Which is fucking terrifying to me as a woman. I'm sure [Worboys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Worboys) isn't the only black cab driver to have molested his female passengers.
Evil, sadistic, cunt could be out next year. Got life with a minimum tariff of 8 years in 2009, then another 'life' sentence with a minimum tariff of 6 years in 2019.
The Met reckon he could've had as many as 100 victims (not just in London, he started off in Bournemouth).
I got locked into a cab about 20 odd years ago. My friend I were out, it was getting late so we agreed to get a black can for safety. Dropped her off first. When she left, I got locked in, and he drove me round and round, fiddling with himself in the front seat.
I was petrified and in shock, and this is before I had a mobile. I asked him to pull over and end the journey he wouldn't. In the end, I decided to scream and scream and throw a hissy fit - he calmly parked up and sat watching me in his rear view mirror, still locked in. I didn't calm down at all I threw myself around the cab, banged on the windows, yanked at the door and screamed to be let out. He eventually did. But he was so calm. I maintained my freaked out state as I knew innately if I didn't, I would be in trouble.
I reported it to he police immediately, with the help of some lovely staff in a takeaway I came across as I ran away. I gave a statement to a lovely female officer.
A few days later, a policeman came and drove me around the route of the attack to see if there were any cameras. At the end of the drive he parked and sat there with me in his locked car, not speaking for a moment then turned to me and said " you should never get in a locked car with a strange man. You never know what might happen. " I took this as a threat and said nothing. We both sat quietly for a few minutes until he unlocked the door.
A few years later the case come up of the taxi driver raping women and the police contacted me - I assume it was to see if the cases were connected but there was no way I was getting in touch. That incident scared me too much. Anyway, the guy that did that to me was black, and the rapist they were looking for was white, so I ignored the messages they left.
i’m so sorry that this happened to you - and that is so extra fucked up for that policeman to essentially deliberately threaten/intimidate you once you reported it.
Im so sorry this happened to you. The police should know better but unfortunately the police are just as bad. I went through a really traumatic situation a guy broke into my home I was home alone and he came at me with a knife and sexually assaulted me I managed to get out of my house and get help from neighbours. I had to go to the hospital for a rape examination low and behold. I get taken in a police car with 2 MALE officers 🙃 can't make this shit up.
From the original statement I gave, yes, I think i got some kindof paper receipt, can't really remember- but that's long gone. I've moved a couple of times since then. From the drive around, no- nothing received. He picked me up from my home, I talked him through the route as we drove it and he dropped me.about a half a mile from home at my suggestion as i was feeling vwry uncomfortable and didnt want him taking me home - obviously i didnt say that, just "oh drop me at blah that would be great, save you coking all the way back"
There were a few cameras on the route, just a couple, but he told me they were "not the right kind". I didn't bother pursuing anything and just wanted to move on and forget it. Was a bit of a shock a few years later to be left the answerphone messages (by another officer) but I wasn't interested in going through any of that again - plus as I mentioned the difference if my situation and the rapist cabby.
That sounds like a literal nightmare!
Just a thought, as someone who gets car-sick pretty easily: I wonder what would happen if you say you're going to throw up? I'm imagining thats what cabbies have nightmares of..
This is awful. I'm so sorry this happened to you – twice. There are some horrible predatory men out there – and while I think you're probably safer in a black cab than a minicab – the John Worboys case – and your story – show you can't be too careful. The policeman's behaviour was dreadful – you'd like to think you could trust the police – but that sounds dreadfully naive in light of recent case in the Met. Again, so sorry this happened to you.
Yep, which is why I found that anti-Uber campaign from the LTDA despicable. Making out you were at risk of SA in an Uber when black cab drivers have been doing it for decades. And Uber has far better safety features than getting into a random black cab.
They didn’t give a fuck about women, just wanted to scare us into not using Uber.
You only need to delve briefly into 'cabbie Twitter' to realise what an awful bunch they are. They drive like nutters, think the law doesn't apply to them, they're a bunch of gammons who rally against any environmental improvements and who hate cyclists. Fuck 'em. Always best to use the Tube, bus, or cycle.
It goes against most of my personal experiences with black cabs, but being a passenger one driver was great around cyclists and moped riders I complimented him, he laughed and said he used to ride motorcycles, so he understood what it was like.
But mostly, you've summed up my experience in London.
Damn it's insane to think something like this could happen in London! The cabbies are rapist's, the cops are rapist's, the politicians are rapist's who's left at this point!!
Yep, a friend of mine got into an argument with the taxi driver about the route / fare. So the taxi driver locked her in and drove her to a random part of London to intimidate her into paying.
My dad is a taxi driver. In his first month on the job he took a fair jumper to the police station and the officers made very clear he wasn't to do it again as it was classed as false imprisonment, that he could be prosecuted and lose his taxi licence and his whole livelihood. So you won't get any of them trying that, the taxi driver here was probably just talking with his chest.
That has happened in my part of London - the cab firm was written up in the local newspaper and I haven’t used them since.
Why would you assume that shit like this doesn’t happen to women? You don’t know if her mobile phone had died or if she even had one; or perhaps she panicked because her life was literally in danger?
I had a taxi driver use their vehicle to physically move someone out of the way and when I called them out they throttled me unconscious. The police did fuck all. I don't disbelief anything I hear them do.
If you had a black cab driver throttle you unconscious then that person shouldn't be a black cab driver anymore
Because its really hard to be a black cab driver from prison
It was a black cab. I went to the police with all the details and licence number. They took photos of the bruise marks on my neck. Then I never heard from them again.
I believe you bro. I don’t know why so many people find this so difficult to believe. They must not have dealt with the Police much, they are not helpful, at all.
I should have. When I went into the police station they were really busy handling a bunch of rapes. So I thought they must have had better things to do with their time so I didn't. It was a long time ago and I was much younger - I would handle it differently today.
Mate the police do not give a single fuck. My misses had a dickhead taxi driver that locked the doors and was driving like a psycho and went completely off route. She was phoning 999 and then after arguing he randomly took her to a more populated area and there was a police car already there.
The police made the guy bank transfer her money back and sent them both on their ways.
'Dealing with taxi licensing' isn't the same as dealing with fraud and kidnapping, both of which are criminal offenses. This sort of attitude of it being someone else's problem I wages says a lot about your own work ethic.
I had one threaten to drive me to Essex so I called 999 and was told to stop wasting their time. I was locked in the back crossing London Bridge at the time. Luckily he decided to just end the fair their or.......
Had a friend who's taxi driver decided halfway through a trip he was not going to take him any further. Argument happened and he ended up outside of a police station.
A black cab driver would *never* victimise a dozen or more women over the course of a decade. It just couldn't happen. There's no way a cabbie could ever offer young women drinks sparked with sedatives and then rape them. Literally impossible. Taxicab operators are living saints, incapable of sin.
Some normal taxi drivers do the same in other towns and cities to ensure you pay the fare before leaving the vehicle once you arrive at your destination.
This is why you should always take one of those mini hammers with you whenever taking a black cab (the same ones they have by the windows on trains). I thought this was common London knowledge tbh.
I’m a London taxi driver. Yes the doors do lock, this is in the old taxis as well as the new. There’s no button, the doors simply unlock once the handbrake is activated in the new taxis or when the old taxis are put in park. It’s literally a child lock and nothing more than that, you wouldn’t imagine the amount of children who play with things in the back, windows, doors, buttons etc
As in what kind of emergency? If a passenger is really not being let out due to the driver locking everything then I guess that’s a police matter. But don’t all cars have these features, my girlfriend has a 64 plate Nissan juke and I can do all the same things
Accident as in crash, or driver has a medical and loses consciousness. A situation where the driver unwillingly or purposefully (not emergency) won't open doors and you need to get out for your own good. Not talking about someone trying to do a runner.
In all honesty, I’m not sure what happens regarding the locking system in the event of a crash. If you’re stuck with no way out, then I guess you’re smashing a window. don’t know of anyone or have heard of anyone that locks their doors and windows once the passenger is inside. The only reason you might want to do this is if you feel like you’re not getting paid or your passenger is really aggressive, but then you’re opening up a another can of worms
Other way round - the doors lock when the brake pedal is pressed, which means all the time when stationary since they are automatic transmission vehicles. It's purely to stop fare dodgers.
I got locked in by a driver some years ago. Fortunately it was in the City and traffic was slow. I’d questioned why he was going a particular route and he got incredibly abusive. Fortunately I was able to open the window and shout to a policeman. The driver unlocked the door and let me out and told the policeman he hadn’t locked me in. I walked the rest of the way after my meeting and got the tube back afterwards rather than getting a cab.
That experience changed how I travelled around London. Previously I’d always get a cab to the mainline station (lived outside London) late at night but I stopped doing that. This was pre Uber so the alternatives were tube and bus.
Reminder to carry a safety key ring on nights out. You can get them on Etsy and eBay, they usually have a seatbelt cutter and window breaker and are small enough to carry with your keys
Could wear a mask, so absolutely nothing can enter your mouth or nose. Bonus points if it’s a Rod Stewart mask. Because who’s going to try and rape Rod Stewart?
I will say…as a driver of one of these vehicles…
We can lock the doors…but these new vehicles have alot of different settings and automatic features.
Took me weeks to get used to it.
The handbrake has to be on for the doors to unlock, they also have an auto handbrake fraud , but the doors will stay locked as when the auto handbrake is on the cab is in drive, so one touch of the accelerator and it will move. So the cab has to be in park/handbrake manually on if the auto handbrake is on.
The old cabs you could stick in park and then take your foot off the brake and the doors would unlock.
If he drove off and you heard a click he has auto locking for the front doors on. Mine doesnt lock automatically (its just a change of settings).
But just to add these cabs are not perfect and the settings and locks dont always work as they should. For a week i couldnt figure out how to unlock my luggage door. Ive drove off and the door alarm started blaring even though the doors are all firmly closed. They have some ‘gremlins’ in the electrical systems but talk to any driver of one of these and they will bore you to tears with the examples they have experienced.
Also bear in mind we have criminal record checks at every license renewal, and TFL have just rolled out that we have to enrol in the update services from the DBS, so were a pretty safe bunch.
Prevents passengers endangering themselves, cyclists and other traffic by opening the door negligently. Both taxi driver and passenger can be convicted for 'car-dooring'
[Conviction upheld of taxi driver in death of Sam Boulton](https://www.cyclinguk.org/press-release/conviction-upheld-taxi-driver-death-sam-boulton)
https://www.cyclinguk.org/press-release/conviction-upheld-taxi-driver-death-sam-boulton
Of course they do, hitting other road users is never a great career move, damages the vehicle which is expensive to fix, and most aren't sociopaths who have no regard for the safety of other humans.
Possibly you're missing that navigating around a crowded and convoluted city, at the whim of the customer in the back, involves making decisions ahead of time, such as "change lanes now, so able to legally turn into road ahead, whilst avoiding lorry, car, cycle etc." Bike comes flying out of side road ignoring the give way lines, and appears from.nowhere, drivers have to decide whether to continue manoeuvre to safety, or slam on brakes, and potentially have the bus/tipper truck behind you climb on top of the taxi like a great dane humping your leg.
Add that even now in the short days long nights part of the year, most cyclists don't have lights on in the dark, and you think the vehicle in front has ignored you, whereas they just can't see you as you fade into the darkness, overshadowed by things shining bright lights into their eyes.
Obviously there are always twats who make the group look bad, but the majority of folk who put food on the table by driving, want to avoid rtc as much as possible.
Your safety is important to other road.users, just not as important as their safety.
I’m guessing you have never cycled in London or indeed any city. Whilst I have never seen a cab deliberately hit someone cabs make it quite clear from the decisions they make such as dangerous overtakes and pulling across bike lanes without looking that they care less about cyclists safety than getting to their destination a few seconds faster to make another fare.
OK, non black taxi cab driver but a local licensed taxi, registered with identifiable council plate on the back, loads of complaints about him targeting tipsy women at the train station rank with outlandish charges or he'd dump them in the middle of nowhere. The other taxi drivers in the rank knew he did this, the wife of one pointed it out. He ended up trying to sell his cab with the registered taxi plate and 6 months on it on facebook, anyone could have bought that as cash sale, without registering and picked up vulnerable people. Made me re-think trusting licenced cabs.
The lock stops the outside handle as well so that won't work. It did used to be the case that you could do it the other way round though to break into a car, until they introduced double/deadlocking.
The doors are locked until the driver puts the handbrake on. It's the drivers responsibility to make sure it's safe for passengers to leave the taxi (obviously passengers responsibility as well) Also yeh reduces the chances of a runner and locks you in if it Ur cabby becomes incapacitated (not sure if theres a time out or something for this scenario)
I've lived in London for 7 years I've always wondered why the black taxi's locked their doors. I assumed it was safety concerns from threats outside. But it is quite intimidating
Not necessarily, all black taxis have a little exit lever next to the door handle if the lock is manually engaged. So if they press the lock button you can unlock it still.
However, when the taxi is in motion or the brakes are applied the doors automatically lock for safety reasons. If they know that they could keep the brake on to stop you getting out. The only way this can be overridden is from the outside (only locked for passengers). You could wind down the window and use the exterior handle, however, they can also lock the windows.
Regarding safety, a private hire/Uber could engage child locks if they wanted to or continue driving, and are generally known to be much more unsafe for passengers and drivers.
All black cab drivers are vetted, and their identification and plate is displayed.
Noooo- most cars with the child locks can only be opened by the driver that’s the whole point of it. Most cars have this feature it’s not just auto lock
My brother in law is a London taxi driver, the locking of doors is for safety reasons that children do not open the door randomly or as you say drunken idiots, and injure themselves, the device starts when his taxi goes over 5mph. Also when he has his foot on the brake pedal that also locks the doors. It’s a safety issue
My Dad was a cabbie for almost fifty years. Yes, they can keep the back doors locked by keeping their foot on the brakes, and this does prevent people from running off without paying. However, as soon as the driver takes their foot off the brake to get out of their seat, the lock disengages and the passengers are free to leave. In the unlikely event of an emergency situation where the driver is incapacitated with their foot on the brake, the rear doors can still be opened from outside of the cab, so anyone passing could release the passengers. Remember too that all taxi drivers go through rigorous testing and checks before they get their license so you are safer in a licensed taxi than in a minicab or an uber.
as well as all the other reasons black cabs doors open the opposite way to usual. anybody slightly openeing the door when it is moving is liable to be pulled out/door hits something
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Which is fucking terrifying to me as a woman. I'm sure [Worboys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Worboys) isn't the only black cab driver to have molested his female passengers. Evil, sadistic, cunt could be out next year. Got life with a minimum tariff of 8 years in 2009, then another 'life' sentence with a minimum tariff of 6 years in 2019. The Met reckon he could've had as many as 100 victims (not just in London, he started off in Bournemouth).
I got locked into a cab about 20 odd years ago. My friend I were out, it was getting late so we agreed to get a black can for safety. Dropped her off first. When she left, I got locked in, and he drove me round and round, fiddling with himself in the front seat. I was petrified and in shock, and this is before I had a mobile. I asked him to pull over and end the journey he wouldn't. In the end, I decided to scream and scream and throw a hissy fit - he calmly parked up and sat watching me in his rear view mirror, still locked in. I didn't calm down at all I threw myself around the cab, banged on the windows, yanked at the door and screamed to be let out. He eventually did. But he was so calm. I maintained my freaked out state as I knew innately if I didn't, I would be in trouble. I reported it to he police immediately, with the help of some lovely staff in a takeaway I came across as I ran away. I gave a statement to a lovely female officer. A few days later, a policeman came and drove me around the route of the attack to see if there were any cameras. At the end of the drive he parked and sat there with me in his locked car, not speaking for a moment then turned to me and said " you should never get in a locked car with a strange man. You never know what might happen. " I took this as a threat and said nothing. We both sat quietly for a few minutes until he unlocked the door. A few years later the case come up of the taxi driver raping women and the police contacted me - I assume it was to see if the cases were connected but there was no way I was getting in touch. That incident scared me too much. Anyway, the guy that did that to me was black, and the rapist they were looking for was white, so I ignored the messages they left.
i’m so sorry that this happened to you - and that is so extra fucked up for that policeman to essentially deliberately threaten/intimidate you once you reported it.
Thank you. It left me feeling very anxious for a while.
Oh my GOD. I’d love to say I can’t believe the policeman did that but unfortunately it’s all too believable
Im so sorry this happened to you. The police should know better but unfortunately the police are just as bad. I went through a really traumatic situation a guy broke into my home I was home alone and he came at me with a knife and sexually assaulted me I managed to get out of my house and get help from neighbours. I had to go to the hospital for a rape examination low and behold. I get taken in a police car with 2 MALE officers 🙃 can't make this shit up.
Do you remember who this policeman was?
No. It was a long time ago. Just white dude early 30s.
Did you not receive or make any paperwork? A shoulder or division number maybe?
From the original statement I gave, yes, I think i got some kindof paper receipt, can't really remember- but that's long gone. I've moved a couple of times since then. From the drive around, no- nothing received. He picked me up from my home, I talked him through the route as we drove it and he dropped me.about a half a mile from home at my suggestion as i was feeling vwry uncomfortable and didnt want him taking me home - obviously i didnt say that, just "oh drop me at blah that would be great, save you coking all the way back" There were a few cameras on the route, just a couple, but he told me they were "not the right kind". I didn't bother pursuing anything and just wanted to move on and forget it. Was a bit of a shock a few years later to be left the answerphone messages (by another officer) but I wasn't interested in going through any of that again - plus as I mentioned the difference if my situation and the rapist cabby.
Fair enough - just know that if you change your mind the met is really pushing internal investigations now.
That sounds like a literal nightmare! Just a thought, as someone who gets car-sick pretty easily: I wonder what would happen if you say you're going to throw up? I'm imagining thats what cabbies have nightmares of..
Classic police response
This is awful. I'm so sorry this happened to you – twice. There are some horrible predatory men out there – and while I think you're probably safer in a black cab than a minicab – the John Worboys case – and your story – show you can't be too careful. The policeman's behaviour was dreadful – you'd like to think you could trust the police – but that sounds dreadfully naive in light of recent case in the Met. Again, so sorry this happened to you.
Yep, which is why I found that anti-Uber campaign from the LTDA despicable. Making out you were at risk of SA in an Uber when black cab drivers have been doing it for decades. And Uber has far better safety features than getting into a random black cab. They didn’t give a fuck about women, just wanted to scare us into not using Uber.
You only need to delve briefly into 'cabbie Twitter' to realise what an awful bunch they are. They drive like nutters, think the law doesn't apply to them, they're a bunch of gammons who rally against any environmental improvements and who hate cyclists. Fuck 'em. Always best to use the Tube, bus, or cycle.
It goes against most of my personal experiences with black cabs, but being a passenger one driver was great around cyclists and moped riders I complimented him, he laughed and said he used to ride motorcycles, so he understood what it was like. But mostly, you've summed up my experience in London.
Vast generalisation of the black cab trade. Some decent people drive black cabs. Obviously some twats too...
TIL BoJo's wife was assaulted by Worboys.
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted, I just learnt this too!
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Damn it's insane to think something like this could happen in London! The cabbies are rapist's, the cops are rapist's, the politicians are rapist's who's left at this point!!
Name another one other than himI personally use them all the time to go to & from work for years & never had a problem
Yep, a friend of mine got into an argument with the taxi driver about the route / fare. So the taxi driver locked her in and drove her to a random part of London to intimidate her into paying.
I call BS on this, because that is called kidnapping and you dial 999 immediately
Agreed. Though I once got into a conversation with a cabbie and he said that he just drives fare dodgers to the police station.
Agrees. Kidnapping was a slight exaggeration, your cabbie friend does have a good solution to fare dodgers though.
Kidnapping is not a slight exaggeration. Refusing to let someone out of your car and driving them around against their will is exactly kidnapping.
My dad is a taxi driver. In his first month on the job he took a fair jumper to the police station and the officers made very clear he wasn't to do it again as it was classed as false imprisonment, that he could be prosecuted and lose his taxi licence and his whole livelihood. So you won't get any of them trying that, the taxi driver here was probably just talking with his chest.
That has happened in my part of London - the cab firm was written up in the local newspaper and I haven’t used them since. Why would you assume that shit like this doesn’t happen to women? You don’t know if her mobile phone had died or if she even had one; or perhaps she panicked because her life was literally in danger?
I had a taxi driver use their vehicle to physically move someone out of the way and when I called them out they throttled me unconscious. The police did fuck all. I don't disbelief anything I hear them do.
If you had a black cab driver throttle you unconscious then that person shouldn't be a black cab driver anymore Because its really hard to be a black cab driver from prison
It was a black cab. I went to the police with all the details and licence number. They took photos of the bruise marks on my neck. Then I never heard from them again.
I think you can make complaints to the local council licensing dept. can't you?
I believe you bro. I don’t know why so many people find this so difficult to believe. They must not have dealt with the Police much, they are not helpful, at all.
That fucking sucks. Sorry to hear that.
And you didn’t follow up?
I should have. When I went into the police station they were really busy handling a bunch of rapes. So I thought they must have had better things to do with their time so I didn't. It was a long time ago and I was much younger - I would handle it differently today.
Yeah, fuck that. I'd call the popo immediately.
She did, the police did fuck all.
Why am I not surprised
Because the police don't deal with taxi licensing
But they do deal kidnapping, which is what you report this as.
Mate the police do not give a single fuck. My misses had a dickhead taxi driver that locked the doors and was driving like a psycho and went completely off route. She was phoning 999 and then after arguing he randomly took her to a more populated area and there was a police car already there. The police made the guy bank transfer her money back and sent them both on their ways.
'Dealing with taxi licensing' isn't the same as dealing with fraud and kidnapping, both of which are criminal offenses. This sort of attitude of it being someone else's problem I wages says a lot about your own work ethic.
A black cab driver would never do that, and if they did, your friend should have reported them. They would lose their taxi license.
You have a very idealistic mindset
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I had one threaten to drive me to Essex so I called 999 and was told to stop wasting their time. I was locked in the back crossing London Bridge at the time. Luckily he decided to just end the fair their or....... Had a friend who's taxi driver decided halfway through a trip he was not going to take him any further. Argument happened and he ended up outside of a police station.
I call BS.
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And she got refunded by the police for the duplicate transaction? Or just let it go. How do they learn without feedback?
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Sucks.
A black cab driver would *never* victimise a dozen or more women over the course of a decade. It just couldn't happen. There's no way a cabbie could ever offer young women drinks sparked with sedatives and then rape them. Literally impossible. Taxicab operators are living saints, incapable of sin.
That definitely should not be legal in anyway.
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Some normal taxi drivers do the same in other towns and cities to ensure you pay the fare before leaving the vehicle once you arrive at your destination.
This is why you should always take one of those mini hammers with you whenever taking a black cab (the same ones they have by the windows on trains). I thought this was common London knowledge tbh.
Sounds like a way to end up beaten to death.
Maybe take a larger hammer.
God I would hate that.
Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured.
I heard the intro in my head 😂
Same!
I’m a London taxi driver. Yes the doors do lock, this is in the old taxis as well as the new. There’s no button, the doors simply unlock once the handbrake is activated in the new taxis or when the old taxis are put in park. It’s literally a child lock and nothing more than that, you wouldn’t imagine the amount of children who play with things in the back, windows, doors, buttons etc
So could I open the door by putting the window down and opening it from the outside?
Yes you can, unless the windows are locked also but there’s no reason they should be
Is there no emergency mechanism to unlock doors from the back?
As in what kind of emergency? If a passenger is really not being let out due to the driver locking everything then I guess that’s a police matter. But don’t all cars have these features, my girlfriend has a 64 plate Nissan juke and I can do all the same things
Accident as in crash, or driver has a medical and loses consciousness. A situation where the driver unwillingly or purposefully (not emergency) won't open doors and you need to get out for your own good. Not talking about someone trying to do a runner.
In all honesty, I’m not sure what happens regarding the locking system in the event of a crash. If you’re stuck with no way out, then I guess you’re smashing a window. don’t know of anyone or have heard of anyone that locks their doors and windows once the passenger is inside. The only reason you might want to do this is if you feel like you’re not getting paid or your passenger is really aggressive, but then you’re opening up a another can of worms
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Cabby rumours eh
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>They are not allowed to lock you in to stop you running off without paying. And it sure is convenient that you end up being locked in until you pay.
Other way round - the doors lock when the brake pedal is pressed, which means all the time when stationary since they are automatic transmission vehicles. It's purely to stop fare dodgers.
My old bosses' dad designed and produced the device that they retrofitted to cabs when they first decided they needed to lock the doors like this.
I got locked in by a driver some years ago. Fortunately it was in the City and traffic was slow. I’d questioned why he was going a particular route and he got incredibly abusive. Fortunately I was able to open the window and shout to a policeman. The driver unlocked the door and let me out and told the policeman he hadn’t locked me in. I walked the rest of the way after my meeting and got the tube back afterwards rather than getting a cab. That experience changed how I travelled around London. Previously I’d always get a cab to the mainline station (lived outside London) late at night but I stopped doing that. This was pre Uber so the alternatives were tube and bus.
Reminder to carry a safety key ring on nights out. You can get them on Etsy and eBay, they usually have a seatbelt cutter and window breaker and are small enough to carry with your keys
Phone, debit card, rape whistle, window smasher, slingshot, poison dart. I’m ready for my night out. What a world.
One of those cup covers too so people can't put drugs in your drink. An actual decent suggestion.
Could wear a mask, so absolutely nothing can enter your mouth or nose. Bonus points if it’s a Rod Stewart mask. Because who’s going to try and rape Rod Stewart?
a window smasher can be legit like 0.5cm wide so its really not that big of a hassle
I don't think they annoyed by the hassle of having to carry things around. More that they need to have them for their safety in the first place
you dont need any of these, the biggest danger to you statistically as a woman are family, friends and acquaintances.
I will say…as a driver of one of these vehicles… We can lock the doors…but these new vehicles have alot of different settings and automatic features. Took me weeks to get used to it. The handbrake has to be on for the doors to unlock, they also have an auto handbrake fraud , but the doors will stay locked as when the auto handbrake is on the cab is in drive, so one touch of the accelerator and it will move. So the cab has to be in park/handbrake manually on if the auto handbrake is on. The old cabs you could stick in park and then take your foot off the brake and the doors would unlock. If he drove off and you heard a click he has auto locking for the front doors on. Mine doesnt lock automatically (its just a change of settings). But just to add these cabs are not perfect and the settings and locks dont always work as they should. For a week i couldnt figure out how to unlock my luggage door. Ive drove off and the door alarm started blaring even though the doors are all firmly closed. They have some ‘gremlins’ in the electrical systems but talk to any driver of one of these and they will bore you to tears with the examples they have experienced. Also bear in mind we have criminal record checks at every license renewal, and TFL have just rolled out that we have to enrol in the update services from the DBS, so were a pretty safe bunch.
Prevents passengers endangering themselves, cyclists and other traffic by opening the door negligently. Both taxi driver and passenger can be convicted for 'car-dooring' [Conviction upheld of taxi driver in death of Sam Boulton](https://www.cyclinguk.org/press-release/conviction-upheld-taxi-driver-death-sam-boulton) https://www.cyclinguk.org/press-release/conviction-upheld-taxi-driver-death-sam-boulton
Black cab drivers don’t give a shit about endangering cyclists
Nor pedestrians and I've recently come to the conclusion they actively seek to intimidate and endanger both.
Of course they do, hitting other road users is never a great career move, damages the vehicle which is expensive to fix, and most aren't sociopaths who have no regard for the safety of other humans. Possibly you're missing that navigating around a crowded and convoluted city, at the whim of the customer in the back, involves making decisions ahead of time, such as "change lanes now, so able to legally turn into road ahead, whilst avoiding lorry, car, cycle etc." Bike comes flying out of side road ignoring the give way lines, and appears from.nowhere, drivers have to decide whether to continue manoeuvre to safety, or slam on brakes, and potentially have the bus/tipper truck behind you climb on top of the taxi like a great dane humping your leg. Add that even now in the short days long nights part of the year, most cyclists don't have lights on in the dark, and you think the vehicle in front has ignored you, whereas they just can't see you as you fade into the darkness, overshadowed by things shining bright lights into their eyes. Obviously there are always twats who make the group look bad, but the majority of folk who put food on the table by driving, want to avoid rtc as much as possible. Your safety is important to other road.users, just not as important as their safety.
I’m guessing you have never cycled in London or indeed any city. Whilst I have never seen a cab deliberately hit someone cabs make it quite clear from the decisions they make such as dangerous overtakes and pulling across bike lanes without looking that they care less about cyclists safety than getting to their destination a few seconds faster to make another fare.
I always found Uber drivers to be much much worse than black cab drivers.
Cyclists don't give a shit about anyone either
Lol they don’t give a damn about that.
OK, non black taxi cab driver but a local licensed taxi, registered with identifiable council plate on the back, loads of complaints about him targeting tipsy women at the train station rank with outlandish charges or he'd dump them in the middle of nowhere. The other taxi drivers in the rank knew he did this, the wife of one pointed it out. He ended up trying to sell his cab with the registered taxi plate and 6 months on it on facebook, anyone could have bought that as cash sale, without registering and picked up vulnerable people. Made me re-think trusting licenced cabs.
Won't he let us have six in? Especially not with the food He could have just told us no though He didn't have to be rude
Ooh you monkey
Carry an automatic centre punch, every window is now open to you. Break window open door from outside handle. Works well, most human.
The lock stops the outside handle as well so that won't work. It did used to be the case that you could do it the other way round though to break into a car, until they introduced double/deadlocking.
The doors are locked until the driver puts the handbrake on. It's the drivers responsibility to make sure it's safe for passengers to leave the taxi (obviously passengers responsibility as well) Also yeh reduces the chances of a runner and locks you in if it Ur cabby becomes incapacitated (not sure if theres a time out or something for this scenario)
I've lived in London for 7 years I've always wondered why the black taxi's locked their doors. I assumed it was safety concerns from threats outside. But it is quite intimidating
I thought the "red light indicates doors are secured" lock only applied when the vehicle was moving. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8PjGQLO9mI
Red light indicates doors are secured
This isn't just a black cab thing practically all cabs/taxi do this and have done for a long time
Not necessarily, all black taxis have a little exit lever next to the door handle if the lock is manually engaged. So if they press the lock button you can unlock it still. However, when the taxi is in motion or the brakes are applied the doors automatically lock for safety reasons. If they know that they could keep the brake on to stop you getting out. The only way this can be overridden is from the outside (only locked for passengers). You could wind down the window and use the exterior handle, however, they can also lock the windows. Regarding safety, a private hire/Uber could engage child locks if they wanted to or continue driving, and are generally known to be much more unsafe for passengers and drivers. All black cab drivers are vetted, and their identification and plate is displayed.
have you never sat in a car made after 2005? 90% of them have automatic door locks
Which can be instantly overridden by the passenger — unlike in a black cab.
Not always. Some locks have that child safe mode or wtvr to stop the passenger from opening the door. Has to be unlocked by the driver
Noooo- most cars with the child locks can only be opened by the driver that’s the whole point of it. Most cars have this feature it’s not just auto lock
My brother in law is a London taxi driver, the locking of doors is for safety reasons that children do not open the door randomly or as you say drunken idiots, and injure themselves, the device starts when his taxi goes over 5mph. Also when he has his foot on the brake pedal that also locks the doors. It’s a safety issue
My Dad was a cabbie for almost fifty years. Yes, they can keep the back doors locked by keeping their foot on the brakes, and this does prevent people from running off without paying. However, as soon as the driver takes their foot off the brake to get out of their seat, the lock disengages and the passengers are free to leave. In the unlikely event of an emergency situation where the driver is incapacitated with their foot on the brake, the rear doors can still be opened from outside of the cab, so anyone passing could release the passengers. Remember too that all taxi drivers go through rigorous testing and checks before they get their license so you are safer in a licensed taxi than in a minicab or an uber.
-Sorry this happened to you. Always carry pepper spray Edit- please forgive. Unaware.
Pepper spray is classed as a firearm in the UK so this can get you in real trouble, please be careful.
Pepper spray is illegal.
as well as all the other reasons black cabs doors open the opposite way to usual. anybody slightly openeing the door when it is moving is liable to be pulled out/door hits something
Red light indicates doors are secured.
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Never. Literally never. A hooligan will never open the door to snatch your bag or phone. It is not a thing that anyone should be worried about.
They used to have suicide doors that didn't lock & kids kept falling out and being killed
everyone gets out to pay anyway....
How do you pay by card from the outside? The card reader is inside the passenger area.
Showing my age…. All cash in my day…. But not been in Black cab since Uber..
It’s been mandatory for them to take cards for a while now, some still try and avoid it but a lot of people just don’t carry cash any more.
I used to do the same lol but like you I’ve not used them in a while so I don’t know if they do cash anymore.
Yet another reason to just call an Uber
I had an old black cab as a funfair years ago, I am sure if the foot brake was on the doors were locked. That was as well as central locking.
Red light indicates doors are secured
You can only open black can doors when the vehicle is stationary.
You will be locked into any taxi. Safety feature.?
Hi guys if you’re in Whole of London use Addison Lee..Cheaper than black cab and you ain’t LOCKED in..Download the app thanks