Elite Pete wrote on 04. Aug 2006 at 14:26:


That is one of things we have to put with.....runners!
Its actually theft....and we have the right to report it to the police.....but i never do and loads dont either, its not worth the hassle
Another thing i dont do is get of the car to go after a runner......you never know if he has his mates waiting around the corner.....then its not only the fare you lost but also entire shift takings as well.....plus a whacking....and it has been known your car as well!!

Its about making a judgement when a punter says that.....'i just have to go get your money'....on our screens in the cars you can tell if the punter withheld their phone number.....if so hmmm why?
If this happens and im sus about it, i usually say leave your mobile or wallet......if they say i havent got mobile or wallet on me.....then its leave a shoe!! unless its wet! (im not that cruel hearted!) at least then if the do a runner.....they only have one shoe on.....and have to buy another pair!!

I think its a sad world when this happens.....but i guess this is society now!

A few months ago, I took a black cab as I sometimes do, and told the driver ‘Kings Cross’. The cab started going, and he seems to be heading the wrong way, but I let him go, thinking he knows a better route as cabbies sometime do.

After a while I realise that we are going further and further away from Kings Cross. At this point I tell the cabbie ‘Are you sure you know the way to Kings Cross?’ (an odd question to ask a London cabbie …). The guy says ‘Kings Cross? Sorry mate, I though you said Finchley Road’. I’m thinking to myself in which language do they sound similar? Anyway he was very apologetic and offered to reset the meter. He then sped up Finchley Road looking for a place to do U-turn. Feeling very silly about all this, he also offered me his Sun newspaper presumably as some sort of good will gesture.

So there I was at the back of the cab reading the Sun (guess which page?), when the guy slams the brakes in panic. While he was speeding up the congested road, the car in front of him stopped and he managed to pull to a halt less than an inch from the rear bumper.

The problem is that reading the newspaper I was totally unprepared, and the rear seat in the old black cabs is wide and made of slippery plastic, so I flew forward and crashed on the barrier. I sort of half swung while flying so actually crashed with my shoulder ahead and the rest of me toppling over.

The driver then went red in the face and mumbled something about how I must think this is a taxi ride from hell (well he was right about that), kept apologising all the way and finally dropped me off at Kings Cross. And charged me the full amount, though needless to say I left no tip.

The shoulder was no laughing matter – it was soar for a couple of weeks and I couldn’t really use the arm properly, though it recovered eventually.

Auto Addict wrote on 04. Aug 2006 at 20:17:


Yeah but lets be honest who ever uses seat belts in a black cab??? 

Taxi Driver wrote on 04. Aug 2006 at 19:38:

Thanks for the tip

But you're assuming I can talk coherently after a quiet drink... 

lol, I think I'ce done it once too often, coz some of the ones in Aylesbury did used to know where I lived... 

The others probably pushed me into the canal....

Probably just as well we don't have taxis in the town I currently live in then...   

When the house is old enough to need painting, time to move instead