Following another near death experience last night due to an incompetent taxi driver, it got me thinking. Is driving a taxi the only profession where the more you do your job (i.e. driving), the worse you get at it? It’d say 95% of HGV drivers I encounter don’t do ridiculous things and are competent due to experience and being conscious of the consequences of an accident involving such a large and heavy vehicle. However I don’t exaggerate when I say that at least 50% of taxis I encounter show an inability to grasp even basic concepts of safe, courteous driving and the highway code. Last night I was doing a steady 60mph on the A404 dual carriageway near Marlow, the outside lane was closed off so I presume they were doing grass cutting (although so no workers as per usual), and a taxi driver pulled right out in front of me from a parking lay-by. As I didn’t have the option of moving into lane 2, I had to slam on, sending the contents of my work bag on the seat next to me flying all over the place. I registered my displeasure with a little bit of full beam illumination (which I know will be condemned by some of the saintly lot on here), and, by way of confirming his sub-30 I.Q. Mr. Taxi responded with a brief game of brake-testing until we reached the roundabout near Bisham (Mr Taxi of course neglecting to use his indicators for other road users on the roundabout).
The night before I had another taxi driving idiot joining the M6 at J16, you all know the scenario, in lane 1, a stream of traffic in lane 2 overtaking you giving you no option to move over, he came along the slip and matched my speed exactly (rather than filtering into the large gap behind me or putting his foot down and joining ahead of me). As I failed to budge (I now refuse to slam on for drivers that don’t know the Highway Code regarding entering the motorway) he ended up going down the hard shoulder for about 100 yards, before pulling in behind and flashing his headlights like a psychopath.
Rule 259 Joining the motorway. When you join the motorway you will normally approach it from a road on the left (a slip road) or from an adjoining motorway. You should: -give priority to traffic already on the motorway -check the traffic on the motorway and match your speed to fit safely into the traffic flow in the left-hand lane
So, to my original question, can anyone think of a profession other than taxi driver where the more you do your job, the more incompetent you get?
I upset a taxi driver one night after a generous consumption of merry medicine. A sign in the taxi said “£50 fine will imposed for vomiting in this vehicle.” I understood that to mean I could crap on the floor for ■■■■ all.
They must create taxi drivers in a factory somewhere. Most…nay, all of them in my neck of the woods are absolute brainless ■■■■■■■■■
Constantly turning right or left when road signs forbid otherwise, carve you up by overtaking on roundabouts, roaring up and down bus lanes faster than the posted limit, lapse use of indicators, lights and most often brakes, relying on the added inertia to boost them around corners and bends in front of other road users.
Ho hum !
It’'s not just taxi drivers. I had an idiot in a highway maintenance rigid joining the M1. I’m in lane 1 in a rigid box being overtaken slowly by an artic.
Had to slam as this idiot who was joining MY motorway would not yield. Absolute ■■■■■■■
Have said it before thee is a taxi driver round here who has 21 point on his licence still allowed to drive he goes to court plays the racial card & hard up he will loose his lively hood
Part of the reason is they want to make more money "wheels are turning money burning "
Have met some good drivers as well as some really bad drivers
I always thought that they had to pass some extra test to be a taxi driver, i mustbbe wrong some of them are the worst drivers ive ever seen on the roads
It’s quite suprising that in spite of the fact taxi drivers need their licences for their livelihood, they seem the most willing to risk it by their crap, dangerous and downright selfish driving.
They NEVER seem to get pulled by the cops, many are complete ■■■■■■■■■■ You get the point
Was speaking to a cab driver in Liverpool as I was going on a night out.
I asked him,how you become a taxi driver he basically said just past a test describing how to get from A to B from 5 of 7 possible routes in college, I assume for Liverpool, it would somewhere like Hugh baird.
He then went on to say the foreign drivers get,to take a traslator in. They use the same translator each time so they would know the route by heart now.
i dont suppose having some sort of GIVE WAY signage on the slip road would help instead of assuming drivers know the rules (they should)
or no speaka da inglish, ive driven several countries in europe and repetative road signs soon make sense
I was a self employed taxi driver for a year in the 80s, and there is nothing on this Earth that could get me to do it again, or indeed work with the public again as a Bus driver for instance, I was a ticket snatcher for British Rail in 1978 and the abuse we used to get doing that was a bit rough (the worse the abuse, the bigger the thief) but the abuse and threats, the vomiters the plain stinking filthy people, the runners, the violent, the threats you got especially on a Fri/Sat/Sun in Bradford has to experienced to be believed.
