Taxi Driver Online

A different angle on the Leeds stuff, so again maybe worthy of a separate thread.

Nothing particularly new here, though, but some insightful points about stuff that's maybe usually brushed over in press articles.

But one of those articles that gives the impression it comes to a bit of a grinding halt, as if whoever was writing it ran out of time, like it's a one-hour exam essay, or similar...

(And at least whoever wrote the headline has got the apostrophe in the right place, but 'unloaded' in the strapline certainly isn't a word you'd see used in that sense in the, er, quality press )


Leeds taxi drivers' horror stories about boozed up abusive passengers

https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds ... s-22782712

Cabbies have unloaded about racism, vomiting and physical threats they've faced from drunk passengers


Image: Samuel Port/Leeds Live

Racism, aggressive drunks and drug users, passed out customers and vomit are regular issues Leeds taxi drivers have to deal with.

Cabbies have spoken out about the horror they’ve faced and why they’re now feeling more vulnerable than ever before.

A 24-hour strike has been underway for the past day, with drivers refusing to work in opposition to a Leeds City Council safeguarding policy, organised by the Leeds Private Hire Drivers Organisation (LPHDO).

They claim the Suitability and Convictions Policy, which “protects the public”, means a driver could lose their licence over “minor issues”.

Leeds Live met drivers during the 24-hour strike in Burley Road Car Park and asked them about the harrowing situations they’ve been in which made them feel vulnerable.

“You don’t belong here, you’re not a Yorkshireman!” shouted one passenger to Zahid Mahmood last week, born and bred in Bradford, who’s been a cabbie for about 24 years.


Image: Samuel Port/Leeds Live

At the time, there were eight passengers in the car, and Zahid just wanted to concentrate on getting them “from A to B” without any further issues.

“The abuse we take every night is unbelievable,” said Zahid, LPHDO Vice Chairman and father-of-four, who adds they also receive racist slurs on a regular basis.

Zahid says the abusive behaviour is regular but “the worst thing is when they throw up in the car,” which leaves a driver is left with a dirty interior which means they can’t work for the rest of the night as they need to get it professionally cleaned.

The father-of-four said this happened at least once a week, with many of the other drivers in attendance agreeing.


Image: Samuel Port/Leeds Live

Zahid went on to say: “Many times, we pick up customers that are drunk, you take them to their destination and by the time they get there, they’ve fallen asleep.

“If it’s a young vulnerable female, you can’t do nothing – you can’t even try to wake her up. All you can do is try to shout out loud and if they don’t wake up, what are you supposed to do then?

“According to the suitability policy, if she makes a claim that we’ve touched her in any kind of way, that’s it, our badge is gone.”

The cabbie added that he regularly finds small plastic bags, those used for drugs, and metal canisters, used for laughing gas, rattling around in his taxi.

Punched 'on top of the head'

LPHDO Chairman Ahmad Hussain has paid over £600 to get CCTV in his taxi, to protect himself in dicey situations.

Ahmad said he’s “only been assaulted with a few punches on top of the head,” these incidents paling in comparison to other stories he's heard.

Ahmad said: “The worst is when they’re drunk and they get in the taxi and you don’t want to take them. All of a sudden, you’re a P*** - straightaway.

“The customers bully you to do what they want to do. Like park on a double yellow line, go through a no-entry sign. They bully these sorts of things and force you. If you don’t obey them, you could get assaulted.”

Boozed-up football fans

Another striking driver said he recently felt vulnerable picking up football fans up from Elland Road and driving them to all the way to Pontefract.

He claimed the boozed-up fans disagreed with his route and called him racist slurs, badgering him about where he was from.

“Put yourself in my position, you’ve got four big lads in the car. Leeds have lost the match. You’re taking them to an area which you don’t have a clue about,” he said.

With the situation growing increasingly intense, he stopped the car and told them to leave.

He claimed they called him a “P***” and a “black b******” and punched his car.

Leeds City Council has previously said the Suitability and Convictions Policy is essential as the local authority is “entitled and bound to treat the safety of the public as the paramount".

The strike was due to end at 6am on Tuesday (January 18).

What a lot of guff some members of the public speak. Hardly unexpected, but problem is maybe that many councillors, officials and 'opinion formers' etc will have similar views.

Anyway, some of the comments on the LeedsLive website:

According to this, Uber are worth paying more for because, 'boy, it was like luxury'. That's because Leeds drivers don't have to 'reveal past criminal backgrounds', but Uber, er...

No, me neither

According to this one, if you work nights and suffer abuse and violence then you're just supposed to suck it up.

And, of course, the drivers can just walk into another well-paid job if they don't like it, obviously.

I should have just got a £50k public sector job when lockdown started. I mean, could have been paid a grand a week for lying in bed for weeks on end. How did I miss that?

So this person expects a Leeds PHD to know the ins and outs of a town of 30,000 people almost 20 miles away?

Next time I get a run to Melton, Stamford or Brighton, I'll just roll up to the required destination without needing any help

If this person is even remotely genuine, then they must have a nervous breakdown when they get into a cab and the driver needs satnav for a half-mile trip, which isn't exactly a rarity

Leeds taxi driver considering 'quitting the job' after 'sickening' abuse from trolls

https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds ... g-22800715

Zahid Mahmood, who organised a 24 hour strike, felt 'sick' after reading responses online


Image: LeedsLive

A Leeds taxi driver is considering “quitting the job” after reading abusive and racist comments made by Facebook trolls.

Amber Cars driver Zahid Mahmood, 44, helped organise a 24-hour strike but was sickened by the reaction from people online.

The strike took place in Leeds from Monday (January 17) to Tuesday, and was organised by the Leeds Private Hire Drivers Organisation (LPHDO).

Cabbies were protesting a Leeds City Council safeguarding policy which aims to add further protection to the public.

Leeds Live visited the striking drivers on the day with a Facebook Live broadcast, as well posting several articles surrounding the strike, including one on the negative backlash to the strike, where residents said they'd simply switch to using Uber.

Zahid, Vice Chairman of LPHDO, said: “I’ve been a taxi driver for 24 years never had a single complaint but after reading comments I'm thinking of quitting the job.

“It makes me think, why do I do this job when there is no appreciation? It makes me feel sick.”

Zahid, a father-of-four and from Bradford, has always been proud of his job, striving to help passengers where possible. But comments from the public have soured his attitude.

“After reading these comments, I’ll stop being a Good Samaritan as they look at us like we’re criminals anyway,” he said. “Honestly, after reading these posts I feel down at the moment, I feel gutted – I want to throw up.

“I’ve not seen one positive comment on the posts. It’s better we just leave the trade then and let the public pick up themselves.”

The Bradford man said it was unfair that all taxi drivers were being judged for the actions of a minority who abused their position, pointing out that cabbies are subject to an enhanced DBS check.

“What these people don’t understand is that we are family people, we are checked to the highest standards with a DBS check every year. Yet when they come out with comments like these, it makes people like me feel so low,” admitted Zahid.

Zahid has said he will be using racist Facebook comments he sees as evidence for his case that taxi drivers need safeguarding just as much as the public.

He said: “These are the type of comments we go through when people are drunk. So when you hear of all the racist remarks we get, they're on Facebook – we don’t need to say anything.”

Three things strike me about this article:

1 It's a bit vague about the kind of posts he's talking about. Presumably racism, stuff about being pervs (hence his comments about the DBS stuff), and general sneering and abuse.

So the reader seems to be expected to guess what the abuse is, and it's implied rather than stated explicitly. Of course, it might not be appropriate to detail specific examples, but might have been better to be a bit more specific about what he's on about.

And to that degree, it's one of those articles where you wonder if a bit has been missed out, or if someone had posted it on here, I'd think that maybe they've forgotten to post part of it, as we've all done at times

2 Not really sure what he was expecting, to be honest. Not that I'm endorsing any of it, obviously, but I'm surprised he's surprised at the kind of stuff that's being posted. Which in turn maybe suggests his reaction is a tad exaggerated, like when they said earlier that drivers in Leeds get one sickie every week? Really?

3 And another reason I think he may be exaggerating slightly is that surely this kind of stuff isn't quite so bad via Facebook than when it's someone in your cab in the dark in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere?

Again, that's not to say that online stuff can't be debilitating, but sometimes when I see politicians and suchlike getting upset about comments on Twitter and the like, I'm thinking it's surely not nearly as bad as being alone with that person face-to-face?

Folks need to realise nothing good ever comes out of Twitter and Facebook.

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IDFIMH

Where to start with this?

Doesn't seem much of an incident in the grand scheme of things, especially in the likes of Leeds, but maybe Leeds Live just trying to put the driver's side of things.


Leeds taxi driver's fury after thug attacks car then runs away

https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds ... r-22950138

Saeed Khan heard a 'big bang' as he was pulling away from Leeds Train Station and claims he saw the man running away


Image: Huddersfield Examiner/LeedsLive

Leeds taxi driver claims a thug kicked in his car door outside Leeds Train Station, resulting in over a £1,000 worth of damage.

Saeed Khan, 46, has recounted the frustrating moment he alleges his car was attacked.

Saeed, who works for Streamline Telecabs, says he picked up a couple in New Station Street at about 4.45am on Saturday (January 29), a man in a woman who looked to be in their 50s.

The father-of-five claims as he was pulling away from the taxi rank to leave, he heard a big bang.

He said a young man kicked the driver’s side rear door with one loud bang and ran away.

“With just one kick he put the whole door through,” said Saeed. “There was a big bang.”

Saeed got out of the car to ask why the man had kicked his car.

He claims the male passenger said the offender was his son and they’d just had a “little domestic” argument.

Saeed then drove from the pickup point to the Network Rail Police Station and attempted to notify an officer.

He says the passengers complained and left after waiting there for about 25 minutes but gave Saeed their son’s name and number.

Saeed said: “I was frustrated, angry. The thing is, it’s just common sense. I was just doing a job and when something like this happens, it’s annoying. Because I’ve paid all this money [for the car], this is my office.

“The majority of the people appreciate the service that we provide. Then you’ve got the minority of people, who I am sad to say, who sometimes believe that they own us and our vehicles because they’ve paid for the journey home.”

Saeed described the damage as quite severe and added that he’ll have to replace it with a complete new door.


Image: Huddersfield Examiner/LeedsLive

He said: “The damage is quite severe. I went to the dealers today, they told me I needed a complete new door. They’ve quoted me just short of £500 for the door and then I’ve got to go and get it painted, so I’m looking at about £1,000 excluding my time off work.”

A British Transport Police spokesperson said: “British Transport Police were called to Leeds railway station at 5.06am on January 29, following a report of a man damaging a vehicle at the station’s taxi rank.

“An investigation into this incident is underway, however, no arrests have been made at this time.”

Taxi drivers staged a strike on Saturday night, in protest over proposed changes in licensing rules which will give more safeguarding powers to the public.

Mohamed Ramzan, 53, Hackney Carriage Liaison Officer, said: “Where public safety counts, where’s the safety for the drivers? We get our cars damaged and then we’re off work, so we’re losing out in every way.

“We can get assaulted, car damaged and we’ve got to sit at home for the car check-up. An attack or damage can happen at any time.”

I'm no expert, but would advise getting another estimate, and to avoid the franchised dealer

I suppose every article like this helps the wider world understand what we have to deal with, not that many of them give a f***.

But the point being made above is valid, the trade has to put up with a lot more than this on a daily basis.

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IDFIMH