Three different articles about women drivers in just a few days. Purely coincidental
Dunkeld’s one woman electric taxi service on dodging deer, cheeky passengers and EV charging headaches
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/busines ... headaches/
Marian Wallace has run her taxi service - Lady Driver - from the Perthshire tourism hotspot since 2014.
Marian Wallace knows she isn’t your stereotypical driver – she is Dunkeld’s one woman electric taxi service.
Marian began her Dunkeld taxi service – named Lady Driver – back in 2014, but it wasn’t until 2022 that she went electric.
One year on, she reflects on her experience using an electric car for her Perthshire taxi service.
So how has Marian coped with plugging into the electric revolution?
Overcame range anxiety quickly
Many electric car drivers suffer from “range anxiety” (worrying if the car will get from A to B) but Marian overcame this quickly.
“To begin with, I did have [range anxiety],” she admits.
“I had a disaster day, and I knew it was going to be.
“I turned up at the school run with four miles left on the car and both chargers were occupied. They were slow chargers, but 15 minutes would have been enough.”
That was her “one and only” disaster with her electric taxi.
“Since that time,” she said, “I’ve never been quite so worried.
“That was a lesson that I knew I needed to learn.
“That was to think ahead, check the bookings, and plan where I can plug in and charge.”
‘Why did you add a tablet to your dashboard?’
Electric cars often divide opinion. For Marian, part of the reasoning behind going electric was to help inform and inspire those around her.
Now, she provides an on-the-go advice service for any passengers or locals with questions about EVs.
"(I wanted to) give people a real chance to see and feel what it’s like to run an electric car.
“There are a lot of conversations about my range, how I cope, what happens on long runs.
“I thought it might help to spread the word, as well, that driving an electric car might be a good idea.”
“Even people that don’t use the taxi come and ask me how I cope with it.
“I will show off as well. It’s a lot of fun.
“Some people get into the car and they don’t realise it is electric.
“They’ll ask: Why did you add a tablet to your dashboard? How did you get your laptop to sit like that?
“I explain that’s part of the car.”
What is it like being a female taxi driver?
“There’s definitely a difference,” Marian, 57, admitted.
“I first got my taxi drivers badge in 2004 and I used to drive taxis for other people in Perth city.
“So speaking to male drivers I discovered there was an enormous difference with the conversation.
“It can be a confessional – women do talk in a taxi.”
“A lot do prefer it, I think. That’s one of the reasons why I’ve made it very obvious that I am a female driver.”
But the Lady Driver name has inspired a lot of sexist “innuendos” from customers.
“My best weapon of defence has always been a sense of humour.”
“So, yes, I’ll go with the innuendos. I’ll even encourage them, because it makes people laugh.
She jokes: “You know, you had better put your seatbelt on because ‘Lady Driver’ taxi is a health warning, really.
“Can you trust me? I’m a woman driver…”
Deer alarm ‘squeaker’ helps her avoid drunk pedestrians
“Where I am in Dunkeld,” Marian explained, “there’s an awful lot of wild animals.
“I use a deer alarm on my taxis. This gadget makes a noise that we can hear but it’s also ultrasonic.
“What that does is it makes the deer look at me. So in dusk and dark hours when they’re most active, I need them to at least look at me and then I can see the eyes.
“This has the same effect as cat’s eyes and it gives me greater warning to slow down.
“I have sometimes used it to clear the road because it is quite a quiet car.
“And if there are pedestrians, you know, walking home from the pub, and they’re not on the pavement, I can use the deer alarm to make them turn around and look at me.
“It sounds a bit like a ‘squeak squeak’, I call it my squeaker.”
Marian explained she was a little nervous before making the switch to electric.
“My other car was getting high mileage, and I had promised that would be my last diesel [car]. I wanted an alternative to that.
“It was a bit of a scary decision, because I didn’t know if it was viable.
“But I love it now and I think the village loves it too.”
Some ginormous photos
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Images: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson
