Taxi Driver Online

We know that we must not try to program them when in motion, that goes without saying.
Customers ask why I have mine and I always reply that I use it as an electronic a-z, and sometimes we do get jobs to go out in the sticks and it is very handy.

A friend of mine, Jack, who is 72 has just bought himself one and use's it every day. Till he bought one he was always rucking about how dangerous they were and that the passengers would stop using us. Its all rubbish, the public love to see every means possible to aid the journey.
It is amazing the amount of drivers who complain about other drivers with sat navs, as if it is highly dangerous.
If it is discreetly placed it should not concern the passenger one iota.
In fact the only negativity I have found against their use is on here and in the shelter with all the Luddites who don't even have a cell phone.
Cab drivers in London have been fiddling with computer screens in their cabs for donkeys year.
What's the difference between a sat nav and a com cab or dial a cab screen safety wise?

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http://www.fleetway.ca/samples/cab.swf

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SF5ep04izcQ

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2KDLd4gJ ... re=related

Let's take the argument for sat-nav further.

So,to be a taxi driver in the future you will need:-
1.Current driving licence.
2.Full CRB check.
3.Ability to use sat-nav

And that's all.
How will that raise standards?
Imagine the high turn over of drivers.

Is that what the taxi riding public really want?
Will it make taxi fares cheaper?

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Charlton's lost past http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsFKWGlrze0
London's future? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... rants.html

if they use a sat nav like most do it will be turn AROUND, not over, mine once said "make a u-turn now".........i was on the M6 southbound...

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

I disagree Mr Skull.

If you can get a signal in central London you'll be doing well.

They have their uses, but will always go the most 'direct route', they're fooked if like today a major road is at a standstill through roadworks, or tomorrow when half of London is closed for another dozen events.

They don't know when a (quite legal) U -t urn can get you out of a lot of trouble, they don't recognise private roads as a route, nor Royal Parks, Bendy bus blackspots, etc etc and etc

They'll only do away with the knowledge if people who manufacture them allow us to be deceived into thinking a part time navigation device is better than the human brain which has 2-3 years of training on London behind it.

Ah, the conspiracy theory is back . . . more like the ramblings of a silly old has been who talks to himself in a cafe.

'They're watching us I tell you' 'It's the Russians' 'It's the LTDA'

Get help quick.

That'll be the £0 you contribute every month? Shame you could'nt sell hot air and bullsheeite, you'd be able to retire tomorrow.











Really? The thought never crossed my mind.




Is it a shelter now?

You mean you and another 2 mad OAP's?




That's the most truthful thing you've posted to date. It's so good, I'm going to adopt it as a signature.

Its so easy to change the text in quotes you really should not be doing it.
I think the administrators should have a word with you about that dear boy.

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http://www.fleetway.ca/samples/cab.swf

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SF5ep04izcQ

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2KDLd4gJ ... re=related

Listen, even at the present moment Sat -Navs can be programmed with tens of thousands of pieces of information that would leave a London Cabby gagging - pubs, clubs, hotels, places of interest etc. The newer versions have IQ routes. It's only a matter of time before the London knowledge plays a part in the programming of this technology. Of course the driver plays a major role in selecting the correct route, subject to the unique circumstances he faces but everything can be modelled or mapped.

All the problems you identify can and will be ironed out.

London maybe a hard nut to crack but it will be cracked, you can be sure of that.

Oh and btw, I live in the sticks. I received a text from vodafone asking me to text them my post code or the name of the street I was in, if I receive poor or no reception on my phone. Think about it?

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

and if it happens before 2012 I win the bet

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http://www.fleetway.ca/samples/cab.swf

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SF5ep04izcQ

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2KDLd4gJ ... re=related

A London cabbie who has done the knowledge could easily get a map made with everything on it thats required pubs clubs places of interest and so on, then put it on the market and make loads of wonga

Our job is getting from a-b.

Computer programmers are working on algorithms to do just that. If something goes wrong it is merely a missing step in a finite number of steps - a missing signal is just a hardware program.

Think War, think Space, mapping a city isn't that big a deal .....

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

got to love the "satnav" debate........

one fundamental point that is always missed and that satnav could never predict or work out is human interaction.

Let me explain what i mean with 2 examples similar i'm sure to what we've all had to deal with.

Thursday night i pick up a lovely Oriental lady who asks me for "shisel otel, ooston"!!! a few seconds of head rubbing and i suss she means the thistle hotel, Euston. Now type shisel otel into a satnav and see what the result is.

A few years back i picked up a chap from Paddington station and when he jumped in he said to me "i need to get to a place in the city, i don't know the name of the road or the name of the building other than its a busy road with plenty of buses passing by in a bus lane and there is a statue of a tiger or panther at the side". Again i re-itterate my point how would a satnav find that ?

Thats the difference between us and a minicab driver in London who taps addresses into his satnav. He wouldn't have a bloody clue where he was going and thats the point as London taxi drivers we have to make people aware of. It's not just knowing what road to take at the best time of day; it's knowing statues, monuments, buildings and being able to take people there on the fly, if it was simply a case of driving from road A to road B then sure any plum can do that, following a voice, though i had some muppet drive towards me on tottenham Court Road recently where he too was following a satnav and had misinterpreted the directions

It's fine if a call comes into an office and the address for both points is given then satnav serves a purpose (though i wouldn't trust them in London as i've seen some of the ways it wants to take me in the past) but for doing what we do, if the London cabbie was removed tomorrow and the private hire brigade allowed to do our job, it would be chaos!

Sorry gents but the London cabbie is here to stay, trust me when i say that any move to merge us into a 1 tier system will have me first in line to protest against it and i would hope 24000 other drivers behind me in full support.

As for Addison Lee, read this and weep mofos................you are wannabe's! nothing more, nothing less. you have a professional setup and for that i applaud you but don't ever think for one minute that you are anything other than a minicab company. Your drivers are not professionals, they haven't trained or studied for the job they do. To be a professional or one that hold a a profession then one must of spent time getting to learn that profession..........a peron may be able to wire up a plug, it does not make him an electrician.

Thats my rant over gents (and any ladies), i have a tendancy to go on a bit in my postings but a forum at least allows me a conduit to express my feelings about my trade, one of which i'm mighty proud of.

And in case any London cabbies were wondering about the building that guy wanted from Paddington station..........it was in fact Bracken house on Cannon St, the tiger statue is at the side of another building on the corner of Friday St but it helped me guess the location.

Be Lucky

a foreign HGV/artic driver recently used his satnav, after arriving at his destination he realised he was at Gibraltar POINT, not GIBRALTAR

the first is near skegness, the 2nd....isnt

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

ah mr acabbie, the voice of reason. A pleasure to read your coments, well writen and polite as always.
You just go to prove that to express an opinion you dont have to slag off anyone with veil abuse.

I think you should read my post again: there will always be anomalous situations thrown up but that doesn't take into account the overall improvement and accuracy of the technology.

I sometimes use voice recognition software to write these posts. Dragon Software is now claiming 99% accuracy of their new product, Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 - but your answer would be to point to the 1% of the time it fails to get it write.

Me thinks you are hanging on too tight . . . the future is just around the corner .. . and it doesn't care if you work in London or anywhere else for that matter.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"