Is taxi Driving a skilled profession???

meanmachine3

we all agree taxi drivers are worst offenders on our roads ,so why the hell aren't the guards or the government doing something to get the dangerous ones of the roads. after all a taxi plate is for
(1) driving in bus lanes with no passengers (illegal for taxi's)
(2) using bus stops as taxi ranks
(3) double parking /parking on double yellow line whilst doing shopping in shopping centres
(4) speeding
(5) cutting buses up which could lead to lots of serious injuries if braking distance not applied
the list is endless, basically everything your told not to do in the new rules of the road they do.
i'm sick and tired of these scumbags getting away with what they want, when drivers that have committed lesser offences are put of the road.
it's about time our government woke up.
years ago it was ok to drink and drive. now one pint and your off the road.
years ago it was ok for taxi drivers to drive what ever they like, now it's time for a change and close the loophole for good

Terrontress

meanmachine3 wrote:

we all agree taxi drivers are worst offenders on our roads ,so why the hell aren't the guards or the government doing something to get the dangerous ones of the roads. after all a taxi plate is for
(1) driving in bus lanes with no passengers (illegal for taxi's)
(2) using bus stops as taxi ranks
(3) double parking /parking on double yellow line whilst doing shopping in shopping centres
(4) speeding
(5) cutting buses up which could lead to lots of serious injuries if braking distance not applied
the list is endless, basically everything your told not to do in the new rules of the road they do.
i'm sick and tired of these scumbags getting away with what they want, when drivers that have committed lesser offences are put of the road.
it's about time our government woke up.
years ago it was ok to drink and drive. now one pint and your off the road.
years ago it was ok for taxi drivers to drive what ever they like, now it's time for a change and close the loophole for good

I think that given the amount of time they have behind the wheel, taxi drivers build a confidence. And then abuse their position on the road.

Half of the things they do; I'd be too frightened to do that in a car but they have done it so often they know they can get away with it.

As for Davidth88, has it taken that forum to make you realise that the good ol' Dublin taxi driving type is racist? I usually get it each time I take a journey with them. Even Des Bishop did a joke about it in one of his TV shows where he saw a Nigerian lady in her traditional dress. The taxi driver says "Look at that!", Des is about to say "Yeah, really nice; isn't it?" and the taxi driver says "Makes me sick. Those bastards get free washing machines and toothbrushes and we have to pay for it".

Screwthe unions

Looks like the boys on Taxi.ie found this thread...

the boss of me

As a taxi driver myself I am not going to say it is a skilled job. However it is semi-skilled and it is a responsible job. After all as a taxi driver you are responsible for the safety of up to eight passengers.
Also the OP seems to suggest that taxidrivers earn more than €40k. This is generally not the case and certainly not true if the driver works eight hour day shifts. In order to earn a taxable income of €40k a taxidriver would have to gross in the region of €65k. In order to gross €65 you would have to work 70 - 80 hrs per week.
So really I don't know what point the OP is trying to make. Taxi driving is not a skilled job but hey.... it doesn't pay like one.. so what's your point ??

Terrontress

Taxable Income!

Taxi drivers!

Don't make me laugh!

LegacyUser

Is taxi driving still an all cash business? I thought some taxi companies were enabling people to use plastic to pay??

damo

Unskilled, however like anything you have your good ones and your bad ones, and the good ones deserve credit.

The response and threats you received on their site was outrageous, but going into a taxi driver forum and basically rubbing it in their faces that they are working an unskilled job isnt very nice

LegacyUser

I think taxi drivers more or less relagated themselves to the level of opinion that alot of people have of them. I was in Portugal 2 weeks ago and used alot of taxis,but the drivers were so polite,didnt speak till spoke to,clean,smart cars,a joy.But here from my experiance is that they are mostly gobby,rude and opinionated.
I had a look at that site. Pretty nasty stuff.
There is alot of racist overtones alright.
OP,are you the same member on that site?

the boss of me

kaiser1 wrote:

Is taxi driving still an all cash business? I thought some taxi companies were enabling people to use plastic to pay??

About 80% of my work is a/c work and is paid straight into my bank a/c.

cast_iron

Screwthe unions wrote:

Looks like the boys on Taxi.ie found this thread...

And?

Anyway, taxi driving is in no way a skilled job. PSV licenses aren't hard to get, and, from what I have seen, I doubt most of them ever did a driving test.

OTK

It's a dangerous tiring job. It can be bad for your back, long hours. The stress of dealing with the public. Knowing that a lot of your customers look down on you.

There is dignity in labour, perhaps more so when it is unskilled.

Unskilled uneducated workers have more to fear from economic immigrants than the rest of us, so it's natural to find resentment.

Maybe taxi drivers would be happier if they accepted that their jobs are unskilled and tried to do them well rather than fantasizing all day that they are professors of white supremacy and urban mythology.

meanmachine3

OTK quote "It's a dangerous tiring job"
the only dangerous part is let taxi drivers get behind a wheel. all taxi drivers do is overtake and pray someone hits them from behind. basically they dont give a damn about anything or anyone except themselves.
OTK or the boss of me, i dont see either you denying or defending anything i said earlier.
i am sick and tired of taxi drivers thinking they are above the law. as i said before it's about time someone in this government woke up to the real world and did something.
I dont give a hoot what job taxi drivers do to think they are so special. there are thousands of other people driving for a living and you dont see them breaking THE LAW.

Victor

meanmachine3 wrote:

i am sick and tired of taxi drivers thinking they are above the law.

Can people tone it down a little? For every dodgy taxi driver out there, there is also a good one, who is a good driver, polite and helpful.

LegacyUser

I think we need to take a look back at the posts here... now tell me if dealing with muppets who make posts like that is not a skill?
Before you blow a fuse with your reply please include your job titles

I have a feeling most of you are yellow packs who work for somebody else?

How many of you work for yourself? 0? that many?

Victor

I've asked people to play nice. That works both ways. Other post moved.

the boss of me

meanmachine3 wrote:

we all agree taxi drivers are worst offenders on our roads ,so why the hell aren't the guards or the government doing something to get the dangerous ones of the roads. after all a taxi plate is for
(1) driving in bus lanes with no passengers (illegal for taxi's)
(2) using bus stops as taxi ranks
(3) double parking /parking on double yellow line whilst doing shopping in shopping centres
(4) speeding
(5) cutting buses up which could lead to lots of serious injuries if braking distance not applied
the list is endless, basically everything your told not to do in the new rules of the road they do.
i'm sick and tired of these scumbags getting away with what they want, when drivers that have committed lesser offences are put of the road.
it's about time our government woke up.
years ago it was ok to drink and drive. now one pint and your off the road.
years ago it was ok for taxi drivers to drive what ever they like, now it's time for a change and close the loophole for good

The reason I didn't address the issues you raised in your post is because it is off topic. It is basically an ill informed, bigoted rant aginst taxidrivers and wasn't worth replying to.

meanmachine3

my use of the word " scumbags " was excessive .do you not understand why most of the population hate taxi drivers?all the things i pointed out happen all the time and i just want to know why do taxi drivers do these things. why are they immune from the rules of the road.
if taxi drivers obeyed the law like we all do then , we would'nt be where we are today ( everyone complaing about their driving)

Ham'nd'egger

meanmachine3 wrote:

my use of the word " scumbags " was excessive .do you not understand why most of the population hate taxi drivers?all the things i pointed out happen all the time and i just want to know why do taxi drivers do these things. why are they immune from the rules of the road.
if taxi drivers obeyed the law like we all do then , we would'nt be where we are today ( everyone complaing about their driving)

So what you are saying is that I (Who is a taxi driver) am a bad driver and that I break the law.

meanmachine3

i dont know you so i cannot comment on you personally.but 99% of taxi drivers that i have seen out there in the city dont obey the rules of the road, as i have already pointed out in my examples.more include GOING STARIGHT in LEFT and RIGHT hand turns only.
i am expressing my own opinion like everyone else of this site.

Vmaxer

meanmachine3 wrote:

i dont know you so i cannot comment on you personally.but 99% of taxi drivers that i have seen out there in the city dont obey the rules of the road, as i have already pointed out in my examples.more include GOING STARIGHT in LEFT and RIGHT hand turns only.
i am expressing my own opinion like everyone else of this site.

If that was the case they would not be long about accumulating 12 penalty points and would no longer be driving Taxi's, after all Taxi Drivers are not exempt from the Law..

I Myself have been a full time Taxi Driver for 11 Years and have no penalty points nor any accidents in that time.. I'm sure that must require some sort of skill or is it just luck..

LegacyUser

19 years driving a taxi also no points or accidents..could it be that you are the bad driver?
Most people would know to keep well back from a taxi due to the fact they answer to a hail on the street.
How many of you never had an accident? How many of you have points on your licence?
My god just look around the city any weekend night and see how you guys park?

I think we have a great skill... we get lots of you drunks home dont we?


dunno why my other post was removed... guess your dad is a cop huh? try take a joke.

Victor

Barry Norman wrote:

dunno why my other post was removed... guess your dad is a cop huh? try take a joke.

It was off-topic, so I moved it to Humour.

LegacyUser

My picture was right on topic as it was the same picture that the guy who started the post was talking about. ask him!

To be honest he came here for support... by god did he get it - hook line and sinker.

He more or less told everybody on the other board his isp then was all hyped up when the word NTL was mentioned... he blamed that picture and said it was a cookie

All these boards use cookies right? yeh you know they do its in the settings in the admin cp its no big deal ..but to this guy he was all paranoid and blamed a funny picture.

So maybe you should let everybody test and see the picture... its just that a funny picture.

Anybody here ever stop to think why he would start that topic here? if you were a taxi driver would you start a topic like that?

He is using this board to try degrade taxi drivers... a shameful act on his part.

This guy is the same guy who said all people from the Travelling community should be killed.
The same guy who said people from finglas eat their own babies.

He is one of the Most Disgusting People i have seen on the internet.

If you plan on removing parts of my post maybe you should delete the lot Mr Mod

John R

Barry Norman wrote:

My picture was right on topic as it was the same picture that the guy who started the post was talking about. ask him!

To be honest he came here for support... by god did he get it - hook line and sinker.

He came here for the sole purpose of having a go at people on another website such as yourself.

Most of us here neither know or care what significance that picture has to a discussion on another website that I for one had never visited before.

As far as the discussion on this board that picture was off-topic.

Barry Norman wrote:

He more or less told everybody on the other board his isp then was all hyped up when the word NTL was mentioned... he blamed that picture and said it was a cookie

All these boards use cookies right? yeh you know they do its in the settings in the admin cp its no big deal ..but to this guy he was all paranoid and blamed a funny picture.

So maybe you should let everybody test and see the picture... its just that a funny picture.

I must have missed the part where boards.ie had been nominated an internet arguement resolution centre for random messageboards.

Barry Norman wrote:

Anybody here ever stop to think why he would start that topic here? if you were a taxi driver would you start a topic like that?

He is using this board to try degrade taxi drivers... a shameful act on his part.

No, he is using this board to have a go at yourself and others from taxi.ie and trying to drag boards.ie posters into his pathetic little webfight.

Barry Norman wrote:

This guy is the same guy who said all people from the Travelling community should be killed.
The same guy who said people from finglas eat their own babies.

He is one of the Most Disgusting People i have seen on the internet.

Frankly I don't give a fúck what either one of you said on taxi.ie and I have a big problem with your flame war from there being played out here.

If neither of you want to contribute to boards.ie apart from trolling and flaming each other then I suggest you go back to taxi.ie as it has SFA to do with any of us here.

Barry Norman wrote:

If you plan on removing parts of my post maybe you should delete the lot Mr Mod

The Mod explained why he moved, NOT REMOVED, part of your post. Having had a quick look at the message board on taxi.ie it is obvious that the way it is run is very different to boards.ie.

Here the mods will move off-topic posts and threads if they feel they don't belong in a particular board, it is to keep the boards ordered and is not in particular a slight against the poster.

I should also point out that the abusive tone and content of many of the posts on taxi.ie levelled at other posters is not allowed here so if either of you intend to stay here bear that in mind.

Spook_ie

Terrontress wrote:

Taxable Income!

Taxi drivers!

Don't make me laugh!

Meaning what exactly? I assume this is some kind of supposition without any factual evidence to back it up. If you would like to read through a few of the revenues defaulter lists I think you will find that taxi drivers are very much in the minority on those lists.

I would suggest that the whole thread be moved from Transport to the thunderdome so I can let rip

Terrontress

Spook_ie wrote:

Meaning what exactly? I assume this is some kind of supposition without any factual evidence to back it up. If you would like to read through a few of the revenues defaulter lists I think you will find that taxi drivers are very much in the minority on those lists.

I would suggest that the whole thread be moved from Transport to the thunderdome so I can let rip

I suppose it is a part of most self-employed people but taxi drivers are well known for not paying their taxes.

Just because they are not on the revenue defaulter lists doesn't mean they don't default on paying all the tax they owe.

Ham'nd'egger

Terrontress wrote:

I suppose it is a part of most self-employed people but taxi drivers are well known for not paying their taxes.

Just because they are not on the revenue defaulter lists doesn't mean they don't default on paying all the tax they owe.

To renew any State Licence, including a PSV, a taxi driver needs to produce a Tax Clearance Certificate (TC1). These are only issued by Revenue on the premise that taxes liable are either paid up fully or arrangement for same is in place. Taxi drivers can't work unless their PSV is in date (Insurance won't be issued without seeing same), and this won't be renewed if their TC1 is not issued by revenue so this brushes your theory out of the water. :cool:

jlang

(This should be a taxi thread rather than a tax thread but) is that not the point of underdeclaring income to avoid/evade tax - i.e. keeping the Revenue happy with what you do declare and pay so they won't look for more and give you your tax clearance?

Ham'nd'egger

jlang wrote:

(This should be a taxi thread rather than a tax thread but) is that not the point of underdeclaring income to avoid/evade tax - i.e. keeping the Revenue happy with what you do declare and pay so they won't look for more and give you your tax clearance?

I agree with the theory of what you are saying; the logic of it however is a little shaky.

Revenue have an expected figure as to what any industry should be declaring as taxable income and anything that they may claim relief on; taxi drivers are no different. Audits and regular spot checks are also carried out, more so over the last few years. If the figures declared by some drivers were well out of their reckoning (either higher or lower), then they will check it up; ditto for obscure claims. You would be suprised how much you can claim through legitimately when self employed.

Of course, it takes a skilled person (My accountant!) to do all this!

Spook_ie

Hamndegger wrote:

I agree with the theory of what you are saying; the logic of it however is a little shaky.

Revenue have an expected figure as to what any industry should be declaring as taxable income and anything that they may claim relief on; taxi drivers are no different. Audits and regular spot checks are also carried out, more so over the last few years. If the figures declared by some drivers were well out of their reckoning (either higher or lower), then they will check it up; ditto for obscure claims. You would be suprised how much you can claim through legitimately when self employed.

Of course, it takes a skilled person (My accountant!) to do all this!

Seeing as I do my own accounts and I am a taxi driver and I do have qualifications from my life prior to becoming a taxi driver does that make me a qualified taxi driver? or is just that as I've said in previous conversations that the world is divided into 2 groups

a The people who hate taxi drivers so much that they wouldn't P on them if they were on fire and therefore would complain about anything and anyone. In fact they probably complained about the congestion being caused by all those taxis taking the kids out for the Ambrosia outing

b The people who think that taxi drivers are on the whole a reasonabale bunch, who do a good job, often under difficult circumstances but just ( as with most groups including boards.ie ) have a vocal/distasteful minority