The daily Close Call

no way man. black cabbies generally have shitloads of road experience many of them driving for years and years. also, much like buses, because they're all the same vehicles, you get to know them and how they move, how quick they can accelerate etc etc.

minicabs on the other hand tend to be driven by FOBs with some license from in fuck knows what country, constantly distracted by their GPS cos they haven't a clue where they are going. a lot of them are driving more powerful cars too.

Years of experience getting away with driving badly doesn't really help.

I was probably wrong to compare the minicabs to vans/buses though - they're predictable more in the way that the average crap, hurried car driver is. In any case, I find them less of a pain to deal with than the cabbies, who seem in their own heads at least to occupy a universe all their own, in which they can do no wrong.

EDIT: and if someone can explain WTF they're allowed in bus lanes, I'd love to know. They're not public transport like buses and not non-congesting like bikes and motorbikes. If anything, they're more of a hazard to shipping than private cars, since they spend half the day driving around looking for fares instead of parked.

I just notice the bad seeds tend to be anyone who's over 40 driving a and think bicycles shouldn't be on the road and they're not at fault, all the bell-end I encounter are usually old pecker with a mouth.

yeah im fine, a bit cut up and a black eye...but ok.
my bike is rideable, but bent my toptube. gutted.

btw it was his fault. He was driving on the wrong side of the road, over taking a queue of traffic to turn right. A car pulled out without seeing me, which I had to swerve, didnt see this guy on my side of the road.. crunch.
He was more shook up than I was.

ouch! glad you're ok anyway... bent tube = new frame though no? rubbish.

i think they are public transport.

• maybe it's just cos there's so many of them the bad apples are just more obvious.
  

there are a lots of decent black cabs, it's always the couple that you encounter that give you the conclusion that all black cabs are fuckers.

for instance, in 1 weeks, 4 or 5 black cabs almost run you over deliberately, we can easily assumed they're cunt, until you realise hundreds of other black cabs that passed you in a week didn't try to run you over.

there are lots of decent cyclist then a couple of idiots, Then people think were all like that too. That gives drivers the conclusion that cyclists are all fuckers.

there are a lots of decent black cabs, it's always the couple that you encounter that give you the conclusion that all black cabs are fuckers.

for instance, in 1 weeks, 4 or 5 black cabs almost run you over deliberately, we can easily assumed they're cunt, until you realise hundreds of other black cabs that passed you in a week didn't try to run you over.

yeah for sure, most cabbies are good drivers. it's just the odd bad apple that spoils the bunch. i can only think of two incidents involving bad cab drivers, one where a cab tried to turn left into me even though i was in front of him (filtered wing mirror hah) and another when a cab overtook me even though there was a bus in the opposite lane; he was so close my leg literally brushed him. the latter incident i reported to the police; i followed him up kingsland road and took his plate.

close call on thursday morning. coming over Ebury bridge just before the traffic lights, i want to go straight over and lights are red so i'm going slow. about 1m gap along inside and i check all the indicators - all off. last vehicle of 5 is an 'Etiquette' van.

lights turn green so i speed up. vehicles roll forward. and van starts moving. i have a policy of looking into the wing mirror of vehicles i'm about to overtake as well aschecking indicators. still no indication so i speed up to go over.

van starts to get closer, i slow down and just before the intersection, van turns left sharp and fast, no indication. i hit brakes but still hit van, van turns even sharper so that only 10cm between his wheels and curb. i roll along side using my hands to keep me upright until eventually van leaves me. i fall onto road, van accelerates and speeds off round the bend.

no damage to bike or self apart from graze on knee and the pedestrian who watched the whole thing on the pavement asks me how i am. i get up shaken but ok, then cycle off. when i get to un i realise i've basically been the victim of a hit and run. only caught the name of the company (symbol was a big Q)and that it was some kind of (office?) catering company.

if anyone has any info about this company get in touch. i don't think i will get anything but i don't want a driver like that to remain on the road. i didn't get the pedestrian's contact details, he was on the phone at the time and it looked important. and i had to get into uni to hand in some coursework which was far more important (grade dictates whether i go abroad next year)

i think they are public transport.

They're certainly treated as public transport by the authorities, but they're just a hire car that comes with a driver. It probably made sense at some point, but strikes me as anomalous now.

You're probably right that being so distinctive makes the bad ones stand out, and having lived in the West End and now in Whitechapel (so destination and route in, respectively) I've probably been over-exposed to them.

http://www.etiquettecatering.co.uk/ ?

and ed, your second post didnt make much sense. are u saying that over 40s shouldn't drive.

and ed, your second post didnt make much sense. are u saying that over 40s shouldn't drive.

no, it appear that the bad apples I encounter seemed to be at least 40+ (white van, taxi, etc.), and nearly always appear to be on a nervous breakdown.

cheers steff, i'll give them a call but i don't think its them. this van had a blue and orange logo.

close call on thursday morning. coming over Ebury bridge just before the traffic lights, i want to go straight over and lights are red so i'm going slow. about 1m gap along inside and i check all the indicators - all off. last vehicle of 5 is an 'Etiquette' van.

lights turn green so i speed up. vehicles roll forward. and van starts moving. i have a policy of looking into the wing mirror of vehicles i'm about to overtake as well aschecking indicators. still no indication so i speed up to go over.

van starts to get closer, i slow down and just before the intersection, van turns left sharp and fast, no indication. i hit brakes but still hit van, van turns even sharper so that only 10cm between his wheels and curb. i roll along side using my hands to keep me upright until eventually van leaves me. i fall onto road, van accelerates and speeds off round the bend.

no damage to bike or self apart from graze on knee and the pedestrian who watched the whole thing on the pavement asks me how i am. i get up shaken but ok, then cycle off. when i get to un i realise i've basically been the victim of a hit and run. only caught the name of the company (symbol was a big Q)and that it was some kind of (office?) catering company.

if anyone has any info about this company get in touch. i don't think i will get anything but i don't want a driver like that to remain on the road. i didn't get the pedestrian's contact details, he was on the phone at the time and it looked important. and i had to get into uni to hand in some coursework which was far more important (grade dictates whether i go abroad next year)

were you on the left side of the van?

no, it appear that the bad apples I encounter seemed to be at least 40+ (white van, taxi, etc.), and nearly always appear to be on a nervous breakdown.

lol, the cabbie i reported to the police looked like that. dunno if anyone has read "the book of dave" but if so that pretty much summed him up.

there are lots of decent cyclist then a couple of idiots, Then people think were all like that too. That gives drivers the conclusion that cyclists are all fuckers.

true not all drivers and prdestrians are stupid or / and utter wankers, but best to treat them as if they all are, keeps me cautious.

no, it appear that the bad apples I encounter seemed to be at least 40+ (white van, taxi, etc.), and nearly always appear to be on a nervous breakdown.

that clarifys things a little.
(could you please write your posts in a grammaticaly correct fashion; an s here, some punctuation there. just makes it so much easier to read)

^Good luck with that...

were you on the left side of the van?

yep. there are two lanes, one for going ahead/turning left and one for turning right.

haha. tk 307, edscoble is deaf. most deaf.

I have the opposite experience - the minicabs drive like bellends, but "civilian" bellends. You can generally predict what they'll do in the same way you might for a delivery van or a bus. The black cabs really seem to think they have a special dispensation to do whatever the hell they please, and as far as I can gather from watching them in action* the police concur and leave them to it.

*I lived just off Oxford Street for several years, where the highest densities of police and black cabs intersect. I never saw a black cab stopped for dangerous or careless, but I saw a LOT of other cars pulled over on slim pretexts.

+1

Unutterable, black-cab driving bastards. Consistently the worst, most arrogant and downright dangerous people on the roads (and there's some stiff competition out there from London's bus drivers).

Yes, there are a considerate, polite, good humored few, but the majority need pistol whipping with their wretched, over-charging meters.

Racist? Yep, the ones who aren't busy being date-rapists invariably are.

Sorry for the rant, but having been knocked about (quite literally) a few too many times by these twats - not to mention suffering more than my fair share of 'why this country's gone to the dogs' speeches when I've bee forced to sit in the back of their insufferable, bike-hating machines - I am well out of Hackney Carriage cheer.

^Good luck with that...

long shot I know. been wanting to say it for a while but didn't want to just post something critical and OT.

haha. tk 307, edscoble is deaf. most deaf.

poor pun.

but he can see and write.

that clarifys things a little.
(could you please write your posts in a grammaticaly correct fashion; an s here, some punctuation there. just makes it so much easier to read)

PM'd.

poor pun.

but he can see and write.

there's a lots more to it than just that, but I simply can't be arsed to go throught explaining it all again.

if someone is born deaf you can understand how they'd have difficulty with grammar, it's not just a matter of knowing how to read and write.