Taxi Driver Online

Saw this one in yesterdays Dundee Telegraph - it sells about 6 copies in St Andrews

It might seem unfair to the driver, but how do you seperate the guys who are doing someting good and the ones who leave the taxi on a rank while they go for lunch or on a shopping trip.

Still, if sometimes if the driver has needed to go for a meal break then Ive seen firms bring another driver to the rank and swap the drivers round and then bring the original one back later. Does this happen everywhere?

Cost of being nice

I AM so annoyed with the action taken by traffic wardens in Dundee after I stopped my taxi at the rank in the Seagate, near Lloyds Bar.

My fare, an elderly woman, needed help across the road and round into Murraygate with shopping bags.

I left my car on the rank to help and what happens? I get a ticket. I explained to the warden what happened but he said I had to appeal.

So I did and I still have to pay. Apparently I shouldn’t have left the taxi unattended.

All I was doing was helping an old lady. It just shows you what being nice does. — Truly Mad Taxi Driver.

the problem with the rank in question is very few cabbies use it quite often you are the only taxi on it which draws attention to the sitting cab, ninewells hospital on the other hand is very busy and any cabbie with a hospital appointment can leave his cab on the rank instead of paying the car park fee and all the cabbies behind him simply drive round him nobody is any the wiser,did you know some traffic wardens have digital cameras?i bought a ticket for a multi car park in perth but put the ticket in a position that meant it could not be read, on my return i had a sixty pound ticket on my windscreen, i approached the car park attendent who looked at it and said you cant read the ticket the way you have left it, i replaced the ticket so you could read it and drove to the main office prepared to give someone a bollickin once there the office person put the details in the computer and turned the computer screen to show a pic of my windscreen with a small corner of what appeared to be a parking ticket
!6 copies of the dundee tele sold in st andrews? what are you nosey xxxxs reading about us for?

Well its like the courier and there are different editions for Perth, Fife, Angus etc.

I dont think there are so many editions for the Tele though, the St Andrews one covers Fife and Angus I think, but most of the stories are the same anyway.

But its not a big seller, not like the Courier

fae fife any news about the g8 summit? there is going to be a lot of people about, the taxi buisness should do good there is no way the perth lot being can handle them all ,i know the dundee hoteliers are already rubbing their hands, its only fair we get a cut too, remember the golf open at carnoustie? you could have rented out your garden shed to a family of four for a grand a week easily! there is going to be a lot of security most of it thought out six months in advance,as far as i know no taxi office has had any advice on the security issue,maybe they think taxi,s are a low risk,i know i trust all dundee cabbies

I am led to believe that you cannot be legaly given a parking ticket for leaving the cab on a rank, the offence comes under the Police Town Clause Act 1847. a cab can only go to a cab rank and no where else. in theory you are not even allowed to park a cab up anywhere else you would like to, ie side of the road, car park etc etc, I don't know the ins and outs but a few years ago a guy now retired got a couple of hacks drivers off the hook when they got parking ticket with cabs left on ranks, does someone in the know know more
I found this article on the web
http://www.scottaxifed.org/snippets/parking.htm

YES, and you all will be getting one of these
http://www.thisisyork.co.uk/york/news/Y ... OCAL9.html

on clicking on highwaymans scottish taxi federation link two things took me by surprise me one was reading the minutes of the 16/06/03 meeting where dundee toa asked(if private hire bases could be singled out for licensing)singled out? what idiot would ever ask for that, secondly how up to date the stf is, recent issues march 2004?anybody might think nothing has happend in scotland in the last year and three months

Ive not really heard much about the G8, except that George Bush may be flying into Leuchars because the security at Prestwick and Edinburgh is crap, but that may just be a rumour, but the Tornados at Leuchars would protect even him.

The Queen arrived at Leuchars station last week for Williams graduation, I wish id seen it, it would have been funny seeing her walk across the metal bridge

Ive not heard much about G8 work, but as an independent i won't hear much in advance anyway.

The Open starts in St Andrews in less than a fortnight, Im planning more for that.

on further reading it appears the that highwaymans link which is from 2003 is the only relevant thing on the stfa,s website not bad from a group which is meant to represent all of scotland

If my takings was big enough to be registered for VAT then id be pretty happy.

But I hope the Open in St Andrews doesnt' turn out like Ascot at York, it was certainly good in 2000 the only problem was more neds than usual

fae fife could you remember when trains crossed the road in leuchars i have a bet withe some cabbies

Do you mean when was it?

I dont know the date, but it did happen. On the road between Leuchars village and the station you can see where the line comes to an end at the side of the road.

If you drive the road that goes through the RAF camp there are tram lines that cross the road, I think these are the same lines, but they must have dug them up on the main road.

thats what we are talking about i remember maybe 22 years ago having to stop to let the train cross just as you go through leuchars , from the st andrews side, nobody in this room believes me

It is an offence to leave your carriage unattended on a Taxi rank under section 62 of the 1847 act. It is also an offence to park on a Taxi rank under section 64 of the 1976 act. It is also an offence under the 1984 road traffic regulations act.

Councils have the power under the 1984 Road traffic regulations act, which has been amended through the years by various other acts to implement Road and parking restrictions and to enforce those parking restrictions along with the police. You will find that the following restrictions are common place in every authority.

* Parking on double or single yellow lines
* Parking in designated residents' parking areas without a permit
* Parking in limited waiting areas for longer than specified
* Parking outside of a marked boy in limited waiting areas
* Parking in disabled bays without a disabled badge
* Parking on a taxi rank or bus stop
* Failing to 'pay and display' in an off-street car park
* Parking outside of a marked bay in an off-street car park.

Just a few offences under the various road traffic acts without the added legislation that is afforded to enforcement bodies through the 1847 and 1976 acts.

In December 2002 there was consultation under way to decriminilise parking or waiting on a Taxi rank under (DPE) Decriminalised parking enforcement. I don't know what stage the consultations are at but I would have thought a decision would have been made by now, one way or the other? I have posted a link below which might assist you.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/d ... 07572.hcsp

Perhaps the wisest thing is not to leave your vehicle unattended on a Taxi rank for a long period of time. Even though the 1976 acts states "you must assist a passenger with their luggage" it is sometimes wise not to lose site of your Taxi whilst doing so.

I might add that section 62 of the 1847 act would seem to be designed solely for the purpose of protecting the interest of the horse and the safety of the public at large, should the horse bolt with the carriage and injure someone.

Regards

JD

No prizes for guessing why the wanted that

But the big taxi office were running PH as well so would they have needed a license?

Or if it was only all PH then 203020 would have been exempt because they had a few taxis.

Now they are just the same as the taxi offices, mainly taxis and few PH.

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Dundee rocks. Almost.