I think that this basically means that cab drivers want people to be in danger - come and tell me I'm wrong...

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cab drivers blockade

I got really angry about this last night when I watched the news, please come and tell me that the cabbies have thought this through.

Basically there is new thing the Westminster have done to help people get into registered minicabs after a night out, they say to keep them safe.

The black cab drivers are up in arms and want it stopped as they say it is taking their trade.

I have a couple of issues with this.

Having been out and about in London for the last 20 years I can honestly say I have only got a black cab once, that was because work were paying.

Black cabs are 1. extremely expensive and 2. unwilling to go very far so they usually won't take you home anyway. Plus there aren't that many around at night.

I do not know, and have never met anyone who would get a black cab home after a night out - they get a mminicab or a night bus or the tube if it's still running.

If they stop this service people will just go back to illegal minicabs and all the dangers they represent, or night buses and walking around alone in the middle of the night.

So basically the black cab drivers want people to put themselves in dangerous situations as a point of principle - they won't make any more money.

To me that is downright mean and nasty. We know that loads of women are suxually assaulted in illegal cabs every month - the black cab drivers seem to want to ensure that this continues.

Please come and tell me that that isn't the intention of the cab drivers and that they have really thought this through, and that theyaren't just lashing out because they have lost all their usual trade (city types) because of teh credit crunch...

Black cabs are essentially hackney cabs. A hackney cab can be hailed in the street and is under a legal obligation to take any job it stops for. They have no right to say they won't take you home, no matter how short the journey. If you take their plate number, you can report them to the council. They pay more to be a hackney cab and have to pass certain criteria (like the knowledge and medicals). Their rates are set by the council and they are CRB checked.

Mini cabs have to be booked in advance and cannot be hailed in the street. They set there own rates and can employ anyone (whatever their record or level of knowledge). That is one good reason for booking in advance, the call can be logged and the firm contacted in case of argument or assault.

The black cabs are probably up in arms as the fundamental difference between them and mini cabs is the booking/hailing point.

Minxie -- but they can refuse to take you if the journey is over (I think) six miles. And they can refuse to take you if they are at a taxi rank rather than hailed in the street.

I always (bearing in mind that even "always" is still not very often) get a black cab home from central London, rather than a minicab, if I'm not taking public transport. I feel safer that way. The exception is if we're eating out in a restaurant and they call a mini-cab because I assume (rightly or wrongly) that the restaurant have a long-standing arrangement with the cab company that the cab company won't want to jeopardise.

I can't help feeling that the black cabs have done their own part to erode the difference with the rise of ComCab and [whatever the other one is] where you book a black cab in advance.

Black cabs can definitely definitely refuse to take you if it's too far (read somewhere they don't want to go).

I just think that what this council has done is a good thing safety wise and I do not believe that these are customers who would otherwise go in black cabs.

Effectively the cabbies are trying to prove a point at the expense of a really good safety scheme.

Aha minxie just reread your post - it's not the short journeys that are the problem, it;s the getting home from central london to the outer zones which they refuse. And which would cost you 3 x a minicab even if they did agree to take you (£60 vs £20 for me).

I don't go out much any more but certainly never entertained the idea of getting a black cab home - this cab rank idea sounded excellent to me.

I have been refused by a black cab twice- once because I was only going aroung the corner and another time because he didn't like the look of my friends
I have had some lovely ones but on the whole I find mini cab drivers help you with your shopping without you even asking whereas black cab drivers don't like getting out

Yes, I suppose I'm only zone threeish so it costs less than it does for you.

I haven't got a black cab at night since Ken let them double their fares after dark about 8 years ago. They are just extortionate. Tbh I think the only people who use them are tourists and people on expenses (and the very rich). I agree with the OP, much better to make sure that people are safe after dark.

black cabbies have to spend an absolute fortune in making sure their cabs are safe they can fail maintenance tests on the slightest things.

luckily there are loads of rich buggers around who can afford them

I'm all for safety but if they still charge black cabs more for the privilege of a 'rank', I can understand why they'd be upset.

Or people who go out... umm... well, not at all in the last 12 months... so think they can afford £20 for a black cab once or twice a year on average.

Black cabs notoriously won't go south of the river and make a big noisy sigh if you only want a (by htoer standards)short journey. They are the last closed shop in the counntry so I am only too happy to see thier monopoly pracice being eroded - especially as yesterday I was delayed by their senseless blocade, I am only too happy to see them go to the wall. Good riddance!

I've never had any problems with black cabs, in fact have been rescued by a couple of them at times.

I don't think this is about the rank per se, as about the fact the black cabs resent the fact that minicabs are often not insured and not qualified, whereas as other posters have said black cabs have to pass the Knowledge, and pay more for their licence and to maintain their cabs. So for that extra effort and money, they expect to keep the right to have ranks and to be hailed on the street,otherwise they might as well all become minicab drivers.

If London was to crack down on illegal minicabs and frankly dangerous drivers and uninsured wrecks of cars, the black cab drivers might look on it more kindly.

p.s. I lived south of the river for four years and never had a black cab refuse to take me there - and I used to get them quite a lot when drunk

I've been south of the river for (ulp!) over twelve years and it's happened once, I think. Or possibly twice. We were pretty much right on the six-mile limit so I didn't complain. I've never had one refuse a short journey.

Whether they will won't for individual cases isn't it though.

i just think that the average young clubber doeasn't zoom around in a black cab. Well in fact I know it.

So this protest isn't about them losing revenue - it's about the principle. And that they would rather see people go in illegal cabs than allow a rank for minicabs which would be safer as they work for a certain company who knows who they are etc etc.

Must say that all the minicabs I've ever ordered have been fine and in fact all the illegal ones I've gone in have been fine as well. And after that recent case itr can't really be claimed that black cabs are 100% safe anyway.

It just gets up my nose that they are protesting about something which makes life safer for loads of people and I am sure has minimal impact on their business.

Oh, it doesn't affect your argument. But MrsGrahamBell said that they "notoriously won't go south of the river" and IME (and clearly that of WhatFreshHellIsThis) that's more in notoriety than in practice.

If they are self-respecting young clubbers doing it properly, shouldn't they be out until 5 or 6 when the Tube starts up again anyway? [old gimmer emoticon]

Or get a night bus. Surely you have heard that Boris has removed all problems from night buses with his ban on alcohol...

God I remember walking for miles at 5am to get to a tube station and then having to wait until it opened!

Night buses were fab, you could sit on the top deck with all the other mildly inebriated people and smoke which felt v naughty...

Well I say they were fab, but you often had to wait about 3 hours which wasn't so much fun...!

Hence getting dodgy minicabs as soon as we started working!

Dont get into a taxi you haven't booked (from a private firm) as they are not insured to carry you without booking.

I always book my taxies - using the same company if you get them frequently enough means you get to know a lot of the drivers, we use one taxi company at our work place, I know several of the drivers.

Hackney cabs are okay, just expensive imho

When you are young, silly and think you are indestructible though, illegal cheap cabs seem like a great idea.

Which is why I thought this idea was so good, and why I think it is pretty awful of the black cabbies to try to put a stop to it...