All-women Taxi Firms

[Diane]

I am not sure if they ever did go ahead but Melbourne was set to get pink taxis for female drivers. I think it was a great idea but then ive heard so many horror stories of taxi drivers asking female passengers to pay them with favours rather than cash.

I once considered being a taxi driver but I would be worried about taking on male passengers who were drunk. I've seen some taxis where the driver sits in a plastic pod so that passengers can't get to them and they can't get to passengers, now I think that would be a great idea.

 

I think this is one of the main stumbling blocks for an all female-staffed taxi company - the risk to the driver. After all, if a group of drunken lads decided it'd be a laugh to order a female-driven cab, then I can see that possibly leading to problems for the driver, and as I said, my research into this yesterday threw up a lot of assaults on the drivers of cabs as well. My boss told me about the Helles Angels company - apparently their initial aim on start up was to charge standard taxi prices, but I don't know if they still do - I guess by being a Chauffered Services company rather than a Taxi company, they can pick and choose their customers with a bit more freedom.

[Ktee]

I think this is one of the main stumbling blocks for an all female-staffed taxi company - the risk to the driver. After all, if a group of drunken lads decided it'd be a laugh to order a female-driven cab, then I can see that possibly leading to problems for the driver, and as I said, my research into this yesterday threw up a lot of assaults on the drivers of cabs as well. My boss told me about the Helles Angels company - apparently their initial aim on start up was to charge standard taxi prices, but I don't know if they still do - I guess by being a Chauffered Services company rather than a Taxi company, they can pick and choose their customers with a bit more freedom.

I still think the pods would be a better way forward for all.

I use to own a pub in the UK and I found drunken women were worse than the men so I suppose even a female only taxi service may not work

[Diane]

I still think the pods would be a better way forward for all.

I use to own a pub in the UK and I found drunken women were worse than the men so I suppose even a female only taxi service may not work

 

Haha my OH worked at Fords in the UK and it used to be routine to send new lads on errands through the upholstery section which was almost exclusively staffed by women - and boy, were they scary en masse to a lad on his own - so intimidation of the opposite sex is certainly not a purely male privilege!!

[minty]

How totally ridiculous - when I was getting in Black Cabs I never even noticed the colour of the skin of the driver!!

 

You absolutely can't play the racism card here - sexism I'm prepared to defend against, but racism is just so totally NOT what the issue is about!

 

Why are black cabs a better standard then Adelaide Taxis? Both have police checked drivers, both have cameras. What is the difference then ?

Edited October 22, 2014 by minty

[Diane]

Then why are black cabs a better standard then Adelaide Taxis? Both have police checked drivers, both have cameras. What is the difference ?

 

Two words: The Knowledge

[minty]

Two words: The Knowledge

 

Not needed now in the age of sat nav. Both get you from A to B.

[Diane]

Not needed now in the age of sat nav. Both get you from A to B.

 

Thus speaks someone who has never shouted at their sat nav: "You don't know what you're talking about - THAT's not the quickest way to get THERE!" After mine tried to take me a very roundabout way to somewhere that was just up the road, I stopped relying on it to have the faintest clue! And I've lost count of the times we've got in a cab here and had to tell the driver how to get somewhere!

[wizzywozza]

Number one rule about using a taxi anywhere ........... text the cabbies ID number, name and/or the cab plate number to your nearest and dearest ........ AS SOON AS YOU GET IN IT.

 

I have heard many horror stories about cab drivers here, and yes a lot were Indian because guess what ..... most cabs here are driven by Indians. A friends teenage daughter was punched in the face by one cabbie a couple of years back, my daughter has witnessed a girl being dragged alongside a cab by her foot trapped in the door, across the Galipoli Underpass in heavy traffic, after being pushed out of a moving cab by the driver and recently we've had to report one driver who so nearly caused a pile up O'Halloran Hill it's a wonder no one was killed. Coincidentally ALL the drivers were indeed Indian. You only have to look into the road rules of such countries to see why there are so many dreadfull drivers from them.

 

Now to driver safety ........ there are specially designed cabs which are safe for drivers ...... the black London cab. But taxi firms here are so reluctant to spend any money on the safety of their drivers and fleets. They can have the plastic pods retro fitted but after being offered a huge tax payer funded subsidy for this in SA only TWO drivers took up the offer. They definitely would not invest in a specifically designed vehicle.

 

Now to drivers ............. proper cabbies (London) have to do at least a years knowledge, are rigourously tested and have annual medicals. Any transgression and the Carriage Office is soon on to their case. Adelaide however is different ..... a few days course and off you go, no worries.

 

It is extremely expensive to buy a taxi plate ....... somewhere in the region of $350000 I believe. To start a female driver taxi company up would cost a fortune. It's a non starter to be honest.

 

 

That's it .... I'm more than proud to say I come from four generations of London cabbies. They are the best taxi drivers in the world.

Edited October 22, 2014 by wizzywozza

[minty]

Very good first point but disagree that Indians are any worse at driving then your average SA driver. Now black cabs are good but anyone brought up in London can pass the knowledge with a bit of time and they can be just as unsavory characters as I don't know,,,,,,,Indians.

[wizzywozza]

You clearly have no knowledge of THE Knowledge so why not give it a rest eh???

[minty]

Thus speaks someone who has never shouted at their sat nav: "You don't know what you're talking about - THAT's not the quickest way to get THERE!" After mine tried to take me a very roundabout way to somewhere that was just up the road, I stopped relying on it to have the faintest clue! And I've lost count of the times we've got in a cab here and had to tell the driver how to get somewhere!

 

Will give you that but when I get in a cab I just direct them. No hassle, as long as I get home they have done there job.

 

I always sit up front and chat to them. I've been driven home by engineers, a nurse, managers, an architect, and a musician and it amazes me such highly skilled people are driving cabs to put food in there children's mouths because they can't get jobs in there fields.

 

Met a few ignorant ones but some of them were Aussies aswell.

[Guest Claire-n-tel]

Very good first point but disagree that Indians are any worse at driving then your average SA driver.

 

Sorry I have to disagree here, having spent a year in India (and driving there) as bad as driving can be here it is just damn scary in India. It is very common for people to never bother getting a licence or just "buying" one.

 

There obviously are road rules but nobody follows them, you would never get anywhere. People texting stopped for some reason by the police can (and do)more often than not give them backsheesh(a bribe) and drive off scott free.

[Blossom]

My partner used to be a tow truck driver and has some scary stories about Indian drivers he used to have to pick up. He had a taxi driver once who couldn't reverse his car and had to get my partner to do it. :-O

Of course he has plenty of bogan stories too as many are no better.

[sidestep]

Thus speaks someone who has never shouted at their sat nav: "You don't know what you're talking about - THAT's not the quickest way to get THERE!" After mine tried to take me a very roundabout way to somewhere that was just up the road, I stopped relying on it to have the faintest clue!

 

Try checking whether yours is set to the shortest route or the quickest route. There can be a big difference between the two.

[minty]

You clearly have no knowledge of THE Knowledge so why not give it a rest eh???

 

Yes I have but that doesn't really matter. What ever way people dress it up this thread in parts is what it is.

[Lazy Cow]

Is it me or is this thread just hidden racism.

 

Diane's thread seems a totally reasonable one regarding safety, particularly focusing on women, in taxis.

 

That's it. IMHO, referring to the thread as "hidden racism" is unfair. I do think that mentioning race in regard to actual experiences brings it close, but I don't think it was in any way intended as a racist comment.

 

I think it's really important that we all speak up against racism, sexism, or any other kind of negative -ism, but I think we have to be careful not to see something which was never intended. Sometimes (and this is only my opinion) it is all in the eye of the beholder.

 

LC

[Ktee]

Diane's thread seems a totally reasonable one regarding safety, particularly focusing on women, in taxis.

 

That's it. IMHO, referring to the thread as "hidden racism" is unfair. I do think that mentioning race in regard to actual experiences brings it close, but I don't think it was in any way intended as a racist comment.

 

I think it's really important that we all speak up against racism, sexism, or any other kind of negative -ism, but I think we have to be careful not to see something which was never intended. Sometimes (and this is only my opinion) it is all in the eye of the beholder.

 

LC

i am the first to clamp down on racism but I'm afraid to say there is nothing to see here.

[Ktee]

Sorry I have to disagree here, having spent a year in India (and driving there) as bad as driving can be here it is just damn scary in India. It is very common for people to never bother getting a licence or just "buying" one.

 

There obviously are road rules but nobody follows them, you would never get anywhere. People texting stopped for some reason by the police can (and do)more often than not give them backsheesh(a bribe) and drive off scott free.

I have to agree about buying licenses. I know 5 people at the top of my head who never took a driving lesson in their life but managed to get a full license that allowed them to even drive trucks, it is very scary. This was in Turkey where my family live

[Blossom]

I have to agree about buying licenses. I know 5 people at the top of my head who never took a driving lesson in their life but managed to get a full license that allowed them to even drive trucks, it is very scary. This was in Turkey where my family live

My partner is Aussie and lived out in the country. He couldn't pass the question part of the test so the policeman who took it (who was mates with his dad) gave him the answers! Luckily he's done truck tests since then properly.

[Guest Guest14361]

I see theirs a taxi firm in the UK that offers white drivers or asian drivers if you want either, now that is racist

[Guest Guest75]

Two words: The Knowledge

 

What is this???

[Keith & Linda]

What is this???

 

I don't know!

When it comes on special I'm going to get me some though!

Edited October 23, 2014 by Keith & Linda
extra text

[Diane]

From Wikipedia:

 

London's traditional black cabs (so-called, despite being of various colours and advertising designs) are specially constructed vehicles designed to conform to the standards set out in the Conditions of Fitness. London taxi drivers are licensed and must have passed an extensive training course (the Knowledge).

[Keith & Linda]

When I was in Thailand on holiday, a taxi firm there advertised "we have English speaking drivers" I thought what a good idea, why doesn't Adelaide do that!