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Yeah I think you're right about that.
but come on ... [rant incoming]
Black cabs, infact all those English drivers, really are the biggest twats on the road. Eyes on their pastie. Often learnt how to drive in a miserable country, with a very different driving culture. Poor lane discipline. Don't care where they are/where they're going. Big people carriers with poor visibility. Often dicking about with their Sun reading mails/text/hooking up their page three girl. Usually the few drivers about in the early hours, doing excess speeds because they can get away with it and the roads are empty. I'm generally a calm rider but If I ever get arrested/injured/killed on the road, 99% chance it'll involved one of these bastards.
ftfy
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I don't know Festus, I wouldn't judge a person's driving ability by their occupation or their employer.
This.
I didn't hear any calls for blockades of the companies that employed that drink-driving skip lorry driver that killed the woman on Blackfriars(?) or the company that employed the dodgy-sighted driver that killed Eilidh Cairns.
Overreaction. Much.
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Just require they have a UK license and they'll be wiped out overnight
What do I need to become a driver?
Before starting work with Addison Lee, you will need to provide us with your driving licence (both parts), your PCO license (both parts) and 2 forms of identification clearly showing your current address.
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Comment on this post says that a driver was talking on Twitter about it, anyone see that or have a link?
http://cyclelondoncity.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/addisonlee-theres-every-chance-that.html
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In the interests of balance I have hired lots of AL cars and their driver's have always been courteous and polite, and only one of them has driven in a manner that I would consider poorly. And that was a lack of attention to idiots on scooters and bicycles putting themselves in dangerous positions, rather than speed or cutting anyone up.
They have carried bikes, loads of DJ gear and other stuff without a whisper of complaint, and their app is excellent, tellling you where your car is, it's registration and the drivers phone number.
If I need a minicab rather than a black cab they are my default choice -
I had to take a number of boxes in from home to my new office. I couldn't do it over the weekend and even then there is no where to park any where near here. I ordered an Addy Lees car. Indeed, such was the amount that I had to carry, I did so three days running.
They all arrive five minutes before the booked time. I was told when booking that it would cost £11. I was charged £11 on each occasion This is around £6 or £7 plus tip less than a black cab and considerably less than a black cab booked to come to pick me up at a designated time. The drivers were curteous and drove well and used sensible routes. They did not drive in bus lanes. An altogether pleasant experience.
I need a car service for my firm. Based upon that experience I would happily appoint Addy Lee.
Now I am not so sure I want to support such a company.
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In the interests of balance I have hired lots of AL cars and their driver's have always been courteous and polite, and only one of them has driven in a manner that I would consider poorly. And that was a lack of attention to idiots on scooters and bicycles putting themselves in dangerous positions, rather than speed or cutting anyone up.
They have carried bikes, loads of DJ gear and other stuff without a whisper of complaint, and their app is excellent, tellling you where your car is, it's registration and the drivers phone number.
If I need a minicab rather than a black cab they are my default choiceYeah, but don't you vote tory? Are you just protecting your party's interests?
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It's not about them looking 1950s, its about them being especially designed for London. It brings them down to a human scale, because they were designed for Londoners, and not for shareholders in Stuttgart.
Modern black cabs, ie those produced by lti are designed solely to look like "traditional" black cabs, you have said as much yourself. They are still huge vehicles, their wheelbase is actually greater than that of a range rover. The shape that they are designed to be is very inefficient as it means a large part of the cab's wheelbase can only be occupied by the engine this is not the case with the vito.
Look, I don't dislike the lti taxis but honestly I cannot see that it would make one bit of difference to London if they weren't around as long as something that was equally able to do the job was available. At the end of the day if you need or want to hail a taxi that is all that is important.
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That's beside the point. London taxis are a symbol of London. If you want something that's "equally able to do the job", you'd be taking away part of the city's heritage and replacing it with something boring, grey and functional.
I don't often get to ride in a black cab but it's always something of a treat.
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AL were pretty smart there too... black vehicles.
It's the black taxi that is iconic, that it's black and has a yellow light.
You could change the shape easily enough, and even the word on the light from "TAXI" to "MINICAB" or "CAB", and it would still have character.
It's a bit like the NYC yellow cab:
Still distinctive.
The shape isn't as essential as you'd imagine it is... the colour and distinctive light on the other hand.
Anyhow... dumb tangent... AL are fucktards for driving in bus lanes.
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Prescot jumping on the cycling safety bandwagon...
https://twitter.com/#!/johnprescott/status/192041670794153984
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Addison Lee are the lowest paid of mincab drivers. Pay peanuts and what do you get?
Racist.
Peanut eaters.
Good work.
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6 tickets were issued to AL drivers in last two days for bus lane offences according to TFL.
As the drivers are self-employed AL will probably be able to count the cost of reimbursing the drivers as a tax deductible business expense; if AL were being fined themsleves they could not.
As the company is split into completely separate vehicle management and admin companies (per todays Guardian) there are probably further opportunities to reduce the cost of this massive publicty stunt to AL in the most tax-efficient manner.
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Look, I don't dislike the lti taxis but honestly I cannot see that it would make one bit of difference to London if they weren't around as long as something that was equally able to do the job was available. At the end of the day if you need or want to hail a taxi that is all that is important.
Ok, so because a B&Q style concrete and aluminium warehouse can do the job just as well we can feel free to demolish St Paul's Cathedral and replace it with a soulless box?
The way things look is important. Character is important. Personality is important. God is in the details. A one-box van can convey people as well as a nicely styled cabriolet, but it's just not a nice thing. -
BQ... it's just a fucking car.
Shut up Ed.
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About
Addison Lee drivers told to defy bus lane law (and to just say SMIDSY)
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That's bullshit. BMW and Jag drivers are the worst out there.
AL drivers don't get enough jobs to require them to drive too fast. They're ticketed like everyone else. They might drive for too many hours in an attempt to make money since AL employs too many drivers but I'm not sure what controls they have in place to prevent this. Their whole system is computerised so it would be easy to see if one of their drivers had been going for more than X hours.