http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Taxi 657 - dangerous driving en Thu, 21 May 2026 04:29:41 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294&page=2#post-12843 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:56:20 +0000 Dave 12843@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Taxis are a major source of revenue, one of the perks is that they get to use the reserved lanes. Simple as that.</p> <p>What I don't really understand is the private hires. They have all the perks of a black cab (especially as in practice, I see them picking up on the street all the time). </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294&page=2#post-12839 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:39:33 +0000 spitfire 12839@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><a href="http://www.writetothem.com">writetothem.com</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294&page=2#post-12836 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:23:56 +0000 steveo 12836@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I smell i letter to my councillor on the brew, I wonder what the official line is rather than the probable one which is likely what Spytfire and Kaputnik have formulated.... Money. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294&page=2#post-12828 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:46:24 +0000 ARobComp 12828@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I had a taser pulled on me by a black cab driver when I was Pedicabbing years ago. For no reason other than he tried to block me in but blocked himself in so I helpfully moved my bike out the way for him and he decided I was a smart arse. </p> <p>Got out, pulled the stun gun style thing from his pocket and stated he was going to "pump 50000 volts through me and see who's laughing"<br /> I asked him to try it but he backed off. An absolute mental.</p> <p>Flagged police - they hunted him down but he'd obviously dropped the thing off with a mate by that point and denied everything. Even though the passengers in my cab could give statements saying they saw it in his hand the police did nothing. Its a cat A firearm.</p> <p>Madness </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294&page=2#post-12825 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:35:12 +0000 kaputnik 12825@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>why does tourist with big bag in cab get priority over tourist with big bag being picked up by friend</em></p> <p>Friend didn't pay the cooncil loads of money for their black cab licence? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294&page=2#post-12824 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:29:58 +0000 steveo 12824@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Aye Spytfyre fair points but these people and items could just as easily be carried by a cab in normal traffic, why does tourist with big bag in cab get priority over tourist with big bag being picked up by friend. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294&page=2#post-12821 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:18:57 +0000 kaputnik 12821@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I guess taxis are like the "premium lane" to get through security at the airport if you're in a hurry / carrying contraband etc. You pay them a fist full of banknotes for the priveledge of (legally) scooting past the traffic in the green lane.</p> <p>One would think the fact they <em>are</em> regulated and it's their livelihood would make <strong>more</strong> of them drive with more courtesy, care and attention. Like I said though, "would think". The irony is that the poorer-driven of them obviously don't appreciate that every cyclist on the road is taking a potential one-man-and-his-car off the road, giving them more road space, reducing traffic and generally actually making their job easier and more productive. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294&page=2#post-12814 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:01:33 +0000 spitfire 12814@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@steveo - &lt;cynicism&gt;possibly beacuse cooncilors love to jump in them and zip between meetings and lunches and don't want to be on a bus but do want the advantage of the bus lane?&lt;/cynicism&gt;<br /> Business folk off the plane to hotel, hotel to office, office to hotel, hotel back to airport.<br /> Tourists, same gig minus the office<br /> Council want people to be able to come to the city and get around quickly and conveniently with luggage (I pity people with large suitcases trying to fit them into the buses) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294&page=2#post-12813 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:53:37 +0000 steveo 12813@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Not sure i buy that either... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294&page=2#post-12811 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:48:41 +0000 SRD 12811@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Steveo - have always thought it was because cabs make it less necessary for people to own cars, and thus reduces number of 'unnecessary' journeys? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294&page=2#post-12809 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:47:06 +0000 steveo 12809@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Guys i'm not comparing black cabs to private hire cars but black cabs to private individuals cars ie why does the black cab get preferential treatment to me or any other driver on the road. They don't seem to provide any benefit to the city other than the amount they pay for their plate every year. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294&page=2#post-12806 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:44:22 +0000 SRD 12806@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"@chdot: "I can't keep everyone happy"<br /> That's unfortunate and also inevitable. Your censoring has made a couple of people unhappy (this time around I just found it amusing) My thoughts are don't try, we are (mostly) grown adults and if we get into a debate that irks us then that is our fault."</p> <p>I would still like an explanation as to why ANYTHING I posted yesterday needed to be taken down. If someone asks for their own posts to be removed, it may remove all logic from the sequence, but why remove other non-offensive ones? And if mine were offensive, please tell me why, so I don't do it again. </p> <p>Don't see that assuming people to be adults who mean what they post is a problem. I prefer to see it as respecting other posters, not the reverse. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294&page=2#post-12804 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:40:05 +0000 spitfire 12804@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@chdot: "I can't keep everyone happy"<br /> That's unfortunate and also inevitable. Your censoring has made a couple of people unhappy (this time around I just found it amusing)<br /> My thoughts are don't try, we are (mostly) grown adults and if we get into a debate that irks us then that is our fault.</p> <p>@Steveo - I think it is because they have paid huge sums of cash to pass an exam so they can drive the black cabs and effectively "graduate" up from the private hire firms<br /> Also black cabs are the only ones allowed to pick up people on the street who wave them down, private hires can't do that and can only pick up people who have called and ordered one. Which is why the taxi rank at the airport has only black cabs and only from the two companies the council(?)/airport have selected (they have P and V numbers on their windscreens) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294#post-12803 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:38:51 +0000 steveo 12803@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Hmm, i struggle to see how a black cab with a single passenger is any better than a personal car with just a driver let alone some kind of public transport. A quick Google suggests a mere 35mpg which is only marginally better than i get in town. The only advantage i can see is they don't put pressure on parking where they turn up since they inevitably drive off again with or with out a fare though that's a bit of double edged sword since my cars mpg while i'm at the supermarket is significantly better than 35mpg... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294#post-12800 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:20:50 +0000 kaputnik 12800@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I think technically they are classed as public transport, s'why. Private hire cars on the other hand aren't. Which (coupled with email from council on another thread) is why I've got much more problem with them being in the bus lane. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294#post-12799 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:55:21 +0000 steveo 12799@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I think i've asked this before but can any one explain why black cabs get preferential treatment over private cars? </p> <p>Seems to me that they do even more mileage in a much heavier vehicle belching particulates, they can usually only hold two extra passengers. They provide little or no advantage to any one except the councils tram funds coupled to which they represent some of the worst drivers in the city. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294#post-12796 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:30:25 +0000 kaputnik 12796@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Drafting the Airport bus heading west past Roseburn at about 28mph. Bus moves out to pass cyclist in bus lane. I follow bus so as not to lose my windbreak. Following taxi decides he's not having any of that, accellerates, moves along side me (even though I'm in "his" lane) and forces me back into the bus lane. </p> <p>It's just so utterly pointless. I really don't get what it achieved or why he had to do it. I was doing exactly the same speed as the bus, so if anyone was "holding him up", it was the bus. Would he have performed a maneouvre like that on the bus to force his way past? <strong>No.</strong> Why? The 15 tonnes of bus would have flattened his silly black tractor. But seeing as I'm a cyclist on a 10kg bike, that's fine. He can force his way in and I have to get out of my road position to keep myself safe. Needless to say I was with him again by the time we get to the lights at Western corner, filter up and pass him.</p> <p>Convoy of 6 <em>empty</em> private hire cars (I counted them as I sailed past) causing a tailback in the buslane at Drumbrae roundabout also...</p> <p>I got minor revenge on the careless drivers yesterday on my way home though. Woman westbound at the Murrayfield Hotel, waiting to turn right across the eastbound traffic (including me). Decided just to pull out without really looking, even though that would have meant that unless I pull on the brakes and come to a stop that I fly straight into her passenger side door. Half tempted to do that as I'm on the steel-framed tourer so I figure all that weight would do her car some damage, however on second thoughts I let out my greatest and loudest ever "<strong>HOI!</strong>" as I ground to a halt, causing her to visibly brick herself and put a smile back on my otherwise exasperated face. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294#post-12793 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:15:22 +0000 steveo 12793@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I'm back to contemplating my Edinburgh Chariot Spike. </p> <p>Bloody taxi's! </p> <p>Going between the lights at Haymarket and Wst Maitland Street i'm just pottering up because the next two sets of lights are always red after the previous set go green so you can't actually get moving since you'll <strong>always </strong>get stopped at the next light. I'm in the 3rd lane so the left lane for going up Torphichen Street when two moron taxis under take me in the outside lane and then move back into my lane, utterly pointless at the best of times since I just slide into the ASL and hold them up at the next set which is also red. </p> <p>The second one starts to cut in so close that not only do i end up in the other lane with a fast moving Range Rover but i'm so close i can touch his rear quarter panel. Before any one asks i was in the middle of the lane since this happens often and no i didn't get his number i was busy working out where to get brake fluid at this time of the morning.</p> <p>This junction is a bloody nightmare though just yesterday i had a van do the same thing then sit in the ASL so me and another person just slid in front of him, when i finally let him past half way up Torphicen Street he gave me a very bemused look to which i just gave him a grin and a wink. Difference between the two is the van over took me quickly enough to get safely in front even if he was being an idiot and sitting in the ASL. </p> <p>If i ever get any power in the council or government taxi drivers are going to have such a hard time. One complaint will loose the taxi firm the plate, that might actually make them more courteous. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294#post-12778 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:22:13 +0000 chdot 12778@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"censored (sorry I meant defused)"</p> <p>It's a fine line</p> <p>I can't keep everyone happy</p> <p>- especially me (which is what counts...) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294#post-12777 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:53:31 +0000 cb 12777@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Scottishhills.com recommended as a friendly hill walking site (with forum). </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294#post-12775 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:32:15 +0000 SRD 12775@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>For the record, this was _not_ a helmet debate. </p> <p>Can I get my posts re-instated, even if not those of the person who asked to be removed? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294#post-12771 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:51:38 +0000 Dave 12771@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Funnily enough, without knowing more than a Dad's Army worth of German, I can more or less read that poem. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294#post-12769 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:40:32 +0000 spitfire 12769@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>sorry I accidentally deleted my copy paste dump of the entire site should something happen to need censored (sorry I meant defused)<br /> ;p </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294#post-12768 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:31:06 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 12768@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>So. What have I missed? :P </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294#post-12764 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:17:15 +0000 spitfire 12764@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@chdot<br /> I think the situation had already burned the fuse</p> <p>horse<br /> bolted<br /> gate<br /> shut </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294#post-12759 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:08:16 +0000 recombodna 12759@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Wenn Sie Ärger der Manager<br /> Die Fäden werden gesperrt</p> <p>Mr Davidmhodgey sir don't be put off by a bit of spirited debate. I'm sure no offence was meant. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294#post-12758 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:04:25 +0000 chdot 12758@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@spitfire</p> <p>You can't confuse me with German. </p> <p>Wasn't me getting annoyed. </p> <p>Just trying to defuse a situation. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294#post-12757 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:00:08 +0000 davidmhodgey 12757@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@Dave, you've basically just summed up everything I was apparently having trouble articulating. Does anyone know how to delete your citycyclingedinburgh account? I can't find the big red "Eject" button anywhere... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294#post-12756 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:57:40 +0000 spitfire 12756@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Gespräch der Sturzhelme ist verboten!<br /> Sie wurden gewarnt!<br /> Schauen Sie jetzt, was Sie getan haben!<br /> Sie haben den Verwalter verärgert</p> <p>You tube meme will be uploaded later... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=1294#post-12755 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:52:50 +0000 chdot 12755@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I go to a meeting and things happen. </p> <p>Seems to have been a discussion/argument about meaning of words in posts. </p> <p>I've deleted several posts (MOST unusual). </p> <p>So Dave's post above may seem out of context. </p>