Taxi Driver Online

OK, so GBC and JD and Sussex clearly think that the reason for the overcharging in Bradford is because the drivers are Asian.

The article in question didn't mention it, so why was the race element brought into it? To what end?

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

I think the point should be clarified that it is the culture that is being questioned here. There is a culture embedded in some Asian and especially Muslim societies that are abhorrent to the rest of the human race. Graft, corruption theft and dishonesty are all part and parcel of this culture. Absence of Human rights has seen women stoned to death simply because they have been "accused of adultery" You may not like me saying this but it happens to be true.

My post pointed out that the article didn't state the background of the persons found overcharging, I made that quite clear. It was only an educated guess on my part that placed Asian Hackney carriage drivers high on the list of possibilities for the simple reason they make up the overwhelming majority of licensed drivers.

Sooner or later we will get to know who the culprits really are, if and when they appeal.

In my post I went on to mention my experiences here in Manchester and the background to the level of complaints about over charging and to whom they were directed. The suggestion by me that Asians here in Manchester are the biggest culprits when it comes to overcharging is one based on complaints from the public to me personally. In fact the whole exercise of the Bradford sting was in response to complaints from the public that Taxi drivers in general were regularly overcharging.

The proof that 33% of the 15 drivers overcharged shows just how wide spread this practice really is. What makes it even worse is that these drivers didn't even turn on the meter.

In the interest of accuracy I did contact Bradford before I wrote my post to try and determine the background of these suspended drivers but unfortunately there had been several news organisations after the same information and for the time being it is being withheld.

In the absence of the facts from Bradford council one has to look at the information already in the public domain. The very fact that the vast majority of drivers in Bradford are Asian can only lead me to assume that "Asian drivers will be high on the list" of offenders. Now that’s exactly what I said, without actually stating that the Bradford culprits were actually Asian. I said, "they must be high on the list". With all due respect to yourself if you think that is not the case then you are quite are liberty to tell me why they are not high on the list?

I wasn't going to mention this until I had all the facts but I understand that a few weeks ago an elderly couple hired a taxi from Manchester Airport and were charged £80 pounds for a £22 journey, by an Asian Taxi driver. It is my understanding that the couple contacted the police who in turn went to Manchester Airport to try and find the culprit.

I had a person in my cab last night early doors who lives within the boundaries of Manchester yet regularly gets asked for a third on top of the fare, the remarkable coincidence is that the drivers who have asked him for the extra charge are all Asians. One day he had cause to complained to the council because an Asian driver not only tried to overcharge him he didn't even know where he was going, to cap it all he couldn't speak a word of English. The licensing rep said he doesn't have to speak English just as long as he can understand it. Work that one out.

The above conversation came right out of the blue, the first thing he said to me when he got into the cab was that he uses that Taxi rank because it is not normally frequented by Asians. Then he told me about the problems he had had with the overcharging. The sad fact is, that when talking to colleagues about overcharging they all conclude that it is Asians who are the main offenders.

I'm not one for political correctness no matter what straight jacket this or any other government tries to put us in and I'm even less accommodating to people who blatantly overcharge customers no matter what background they come from. The fact is, in this authority from my own experience the people who most frequently overcharge are Asians. That may not be palatable to some but it’s a sad fact of life in here in Manchester.

I'm not sure if you are trying to defend the known and accepted culture of some Asians and Muslim practices or defend the position that the taxi drivers caught out in Bradford are unlikely to be Asian.

Perhaps you prefer us not to discuss the subject of overcharging in Bradford, Manchester or any other place?

Regards

JD

I think you seem to have missed my point - it's not the discussion of overcharging I object to, it's the gratuitous raising of the race issue that I don't like.

I knew exactly what GBC was alluding to, which should have been obvious, so your lengthy explanation doesn't really help much.

You may of course be right in what you say, but the point is that if anyone wants to discuss these issues then they should perhaps go elsewhere, because this site was set up to discuss taxi issues, not which race is superior to which.

Sadly it's this type of thing that repels a lot of people from sites like this, which is why I don't like these things discussed, because it implies that it's endorsed by the administration. Of course, the site's credibility will be the last thing on GBC's mind, but I had assumed that at least some people were worried about the it.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Dear oh dear.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

i think if nearly all the drivers are from the same background then all the bad ones will be.
same as in london. all the bad cabbies are more than likely going to be middle aged white and fat.

So think of a number and double it, (or treble it for tourists), is a fairer way of setting a fare than a calibrated taximeter set for time and distance, is it? The answer to this problem is simple. If, when a Taxi arrives at it's destination the taximeter reads zero, that is exactly how much a punter should pay. ZERO. ZILCH. Soon stop the blighters who "forget" to switch on the meter. A passenger has a legal obligation to pay the fare stated on the meter. If it says nowt, pay nowt. Invite the driver to call the police if they wish.

Precisely Mr Cgull. It was pretty obvious to anyone who knows Bradford that the culprits were very likely to be Asian, even if other races were equally badly behaved.

However, the argument being proffered is that they are cheating because they are Asian.

Clearly there's a culture in some ethnic groups for wife beating or whatever, but then there's a similar culture among sections of the Anglo Saxon population, but I doubt if anyone argues that they reason they are wife beaters is because they are Anglo Saxon - that would amount to racial stereotyping and prejudice.

And I still can't work out why the Asian angle was raised - is it to make poeple dislike Asians, is it an argument that they shouldn't be allowed to be cabbies, they should all be deported, or put into extermination camps, or wot?

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

I agree if the driver is trying to cheat, but have you never forgot to turn on the meter?

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

I think that a lot of London's PH trade would quite like the idea of meters, but it was opposed by those who already have them.

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IDFIMH

Erm and whats your source of information on that one the Cgull?

Talking about stereotyping.

Ah, here we go again, the world according to Dustys analysis of someones posting.

The good old reliable 2 + 2 = whatever I want it to mean through my eyes?

I said I would'nt comment on it for exactly the above reason, you would twist it round to the race card again, and surprise! you did.

It must be great being a mind reader, you always seem to know exactly what a person thinks, and believes in, purely from reading a post.
Your far to skilled to be driving a cab, I would publicise yourself a bit more, make a fortune you could?

I think the root of your confrontational postings is that you have barred all the people you used to fight with on the forum, and your a little bored with agreeing with people?

As Norm (londoncabbie) said, you would start an arguement in an empty room.

You could channel some energy into becoming a Socialist Worker candidate for the next round of local elections, I feel you could triumph at that?

As for the sites credibility? well I could post on a lot more controversial issues than this

. . . . but I don't.

So if i'm bringing the forum into disrepute by having opinions on life, then I guess you had better relegate me to the never ending 'guest' list?

Mind you that will pose a new problem. Which regular member can you bar next? Sussex? JD? CGull?

Naturaly my life would be over as I know it, and who would Ollie cast his line out to then?

Regards GBC.

Not me Sussex, nor do I recall the LTDA making any issue out of it?

It would be a sight worth witnessing though, when the customer gets in one of Mr Griffens Fiats and theres £7.00 on the meter as the standing charge!

Exit other door. . . . TAXI!