cabby john wrote:
I suppose the word unattended would have to be defined i.e I suppose one could be 20/30 yards away talking to a fellow driver, at the same time keeping an eye on the cab - that would still in essence be attended! the trouble is if the rank is not moving then there is no real reason to do so. Unfortunately a lot of them do not help themselves by sitting in the car/cab of another mate to have a natter, having said that, if there is no complaint by the other drivers of someone taking the p!$$, then so long as they are nose to tail then what is the problem.
Indeed, it's essentially a matter of common sense.
At our station rank there's generally plenty of room and only ocassional trains, so drivers often lock their cars up to go to the toilet, for example, and everyone just accepts that.
On the other hand, at the more congested ranks sometimes drivers lock their cars up to go to the shops or whatever, while others are driving round trying to find a space.
At our main rank, over the years I've seen drivers lock their cars up maybe 100 times a night, either to wander up the rank or just to speak to the driver in front or behind. And this is a small town without much crime, not the Wild West.
So as regards the latter rank my own opinion is that if you feel the need to lock your car then you shouldn't be on it at all, but as regards the former rank there's generally no problem.
But of course common sense means different things to different people.
Equally, if we complained officially about such things then that might end going to the toilet on the station rank, so best to say nothing and just rub along as best we can.
Thus without knowing more about the case in the story we don't really know whether the driver was just being an donkey, or whether the parking people were being over-zealous.