Taxi Driver Online

Maybe all the punters that smoked there are now dead or bed ridden.

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IDFIMH

A driver, (non smoking) recently took a holiday, farming out his school run to a (heavy smoking) driver. The kids he took to school complained to thier teacher about feeling sick when they got to school, because the cab stank so much. The contract was removed from the driver, and he has been banned from operating contracts until he has given up smoking.

He did not smoke when the passengers were in the taxi, but he habitually smokes when empty. A professional smoker, he travels to Belgium to bulk buy, several times a year, he has been cautioned about smoking in his taxi. A coffin chaser, if ever there was one I can hear him now coughing his lung (s?) up. Dead man walking.

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Former taxi driver

Hardly..I dont even smoke.

Now they're all at home killing the kids.

If people didn't want to stand in smoke filled pubs then they had a choice not to go in as i'm sure smoking in pubs has been around since pubs themselves. Most pubs have still got the glass doors with smoke room written on them. On the taxi side though I can understand how just the smell of smoke to a non smoker can be a bit rough. I smoke but 99% of the time I get out and have to freeze my gonards off but that other 1% I'll have one inside in the case that I'm on way home after a shift or driving about in the day when I'm not working but doing my own buisness. I packed in in January and started up again in july and in that time when a smoker had got in my car after having a fag it did use to make even me boark a bit, so I suppose the smoking ban in taxi's is right. I can understand the way Gusmac feels though as it being a new law that in a way it makes you feel your being dictated to especially in the case of a taxi owner and someone saying "no you cannot smoke in your own car" regardless of whether your working or not because they state it is a licenced vehicle it makes it sound a bit like the vehicle belongs to them. Most people state how lovely my car smells so through keeping it aired cleaned and fresh does the trick for me. Moaning about passive smoking is one thing but people cannot surely complain that a driver smells of smoke after getting out and having a fag. After all we all know some customers have never been introduced to a bar of soap and a bit of deo themselves.

And your point is? What you say about you being a non-smoker, doesn't change the fact that no-one, including yourself, had made any reference to the views, or health of the customer (at the time of my posts). Instead, only concern over the rights of the driver to smoke had been raised...and that was quite clearly, the indisputable point that I was making. Go back and check, should you feel the need.

keep your hair on...There are other opinions to your own.

I respect my customers wishes as much as the next person, however, Taxi Drivers have rights as well...and smoking in their vehicle isnt one of them.

You would make a great Nulab MP...imposing your views on others seems to fit like a glove on you.

Hardly...I think you'll find that whilst you have assumed to know my view, I have never actually expressed one. I merely pointed out that people had omitted to address the health concerns of the customer. I again invite you to re-read the thread and you'll see this to be correct.

However, I can save you the job. I'll shortly compose a slightly longer post, addressing previous posts, with a little more detail, should you be crazy enough to, for some reason, want me to "put a little more meat on the bones", so to speak.

Any percieved or imagined health concerns of the customer do not bother me one bit. I do not smoke in their presence nor in my cab and do not allow them to smoke in my cab - as the law dictates.
There is no real proof that so called "passive" smoking harms anyone. (we are 3 and a half years into the smoking ban up here. Any reduction in lung cancers or pulmonary disease among non smokers yet? Thought not.)
If the smell of cigarrettes from my clothing etc offends their nostrils, they have the choice of the next cab on the rank. Not a choice I have if their smell offends mine.

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

Are you sure?

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Grandad,

Yes. I find some types of perfume or deodorant offensive, for example.
I doubt my council would accept not liking linx or chanel no5 a decent reason for refusing the fare.

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

"Let them eat cake"...eh? So people with asthma should never be allowed to go out? And what about the people who work in pubs? Cock fighting and bear baiting used to be allowed too, but times move on. Whether people want to believe it or not, there is solid scientific evidence to show that passive smoking can have a serious negative impact on a third parties health (even previously healthy individuals).



Very true. The smell of stale smoke can be enough to make you vomit. It sticks in your clothes, your hair....and your taxi/PH! I also know many non-smokers who are now worse than anyone, regarding complaining over the smell, let alone the health arguments. (Almost poacher turned gamekeeper at times!). Maybe it's the new heightened sense of smell.



Surprisingly (and to answer Gusmac and bloodnock too), I do actually agree with many of your points and I am playing Devil's Advocate to a degree :shock:
The fact is, blanket bans (also in the form of blanket rules over countrywide delimitation ) are rarely a complete solution...but let's stick to smoking, as per the thread! The smoking ban may indeed now be law, but it's far trickier than some politicians made it seem.

Whilst a majority of people in the country overall now do not smoke, it could be argued however, that the majority of cash placed into a pub cash register over a weekend does come from smokers.

Whatever our personal views, we have all seen the effects of the smoking ban on pubs and clubs. Even taking account of the credit crunch, the smoking ban has played a part in bu**ering up the livelihoods of many landlords. Furthermore, other countries that had bans implemented before the UK, have seen businesses suffer terribly and some of these occurred before the credit crunch! If pubs are quieter, it can be expected for taxis to suffer also.

Regarding pubs, maybe there should have been more of a compulsion on giving choices, rather than an outright ban. Smoking and non-smoking rooms, with air conditioning, in pubs for example. Whether they chose to invest, or could afford to would be down to them...at least they would have an option. However, simply having smoking/non-smoking areas in a single room would not be an option....it would be like having pi$$ing and non-pi$$ing areas in a swimming pool!

Finding a similar solution for taxis would be even more difficult to solve. Short of making each passenger sit in a pressurised bubble of their own, maybe the ban was the only way forward, but I agree that it has been heavy handed. If someone has finished their "shift" and is on their way home, possibly then taking a couple of days off, it seems ridiculous that they could face sanctions if spotted having a single fag. However, the law-makers would probably argue that having anything other than a full ban would leave the system open to abuse (and it's a valid point). Instead of crowing over the injustice of the ban as it is, perhaps the "pro-smoking" lobby can offer workable alternatives that protect all parties rights.



Aint that the truth! (sniffs armpits...)

Let me give everyone a dilemma to consider. Whilst some of us may personally find cigarette smoke disgusting and may always have refused smokers entry (regardless of contradictory laws/bylaws)....what would you do if a compulsive smoker asked if you'd take him on a "deadline job" which would clock £200 or more, but demanded to smoke fairly continually, so continual stops were not acceptable? Money or morals and the law? Hmmm!

If you cannot honestly say that you would refuse the job, then clearly there is a grey area. This may include pubs having separate rooms with air-con, or a taxi owner guaranteeing to have his vehicle clean and smell free when his next passenger boards, or then face punishment.

Finally, for those who keep comparing alcohol and fags, until people can die from "passive drinking" from the nearby drunk's intake of booze, it's not a valid argument I'm afraid.

Maybe the new "Lynx Stale Tobacco" deodorant they are bringing out will be more to your liking.

How many people have died after being battered by a drunk or run over by a drunk driver or had a smash with a drunk driver?? I think if you look into it the numbers are very high indeed.

Very true Nigel...but it's a totally different argument that deserves dealing with/policing in its own right (and severely at that!). Same with drug taking, death by dangerous driving and so on.