Taxi Driver Crazy Driving

overdriver

I know the lads have to make a living, but it was a melee in town last night.

One driver - with a very low plate number ( early 20's) pulled right out of the bus lane at the central bank and forced me onto the wrong side of the road, before I had to jam on the brakes. i was in the Hiace, beeping at him to tell him I was there, but he knew that. He'd seen me.

He then turned onto the Quays, having zig-zgged between the buses , and without indicating at any time, before swerving into a Taxi rank. He was a guy in his late 50's.

I was so tempted to report him to the Gardai or the carriage office. It was the most dangerous and aggressive driving I've seen in a while.

He was just dropping off a fare and racing round to the rank.

idiot.

Blub2k4

Just so that you're aware, the numbers no longer mean a single thing, the regulator has started to mix it up, on reapplication they are handing out any number.

Wishbone Ash

Blub2k4 wrote:

Just so that you're aware, the numbers no longer mean a single thing, the regulator has started to mix it up, on reapplication they are handing out any number.

Are they skipping numbers also? I saw a 25,XXX number yesterday even though I thought there were about 16,000 Dublin taxis.

overdriver

I wasn't trying to say he was an experienced old-guard taxi man. It was just a way of saying I have his number.

luckat

I saw (and heard) lots of mad driving on the weekend; was wondering if it was maybe something to do with the state of the moon and the upcoming fullest tide in two decades on September 9. Anyway, all the drivers seemed to be behaving like werewolves.

This being Ireland, it was chiefly expressing itself in disapproval of others. Every time someone made a move on the road that another driver disapproved of -

BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARE!!!

and the horns would start going. The sheer rudeness and intrusiveness was astounding. I'm getting a bit nervous; I make the odd driving mistake myself, and I'm afraid these people will bring in a law invoking capital (or at least corporal) punishment for getting into the wrong lane or hesitating on a turn.

Big Balls

Similar thing happened to me a few months ago.

Taxi driver came flying out of a bus lane and cut me up, gave him a quick flash of the lights and thought no more about it.

Next set of lights, out he jumps, "do you want f**king road rage cause I'll give you fu**ing road rage" all right in my face etc

Next stop for me was Clontarf station and a call/email to the carriage office and only 4 weeks ago, a guard called me to say he had been cautioned and it was put on his file - I have a letter from the Superintendant and everything

Drax

Big Balls wrote:

Next stop for me was Clontarf station and a call/email to the carriage office and only 4 weeks ago, a guard called me to say he had been cautioned and it was put on his file - I have a letter from the Superintendant and everything

Class! He deserved it.

overdriver

Class!

Kashkai

overdriver wrote:

I know the lads have to make a living, but it was a melee in town last night.

One driver - with a very low plate number ( early 20's) pulled right out of the bus lane at the central bank and forced me onto the wrong side of the road, before I had to jam on the brakes. i was in the Hiace, beeping at him to tell him I was there, but he knew that. He'd seen me.

He then turned onto the Quays, having zig-zgged between the buses , and without indicating at any time, before swerving into a Taxi rank. He was a guy in his late 50's.

I was so tempted to report him to the Gardai or the carriage office. It was the most dangerous and aggressive driving I've seen in a while.

He was just dropping off a fare and racing round to the rank.

idiot.

Why didn't you report him then??

No point bitching about it on Boards - nothing will be solved here.

Taxi drivers are assholes. I know some people will say that you can't tar all taxi drivers with the same brush yada, yada yada, but I don't let them pull out in front of me anymore. I used to let them into traffic but never got one wave, thumbs up, flash of the hazards etc as a thank you. They believe they own the roads and the rest of us motorists are a nuisance to them. They zip up the bus lanes on the Dublin quays and then swerve into the traffic lanes to get around parked buses without a thought for the poor eejit who has to stand on his brakes to avoid hitting them.

My wife had the misfortune to run into the back of one of them a few years ago. Now it was a very low speed impact, so slow that there was no damage done to either car. However, the taxi driver started to scream blue murder and so she called the cops. They came, told them to swop insurance and so on. It later transpired that while my wife's insurance company agreed that there was no damage to the taxi driver's car, they paid out on a whiplash claim. Now how can you get whiplash when the bloody car isn't even damaged.:mad:

skibum

Prosperous Dave wrote:

I used to let them into traffic but never got one wave, thumbs up, flash of the hazards etc as a thank you. They believe they own the roads and the rest of us motorists are a nuisance to them.

Same here, how much effort does it take to either nod the head or raise a hand as a gesture of thanks?

Wishbone Ash

skibum wrote:

Same here, how much effort does it take to either nod the head or raise a hand as a gesture of thanks?

But that comment could apply to any driver, not just taxis.

When I'm driving a tractor on busy roads, I occasionally pull over to allow faster moving traffic to pass. ( I'm under no statutory obligation to do so). 99% of car drivers pass without any gesture of thanks. Most truck drivers in fairness, will give a little 'beep' as they pass.

mloc123

A taxi driver tried to race me last night along the n4 outwards bound at heuston.

He was in the inside lane at the contruction site(road to Killmanan) and jumped the lights twice, jumped then stopped then jumped again and stoped, so when the lights went green I pulled off quick enough and left him and he decided to try and hammer past me...in a ****box old camry :rolleyes:

I really do hate taxi drivers.

cpoh1

I have no problem tarring all taxi drivers with the same brush.

I had an incident on a narrow road in cork one day. There was a series of cars parked on the taxi drivers side of the road, as I reached the cars he decided to pull out in front of me meaning that there was no room for both cars to pass by. I had to mount the curb to let the fella through and as he passed he started cursing blindly at me telling me I should have stopped for him. As he passed my car he swiped my electric aerial clean off the car. Popped into the nearest garda station giving the guys reg and showing them the damage, they called into his house (conveniently around the corner) the next morning (a sunday) asking him to accompany them down to the garda station to resolve the situation. €100 cash for the aerial and a humble apology in person later made up for it!

Im sure they think that because they are working on the roads that they have more right to the roads than we do. Another bug bear of mine is them pulling over anywhere they like without any thought for other traffic when picking up/dropping off customers.

limey_tank

cpoh1 wrote:

I have no problem tarring all taxi drivers with the same brush.

I've way more bad incidents than good ones. I really think Taxi's should be regulated properly. Like London.

-There should be a version of The Knowledge. (I've directed many drivers home because "I usually only work the southside..")
-Drivers should undergo psychological testing. (I've too many stories to recount, the worst was the guy who stopped at every green light and went through every red, we were too scared to do or say anything. I should have repored him but didn't.)
-Cars and drivers should be clean. (Again too many stories of unpleasant smells, sticky surfaces and still smouldering cigarettes.)
-Random spot checks should be done, not to actually catch untoward behaviour, but as a deterrent.

I have no problem with the cheap licence but it has encouraged some awful people out on the roads.

dubstub

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Are they skipping numbers also? I saw a 25,XXX number yesterday even though I thought there were about 16,000 Dublin taxis.

AFAIK that's because the numbering scheme has changed. It used to be that you could be 3512 in Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford, etc. - now that number uniquely identifies you on a national level.

TommyK

Wishbone Ash wrote:

( I'm under no statutory obligation to do so).

I'm pretty sure the Rules of the Road say that tractors drivers should strictly observe the keep left rule to not hold up faster traffic, or something to that effect.

Tommy.

overdriver

I personally cannot STAND to see taxi drivers smoking in their cars.
I thought (hoped) it was illegal, as a member of the public could be getting in soon after?

Wishbone Ash

TommyK wrote:

I'm pretty sure the Rules of the Road say that tractors drivers should strictly observe the keep left rule to not hold up faster traffic, or something to that effect.

Tommy.

Correct TommyK, but I think the posters were referring to narrow busy roads where it is not possible to pass due to the volume of traffic coming in the opposite direction.