other up. THEN see who feels like king of the road mr up his own arse.
Please don't become a mercedes driver Kittykat, they IMHO are the worst. I have never had so many feelings of road rage towards a certain car driver. People that drive mercedes I find are rude, road hogging 2@'s.

Although I dislike bus drivers more... but I wont get started on that one.

True you find bad drivers, no matter the car. Just look at the 'boy racer' generation in their heavily modified, tacky body kitted corsa's and nova's.

At the mo I only drive a VW Polo. but I am getting a 5 series BMW on sunday. It's not brand new, and someone is giving it to me, so I'm not complaining. But I hate it when I get cut up on the road, so I do my best not to cut up others.

This is one BMW driver that wont be a ****.:o

Totally agree about merc drivers. Came out of the doctors' surgery last night to find my wing mirror knocked out of shape with a ding in it. Somebody nearby told me it had been a grey merc which had hit it but he'd not got the number, unfortunately.

Good luck with the beemer, DB. Does it come with indicators as most BMW drivers don't seem to bother having them installed?

Yes, indicators and a private plate (:P t020:lol: ).

Its Volvo drivers for me. Most people I know think the same - they pull out as if they own the road, don't give way to people just cruise through as if they will never be hit, and if they are then their car is so solid it won't hurt them.

I always give way to Volvos.

Originally posted by DaBouncer
Please don't become a mercedes driver Kittykat, they IMHO are the worst. I have never had so many feelings of road rage towards a certain car driver. People that drive mercedes I find are rude, road hogging 2@'s.

Although I dislike bus drivers more... but I wont get started on that one.

True you find bad drivers, no matter the car. Just look at the 'boy racer' generation in their heavily modified, tacky body kitted corsa's and nova's.

At the mo I only drive a VW Polo. but I am getting a 5 series BMW on sunday. It's not brand new, and someone is giving it to me, so I'm not complaining. But I hate it when I get cut up on the road, so I do my best not to cut up others.

This is one BMW driver that wont be a ****.:o


Dont worry DB - whatever car i get will be driven fairly badly as i cant drive to save my life. My examiner was having an off day when i took my test.

I always use WAIRDAT cabs.Every time you ask for a place the driver says Where's that!

Has anyone noticed how bad our taxi drivers are? There was a collision involving one on Ecclesall Road yesterday and I can't say it surprises me. I have found that 99% of taxi drivers speed heavily, switch lanes on roundabouts, cut you up, tailgate you, pull out on junctions right infront of you, do U-turns where signs clearly state no U-turns, run red lights, and generally just drive badly. I'm surprised they don't get caught more by police or crash a lot more than they do really. I know this won't apply to ALL taxi drivers, though I have to say in my experience it applies to most. Are there any taxi drivers here? If so do you realise how much you annoy me, and many others, with your bad driving? What is everyone elses experience of them?

Nearly 5 years on and there are more on the roads and things only got worse

Nearly 5 years on and there are more on the roads and things only got worse

Be honest, you only resurrected all these threads because one made you late for work tonight, by pulling up on a one way street in the middle of the road and chatting to his mate. ;):)

*:suspect:Psychic ash is at work:suspect:*

:hihi:

Be honest, you only resurrected all these threads because one made you late for work tonight, by pulling up on a one way street in the middle of the road and chatting to his mate.Isn't that standard practice? :hihi::hihi:

Isn't that standard practice? :hihi::hihi:


When I find some friends, I'll let you know :hihi:

Ask Jax to find you some, she likes match making

Its not all taxis that are bad and certainly not just sheff ones. Simple fact is they are on the road most days for hours and as for almost everything familiarity can breed contempt. They know the roads and ways to cheat round traffic (or in some cases how to cheat customers - all professions have dishonest people) and they try and get everywhere fast then they can get back and get their next fare. Its how they earn their living after all. Couple this with a fiery personality or lack of patience and then you get the ones who'll chop you and act like kings of the road. I think i am much more wary of buses who just pull out on you without a care in the world or lorries on motorways because they just spring across the lane whether you're there or not and sod you if you are!!!

Be honest, you only resurrected all these threads because one made you late for work tonight, by pulling up on a one way street in the middle of the road and chatting to his mate. ;):)

*:suspect:Psychic ash is at work:suspect:*

:hihi:

Yes you are my hero where would i be without you Ash you Psychic

. I have found that 99% of taxi drivers speed heavily, switch lanes on roundabouts, cut you up, tailgate you, pull out on junctions right infront of you, do U-turns where signs clearly state no U-turns, run red lights, and generally just drive badly.

Can I ask HOW you found that out?

Can I ask HOW you found that out?
You can ask, but he/she hasn't posted for over 2 years, so you may be waiting a while. :suspect:

You can ask, but he/she hasn't posted for over 2 years, so you may be waiting a while. :suspect:

Probably was run over by an irate cabbie.

Can I ask HOW you found that out?

probably just walked around city centre anytime, especially at weekends

have you recently?

probably just walked around city centre anytime, especially at weekends

have you recently?

No - I'm usually driving a taxi at weekends......

A valid point was raised about the speeding with impunity. I'm not talking 34mph in a 30mph zone here, more the 50mph in the same zones which I find interesting. They never seem to get stopped. One rumour was that the constabulary turn a blind eye, because they are emptying the city centre on Friday/Saturday nights more quickly...

Taxi drivers everywhere drive like that it has nothing to do with Shefiield. Cabys everywhere are rude and don't give a damn about the rules of the road but considering there in the car for hours on end it's understandable why they end up losing the plot slightly.

Has anyone noticed how bad our taxi drivers are? There was a collision involving one on Ecclesall Road yesterday and I can't say it surprises me. I have found that 99% of taxi drivers speed heavily, switch lanes on roundabouts, cut you up, tailgate you, pull out on junctions right infront of you, do U-turns where signs clearly state no U-turns, run red lights, and generally just drive badly. I'm surprised they don't get caught more by police or crash a lot more than they do really. I know this won't apply to ALL taxi drivers, though I have to say in my experience it applies to most. Are there any taxi drivers here? If so do you realise how much you annoy me, and many others, with your bad driving? What is everyone elses experience of them?

Bluddie hell, I thought you'd e made a come back :o

Has anyone noticed how bad our taxi drivers are?

Yeah, I don't use them at all anymore. A bit of planning and I find they're surplus to requirements.

My last experience was a white knuckle ride while the driver watched Chris Rock swearing his head off at stupid volumes on the dash DVD player (knobbled to not go off when moving).

To be as bad as some of the ones I've used in the past you would have to get up early and practice.

A family I know own a black cab, one of the men in the family applied for, paid for and received his taxi license. His 3 brothers and cousins all use this same license and take the taxi out at different times of the day/week. Thus avoiding paying for several licenses and several cars. I wouldn't be suprised if the reason for this was also because he is the only member of the family with a driving license as they can often be seen ignoring the rules of the road.

It is not unusual for several drivers to share the same cab. It makes sound economic sense to keep the thing moving for as much of the time as possible. The vehicle requires a licence in its own right, but each driver must also be licensed by the local authority. I think if you report this to the Taxi Licensing people they would be most interested.

taxi.licensing@sheffield.gov.uk

A family I know own a black cab, one of the men in the family applied for, paid for and received his taxi license. His 3 brothers and cousins all use this same license and take the taxi out at different times of the day/week. Thus avoiding paying for several licenses and several cars. I wouldn't be suprised if the reason for this was also because he is the only member of the family with a driving license as they can often be seen ignoring the rules of the road.

If this is true (and to be honest i have my doubts) then you really need to report them to the police and sheffield city council taxi licencing section. From your statement it seems there are at least 5 illegal drivers and 1 legal driver involved. With the number of checks done by the city council, either they are very very lucky not to have gotten caught or they look exactly like each other!

Please don't become a mercedes driver Kittykat, they IMHO are the worst. I have never had so many feelings of road rage towards a certain car driver. People that drive mercedes I find are rude, road hogging 2@'s.

Although I dislike bus drivers more... but I wont get started on that one.

True you find bad drivers, no matter the car. Just look at the 'boy racer' generation in their heavily modified, tacky body kitted corsa's and nova's.

At the mo I only drive a VW Polo. but I am getting a 5 series BMW on sunday. It's not brand new, and someone is giving it to me, so I'm not complaining. But I hate it when I get cut up on the road, so I do my best not to cut up others.

This is one BMW driver that wont be a ****.:oyes you will where all still learning even after we have passed our test, and people with bigger cars tend to think they own the road.

A family I know own a black cab, one of the men in the family applied for, paid for and received his taxi license. His 3 brothers and cousins all use this same license and take the taxi out at different times of the day/week. Thus avoiding paying for several licenses and several cars. I wouldn't be suprised if the reason for this was also because he is the only member of the family with a driving license as they can often be seen ignoring the rules of the road.



i doubt that very much, every driver is required to have their license visible at all times , plus that many drivers sharing 1 cab they wudnt make enuff money for themselves out of it esp with the number of cabs on the road now

I think people who slag nice cars off are just jealous!
I dont care what car people drive to be honest and i dont judge people by what they drive.

On the subject of bad cars i think all vauxhall vectras should be crushed because they are the most discusting car ever made.