Taxi Driver Online

Well maybe my slight faux pas last week in this very drop-off zone could have been a lot worse

Anyway, police obviously didn't think this a criminal matter, but the quoted black driver makes it sound like some sort of Islamist terrorist attack. Almost

I suspect the truth lies somewhere between the attitude of police and the black cab driver.

(See third post below for link to fast-loading video. The taxi driver who posted that says it's an Uber car but it's just the council door stickers on Edinburgh PHVs, so no indication of that from video itself...)


Watch as Edinburgh private hire taxi driver loses control of vehicle at Edinburgh Airport

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/ ... rt-5443265

An Edinburgh private hire taxi driver lost control of his vehicle this morning at the pick-up / drop-off zone at Edinburgh Airport.


Image: Edinburgh Evening News

The incident happened at around 9am this morning, Monday, December 15, with the shocking video above showing the moment the private hire taxi at first bumped into the back of another taxi, reversed at speed into a metal barrier, and then moved forward again at speed and smashed into the taxi in front, before coming to a halt at the damaged barrier.

The terrified passenger inside the out of control private hire taxi escaped uninjured, and nobody else was injured in the incident at Edinburgh Airport.

The video, which has been widely shared on social media today, has been condemned by black cab drivers in Edinburgh.

Edinburgh black cabbie and Unite trade union rep Keith Auld said this kind of reckless driving would never be carried out by a black cab driver, adding: “The video is terrifying, thankfully nobody was injured. But what if that had happened in Edinburgh city centre, in a busy area during Christmas such as the Cowgate, Grassmarket or Princes Street? It could have been a disaster.”

Police officers attended the scene and there was no need for further police action.

A spokesperson for Edinburgh Airport said: "We are aware of an incident involving two vehicles in our pick-up and drop-off area earlier today. The drivers have exchanged details, and the matter is being handled privately between the parties involved."

An alternative piece.

Just the quote from the black cab driver here, and not sure if it's the same driver quoted above, but without naming him.

But this kind of, er, black cab exceptionalism is excruciating

'Wha's like us', eh?

And also the 'safety is paramount' thing, which is usually the domain of holier-than-though officialdom, as opposed to sanctimonious black cab drivers



Edinburgh private hire crashes into airport railings before ploughing into Tesla

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/ed ... t-33060328

The moment the crash occurred was captured in dash-cam footage from the driver of a black cab driver entering the car park just seconds before it happened.

Commenting on the footage, another Edinburgh black cab driver, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "The safety of all passengers, whether in a taxi or a private hire, and the people around them should be paramount.

"Think about high transit areas of Edinburgh at this time of year, full of Christmas revellers. Can you imagine if that happened in the Cowgate on a Friday night? This incident could have been a lot worse."

Check out these couple of tweets in this thread for fast-loading video. And also has the rear cam video from the Tesla...

(What's maybe not obvious at first glance is that the rear PHV had already hit the vehicle in front before things really got going - that's why the front PHD got out of the car...and that's more obvious from the rearcam video.)

https://x.com/dieseluk01/status/2000533242898719138

Apart from the likes of this, say, from 12 years ago. And ironically because of a dispute between an HCD and PHD over an insurance claim


Taxi driver Stephen Nolan jailed for Ebrahim Nekoo murder

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... e-22266447

A cab driver has been jailed for life after murdering a fellow taxi driver at an Edinburgh park.

Stephen Nolan, 48, from Edinburgh, had denied chasing and murdering Ebrahim Aryaei Nekoo, 41, with his black cab in Saughton Park on 24 March 2012.

At the High Court in Glasgow, Nolan was told he will have to serve at least 15 years before he can apply for parole.

A post-mortem examination found that Mr Nekoo suffered a broken skull, 40 rib fractures and a smashed pelvis.

A Vauxhall Zafira, which he used as a private hire taxi, was parked nearby with the lights still on when he was found.

Passing sentence, judge Lady Wise told Nolan: "Nothing can be said today that will alleviate in any way the immeasurable loss that the family of Mr Nekoo has suffered."

Tyre tracks

She added: "The evidence showed that at no time did you apply the brakes, not even after you ran over Mr Nekoo.

"The jury clearly rejected your claims to the police that Ebrahim Nekoo came at you with a knife and that he ended up under your car by accident."

Jurors at the High Court in Edinburgh were shown tyre tracks which prosecutors claimed showed how Mr Nekoo was chased by Stephen Nolan, who was driving his black cab.

Pathologist Dr Clare Bryce said Mr Nekoo's injuries were consistent with being run over by a vehicle.

Widow Mobina Jafari, 32, who has gone back to Iran to live since her husband's death, was in court when the unanimous guilty verdict was returned last month.

Nolan did not give evidence but defence QC Donald Findlay said Mr Aryaei Nekoo went to Saughton Park for "a physical confrontation."

Mr Findlay said: "He does express genuine and profound contrition for the part he knows he played in the death of Mr Nekoo, because he was the driver of the car which went over him and took his life."

Det Insp Stuart Houston, of Police Scotland, said: "While nothing can undo the pain and suffering Mr Nekoo's family have endured, it is my sincere hope that they have now gained some closure and can begin to move forward from this ordeal.

"Officers carried out extensive enquiries into this incident and built a significant case against Nolan, which was vindicated with last month's conviction."

I'd kind of guess the anonymous black cab driver quoted today would think it worse the BBC referred to the deceased PHD back in 2013 as a 'fellow taxi driver' than the fact that the HCD murdered the PHD by running him over.

Or something like that

That's not a rabbit hole it's a massive crater you've dived into there Stuart.


(hopefully grammar suddiciently adjusted to disguise me as an AI bot)

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

What a prize [edited by admin]?

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IDFIMH

And to make that idiot look even more of an idiot, he said that on the same day as the council considered this taxi driver's renewal. (and it is a taxi driver according to the committee papers)

https://theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2025 ... edestrian/

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IDFIMH

Great find, Sussex

And interesting to recall that the quoted Unite rep is the same one who organised the petition to cap PHVs in Edinburgh, and his case included more than a tad of what might be called black cab exceptionalism, and a very crude binary comparison with the PH trade.

So no doubt when the saw the incident at the airport drop zone he thought it was compelling evidence vindicating his claims, but unfortunately was caught out a tad by the HCD licensing case on the same day

For what it's worth, this is an article about the PHV petition in which he's quoted extensively about the quality and professionalism, er, dichotomy between the two codes.

(There are some similar pieces on here about the same issue, but I don't think this particular one was posted...)


Edinburgh black cab taxi driver's petition calls on council to cap number of 'wild west' private hire vehicles

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/ ... is-5125925

An Edinburgh black cab taxi driver has called on the council to cap the number of private hire vehicles on the city’s streets, describing the current situation as “like the wild west”.

Keith Auld, 44, has had more than 800 signatures for his petition - ‘Cap number of Private Hire Vehicles in Edinburgh so everyone can make a living’ - which he launched two and a half weeks ago.

He says the market is being saturated in Edinburgh, with too many private hires already on the city’s streets, and he is calling on an immediate cap on their numbers, like the current limit on black cabs.


Image: Edinburgh Evening News

Keith believes there are 1,111 active black cabs in Edinburgh at the moment, with a cap of 1,300 set by the council. However, he claims there are currently between 2,400 and 2,700 private hires vehicles in the city.

Speaking to the Evening News, Keith revealed that he regularly sees private hires breaching their licensing conditions by picking up fares on the street and even occasionally using taxi ranks.

He said: “It’s a pure saturation of the market. It’s becoming harder to make ends meet. There are that many vehicles on the road just now, you can’t do your job. And the buses can’t get around as easy.

“We black cab drivers know the city’s streets inside out, we know every pub, every hotel, but the problem we are finding is we are competing with ridiculous prices, even Uber are struggling.

“The private hires do too many jobs and are tired, so they make mistakes, going down roads they shouldn’t for example, it’s becoming ridiculous. On a Saturday night in the Grassmarket it’s like a manufacturing plant for these cars, there are loads of them just mulling around.

“They are breaking their licensing conditions at every turn, they are even coming into our taxi ranks. I’m engaging with the union on this as I’m a union rep and a member of the Association of Black Cab Hackney Drivers, and we are working with the council and police to try to get them to acknowledge what’s going on.

“Saturday nights are like the wild west. The private hires are not meant to loiter outside pubs and clubs but they do, and youngsters coming out of these places expect to get a price right away instead of a meter.

“You will see what we call ‘seagulling’, hanging around the city’s busy venues and taxi ranks, which they are not allowed to do, we need to limit them. They are vehicles with sat-navs, not taxis. If they take a job that is not pre-booked they are not insured in the event of an accident because they don’t have public hire insurance.”

Keith’s petition also says that this “dilution” of taxis in Edinburgh is leading to a fall in the quality and professionalism of the trade in the city, “which is ultimately going to lead to somebody getting seriously hurt or even killed”. And he believes that this “national issue” of the increasing numbers of private hire vehicles will not benefit locals.

He said: “A cap is needed immediately and we need to increase enforcement, as they are just doing what they want and ignoring all the rules. It’s your pocket that’s getting hit. Everybody says it’s driving the prices down for taxi, but on a Saturday night that’s definitely not the case.

“Every city is getting swamped with private hires, it’s a national issue. It feels like they are trying to kill the black cab industry. We are not getting respected.

“We are trying to pressure the council to consider the Civic Scotland Act over-provision of private hires in a city. Just to highlight that there are too many on the road. We need that report to see as a fact that there are too many.

“I have this conversation with many a punter, who see it with their own two eyes on Edinburgh’s streets, there are private hires everywhere.

“We black cab drivers are skilled. We know how to deal with disabled passengers and every type of person really, we are trained on how to deal with someone who is difficult, maybe drunk. And we needed to have the required knowledge of the city’s streets to get our licences.

“So to have all that pulled from under our feet by someone with a sat-nav, that’s just ridiculous. The wider public have been supportive of the petition, and I think they respect black cab drivers in Edinburgh and all over the world.

“Fellow cabbies just want some support, we are happy to work alongside private hires, but give us a chance, there has to be a cap on the number of private hire vehicles in Edinburgh.

“Everybody knows there is an issue, but everyone is burying their heads in the sand.”

Keith is also calling on the council to run private hire licences better, to bring down the numbers and bring private hires “to the same standard of black cab drivers”. He added that this would help licensing and Police Scotland to enforce conditions easier.

The council’s regulatory convener, Councillor Neil Ross said: “We regularly review the number of private hire cars in the city, most recently in January 2025. The council is also in regular contact with the relevant trade groups and will continue to work with the licensed trade and listen to their feedback.”

The power to limit the number of private hire cars can be used only if the council is satisfied that there is an overprovision of private hire cars. A council spokesperson said the council is required to keep this position under regular review.

But all that underlines what I've been saying about caps for almost 30 years now - would the incident yesterday at the airport drop off zone have happened if PHV numbers had been capped?

Of course it would, but reading the case made in favour of caps, they kind of give the impression that it wouldn't have happened