Taxi Driver Online

Booking a taxi could make a huge difference

Picture the scene.

You’re out on a night out and as you walk out of a club or bar all you can think of is going home, and as fast as possible. So you go to the nearest taxi, jump in and after a brief haggle you get on your way.

Now how many of you realised that what you just did was illegal and you are uninsured for the journey? No? Me neither. For years I have been jumping into taxis without booking and asking them to take me home, blissfully unaware that what I was doing was illegal.

However, the simple fact is, if you don’t book a taxi and it is not registered as a Hackney Carriage then the driver’s insurance does not cover you as a passenger.

When I found that out I was shocked. I always book a taxi en route for a night out but rarely do I give them a call for the return journey.

It made me think back to times I have ever been in any danger and I’m pleased, and fortunate, to say I have rarely had problems with taxi drivers in the city.

However, I did jump into a cab once after a night out when it had been snowing. The driver, while being cautious, skidded going round a roundabout and into the path of what could have been oncoming traffic.

It doesn’t bear thinking about what could have happened had a car been coming the other way or if we had been going just a few miles an hour faster.

If you speak to any of the city’s private hire companies they will encourage you to book a taxi whenever you can so that they are as safe as possible but when alcohol takes over how many people are going to do that?

And if you do give a company a call how many of you will actually get in the taxi you booked? So many times people just lean into a cab, ask who the cab driver is waiting for and then claim to be that person.

Now I know what you’re thinking. If it’s been booked by someone else then it’s not illegal. Wrong. The person who books the cab must then be in it or it is again not a valid booking and not an insured journey.

But it is happening across the city, not just after nights out, and people need to be made aware of the potential dangers they face when they are getting into a cab they have not booked.

Everyone I have since told about this issue has been as shocked as I was and equally unaware of the problems they face after a night out.

They have vowed to be more careful and start booking taxis more in the future.

I hope they aren’t just saying that because I would hate to be writing about a friend of mine who has got into an illegal cab and something has happened to them.

If the difference between security and danger is a 30 second phone call don’t you think it’s worth it?

http://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/colu ... -1-4025547

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

[quote="captain cab"]Booking a taxi could make a huge difference

"If you speak to any of the city’s private hire companies they will encourage you to book a taxi whenever you can so that they are as safe as possible but when alcohol takes over how many people are going to do that?"


Perhaps the person who wrote this article could enlighten us on this little problem

Who ever wrote that guff is hardly up for the Journalist of the Year award...

If you had been jumping Into taxis for years without booking you've not done anything Illegal cause that's what Taxis do, Even if you'd been been inadvertently jumping into a PH for years without booking you have done nothing Illegal, the person that done something illegal was not you but the PH driver touting for Illegal business...and I Might be wrong here but as a passenger your always Insured, it's just the PH's Vehicle that's Uninsured by means of the Drivers illicit touting..




Wrong...the person that books it may simply be booking it on behalf of someone else...Doh!!

Another myth.

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IDFIMH

How come that when ever I have said that the passengers are always insured, others on this site say that I am wrong?

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Grandad,

Because some on here do believe in fairies.

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IDFIMH

Ah, that would be it then.

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Grandad,

Is that the myth that sees these pirates get 8 points on their DVLA licenses on average when they are dealt with by the courts?

It's time you faced reality.

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

It sees the driver get 8 points but it doesn't confirm whether or not the passenger is insured

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Oh dear.

You need to realise that there is a difference between punters being covered by insurance, and drivers operating uninsured.

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IDFIMH

Here's the deal on the insurance if a PH illegally picks up a fare with no booking. If a passenger or anyone else is injured, the insurance co covering the vehicle will have to cough up. The RTA requires all passenger to be covered (a nasty clause called " Insurer Concerned") -end of! Even if you had 6 people in a Smart Car, they would be covered. HOWEVER, if the driver were in breach of the policy conditions, i.e. can only pick up pre booked fares, then for sure the insurance co would decline to pay for damage to the PH and if the paid out injury claims to passengers etc cos they have too, they than then seek reimbursement of their outlay from the policyholder.

I have to confess I do struggle with this sometimes because even though the policy does not cover an activity, the insurance co would have to pay anyway.

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Nobody told me to use my initiative. To err is human to arr is pirate.

Point of order



not COMPLETELY correct......

However, the simple fact is, if you don’t book a taxi and it is not registered as a Hackney Carriage then the driver’s insurance does not cover you as a passenger.

the bit missing is "unless it is plated as a Hackney Carriage IN THE LICENSING AREA YOU ARE STANDING IN"

If your in Broad street, Birmingham at 2am and the "taxi" is from (say) Tamworth it may LOOK like a taxi, but you cant flag it down....and the driver should know better

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

so as long as you know where LA's borders lie and can be bothered (can focus) to check a vehicles plate (90% on the boot) you should be ok

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

FFS Passengers are always covered.

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Grandad,

regardless of any taxi drivers wrong doings a passenger is always covered regardless, we as taxi drivers will have a policy included within our insurance called "PUBLIC LIABILITY"

dave