GET IT SORTED IN 14 DAYS OR I,L SEE YOU IN COURT.

[zr1 368]

And what was the great crime? my reversing lights had stuck on.I,m a taxi driver this appened at 2am sunday morning,i also had passengers on board,rather than warn me he kept me waiting while he checked my licence. so now i have to take the ticket he gave me to a garage and get them to check that i have fixed the problem and get them to emboss the ticket {like they do on an mot}all at my expense.B****rds.

[7db]

Sounds pretty reasonable to me.

Driving a vehicle with a defect - told to get it fixed. All the more reasonable given that it's for public transport.

[zr1 368]

To 7db and tonker your missing the point i agree with all you have said.But first of all i didnt go out on purpose with my reverse lights on and secondly i dont like to be spoken to like i was some sort of criminal.The officer,s attitude could have been a lot better.

[sadako]

Take the reversing light bulbs out. They are not required by law.

[monkeyhanger]

sadako said:

Take the reversing light bulbs out. They are not required by law.

But if fitted at MOT time time, must work, i do believe

[sheepy]

monkeyhanger said:

sadako said: Take the reversing light bulbs out. They are not required by law. But if fitted at MOT time time, must work, i do believe

Nope. My XJS reversing lights are quite definately not working, but it's managed two MOTs with out them.

[gshughes]

Yep same here, reversing lights not working, passed MOT ok.

[rustybin]

Reversing lights do not get tested as part of the MOT. I found this out the hard way having spent £150 getting the selection switch on the gearbox on my Jeep sorted as this closes the circuit to activate the reversing light, only to be told by the tester "Shouldn't ave bovvered mate we don't test 'em". Also spent a good couple of days trying to get an intermittent fault on my Fiat Dino Spyders reversing lights sorted. Transpired that they only come on if the headlights are on as well and are actually designed that way.

[gone]

zr1 368 said:

And what was the great crime? my reversing lights had stuck on.I,m a taxi driver this appened at 2am sunday morning,i also had passengers on board,rather than warn me he kept me waiting while he checked my licence. so now i have to take the ticket he gave me to a garage and get them to check that i have fixed the problem and get them to emboss the ticket {like they do on an mot}all at my expense.B****rds.

It may interest you to know that Taxi drivers are not exactly the apple of our eye

I think you were more than reasonably dealt with on this occasion.

Do you think you should have been ignored because
1. You are a taxi driver and therefore exempt from everything as many of them do?
2. You had a fare on board so it was embarrasing and inconvenient?

[tvrgit]

Reversing lights are not required by law, so they don't have to work - but you cannot show a white light to the rear while moving forwards - so pull fuse "there you go, sorted, is that all? Mind how you go Officer, nite".

[MR2Mike]

zr1 368 said:

Ahe kept me waiting while he checked my licence. ..... B****rds.

Big thumbs up to the BIB for checking for unlicensed cabs. I seriously cannot see what possible reason you have for being upset. The copper has used the VDRS to ensure your cab is fixed so no fine etc. This seems like a totaly unjustifable whinge.

[mcflurry]

gone said:

It may interest you to know that Taxi drivers are not exactly the apple of our eye

Pray spill the beans

[gone]

mcflurry said:

Pray spill the beans

There are many things that Taxi drivers do which cause extra work! I will not elaborate further as there will be a tendancy to make generalisations which although prevalent among taxi drivers, will give others who use taxis cause for concern

Taxi drivers are prone to stretching laws they think should not apply to them to the limits and beyond!

Most Taxi drivers whether licensed or not run on the ragged edge of things!

[princeperch]

if i get in a cab it doesnt bother me if he breaks the limit per se (as we all know speed doesnt kill..) but I DO want the cab to be mechanically sound.

Im with Gone on this one. I expect cabbies think they own the road...Ill give them respect if I meet them, but if I get in one I want it to be top notch (or as near as possible).

I feel sorry for the original poster to a "certain" extent..but get it sorted!

[funkyrobot]

gone said:

mcflurry said: Pray spill the beans There are many things that Taxi drivers do which cause extra work! I will not elaborate further as there will be a tendancy to make generalisations which although prevalent among taxi drivers, will give others who use taxis cause for concern Taxi drivers are prone to stretching laws they think should not apply to them to the limits and beyond! Most Taxi drivers whether licensed or not run on the ragged edge of things!

Most of the taxi drivers in my local area are complete (add any nasty word you think of).

They seem to like tailgating you when you do 30 through my local town (very busy streets with small paths so 30 is required) and love speeding up behind you before braking at the last moment. It really pees them off though when I drop to around 20 when they do this .

They think they own the road and I am often cut up by them at junctions etc when driving and on my bike.

One of the worst instances of taxi driving I have witnessed is when I was in the passenger seat of a taxi going to college about 7 years ago, thankfully I don't require taxis much now. I was sat there listening to the driver talk about crap nonsense, as some of them usually do, when a teenage girl crossed the road infront of us on a zebra crossing. The driver only just slowed a bit and we rolled over the crossing at a speed which was too high, just missing her ass as she crossed. This really annoyed me and I told him that I thought it was dangerous. He didn't like this and the rest of the journey (only about 2 mins) was done in silence, I preferred this.

What really got me was what he said. Just after the wing mirror missed her back by inches he said 'well you silly girl, you think I would stop for you?! The only reason I slowed down was because the law would have me if I hit you on the crossing'. He was obviously peed off that he had to slow down for the crossing, I just thought wnker!!!

[Flat in Fifth]

Difficult not to make comments which generalise taxi drivers and thus offend those who are actually more or less OK behind the wheel. There are a few who are vv good actually.

The only two occasions when I have been driven by another driver and actually had to ask them to stop the car so I could give them the bollocking of all bollockings were both taxi drivers on an airport run. There were a few more who deserved it but I just bit my tongue.

The main problems with the driving seems to be trying to save 30 seconds on the journey and thus earn extra as they get more fares into a shift coupled with gross lack of attention to the job in hand coupled with vehicle daily maintenance / checks somewhat remiss. They seem to think that the 6 monthly MoT type test is enough and justifies everything.

[MilnerR]

Let me get this straight, you were driving a car that was not in a legal state (displaying a white light to the rear) and got stopped by an observant BiB, you were then checked to make sure all your paperwork was correct and told to get the defect fixed. Sounds like the BiB was doing his job

[parrot of doom]

Ever been in a Spanish or Italian taxi? They think hard shoulders around curves in the road are short-cuts.

English taxis are bloody great compared to those guys.

[A57 HSV]

Yes parrot of doom, Italian taxi drivers can be crazy. Friend of mine had a huge argument in Rome with a taxi
driver who would not let him put his safety belt on. The driver's argument was that he was so good there was no way he was going to crash & putting on a belt was an afront to his driving skills! Eventually my mate told him to F**k OFF!
In the UK I have always found Hackney carriages to be in very good condition. London mini cabs are something else however, I've been in some really dangerous wrecks, no brakes, no reverse gear etc. etc. Funniest was a friend who ordered a mini cab for 4 passengers, when it turned up there was no front passenger seat, the driver told my friend to sit on the floor. She also told him where to go.

[Flat in Fifth]

A57 HSV said:

She also told him where to go.

Might be a joke in there somewhere.