Taxi Driver Online

Not much to see here

I had a wee joke lined up about the legitimate taxis maybe being stuck at temporary traffic lights for 20 minutes

Trouble is, that was Wick, but this it Thurso. Both articles in the John o' Groats Journal, though


Thurso driver picked up ‘fare’ outside nightclub – without taxi licence

https://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/ne ... -t-373707/

Thomas Swan picked up a “fare” in Thurso and drove him seven miles to Halkirk.

Trouble was, Swan didn’t hold a taxi operator’s licence, Wick Sheriff Court was told on Tuesday.

Swan (53), of Lord Thurso Court, Thurso, admitted making his car available for hire and was fined £220.

Sheriff Neil Wilson heard that police observed a man leaving a nightclub in Sir George’s Street, Thurso, on February 4, last year, and getting into Swan’s car, parked nearby.

Officers followed the vehicle to Halkirk and spoke to the passenger who said he had paid the accused £10 for the journey.

Obviously quite attentive police in Thurso if they observed that kind of thing and followed him seven miles (on no doubt deserted country roads late at night) to nick him

Of course, there's maybe some other intel that's not disclosed here - you wouldn't think someone simply getting into a car would raise suspicions

Thurso is a small town and I would imagine the sort of place where everybody knows each other so i'm not surprised the police caught him.

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

A tenner for 7 miles, at those rates it's no surprise he can't afford an operator's license.

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IDFIMH

Yes. On the other hand, and by the same token, in small towns you can more easily see what police turn a blind eye too

Which is kind of why I was wondering why they might be so on the ball about something like that...

I would be amazed if this just happened by luck.

More likely this was targeted after a number of complaints from the fully licensed trade.

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IDFIMH

Yes, Sussex, but I think we've just come full circle to what I said in my first post

Of course, the problem with reports like the one above is that a whole lot of different circumstances and factors can be encapsulated in a simple sentence, which probably doesn't convey the complexity, nuance and basic reality of the situation.

I mean, it makes it sound like the taxi equivalent of police noticing someone coming out of a bank with a mask on, carrying a gun and holding a bag marked 'swag'.

Of course, the reality is very probably that it wasn't quite like the taxi equivalent of that