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Crying Baby Thrown Out Of Taxi...
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02-12-2008 7:17pm#1Don't blame me I didn't write the printed Herald headline....visions of a baby being thrown threw an open taxi window,but the online version...
http://www.herald.ie/national-news/herald-investigation-taxi-shame-1560284.htmlHerald investigation: Taxi shame
Tuesday December 02 2008
TAXI drivers have been sanctioned for more than 1,000 offences in the past two years, including serious overcharging, refusing fares and swearing at customers.
In a sample of cases the Herald has learned that drivers have abandoned customers on roadsides without any justification, been accused of sexually assaulting passengers, told customers to "f**k off", refused blind customers and operated without a valid licence.
In one case, a Dublin driver was fined for making a mother leave the car en route to her destination because her nine-month-old baby was crying.
The complaint reported that the driver said to her 'I don't have to take this s**t', when the baby wouldn't stop crying.
Garda are also in the process of investigating two instances of alleged sexual assaults by taxi drivers earlier this year.
Meanwhile, a separate council probe is under way into bogus taxi signs that are freely available to buy for €200.
A sample of the complaints obtained as part of a Herald investigation shows that a number of taxi drivers are regularly breaking rules laid down by the Taxi Regulator.
Fixed fines of €250 were introduced late last year for offences and in the first six months of 2008, €50,000 had already been collected by the regulator.
The Herald has gained access to a sample of the complaints for which such fines were issued this year. They show a litany of offences that have been repeated on a regular basis.
In the Dublin example earlier this year, where the customer complained the driver had acted in an unreasonable manner when her baby cried, a second charge of damaging her pram as it was removed from the car was not upheld, but the driver was fined a fixed-charge notice of €250 "for unreasonably refusing a fare".
The mother told how she took the taxi from Clery's department store along with her nine-month-old baby and elderly mother at 12.50pm and asked to be brought to Tallaght.
On the way she talked to the driver about the best route to take, but shortly after the journey began, her baby son started crying.
In a written submission, the complainant stated: "The taxi driver turned his head and said 'can you not shut that bloody child up? What's he crying for?'."
She replied: "Excuse me, he is only a baby and he's just tired."
But at that stage, the driver pulled to the side of the road and said: "I don't have to take this s**t."
The woman warned the taxi driver she would report him but says he answered: "F**k off, go ahead."
A second example supplied by the regulator explained how a driver "refused to take two people that were both visually impaired and were utilising the service of a guide dog."
The driver said he would accept the passengers but not the guide dog.
The complaint reported: "I went to open the door but the door was locked. He put the window down and told us that he was not going to take us because of the dog.
Upset
Gardai were called to the rank but even then the driver refused to take the passengers causing them to become "upset".
The regulator concluded during an interview with the accused that he "did not suffer from a medical condition that prevented the driver from carrying guide dogs" and he was fined €250 for the offence.
Another driver tried to rip off a tourist by charging more than four times the appropriate fee for a trip from the airport to Dublin 3.
Under caution, the driver admitted that the fare calculated on the taximeter was just €17.60, but he demanded €78.
The driver failed to issue a printed receipt from the taximeter, instead giving a handwritten receipt without any relevant details of the taxi.
The complaint was upheld and driver was forced to refund the full amount and was issued with a €250 fine.
However, he failed to pay the fine within 28 days and was subsequently prosecuted in the District Court, where a further fine of €300 was imposed.
Since the introduction of fines late last year, a total of 188 fines of €250 were issued against drivers.
In July, the Herald revealed that gardai were investigating two alleged sexual assaults involving taxi drivers in Dublin.
Two women were left traumatised after the two attacks, which occurred within two weeks of each other but which are not thought to be related.
Gardai described one as "a serious sexual assault" which occurred in the Donabate area.
The second attack took place during a journey from Dublin city centre to the Aisling Hotel near Heuston Station.
On that occasion the driver attempted to touch his female passenger in a sexually aggressive manner.
In September, the Herald also revealed how at least eight stores in Dublin were selling fake taxi plates for just €200.
Sign
The buyer could then easily pose as a taxi driver by placing the sign on their car roof and lining up at a rank.
Responding to these reports, the National Taxi Drivers' Union said a separate police force is needed to implement taxi laws.
The most common problem customers have with taxis is the conduct and behaviour of the driver, closely followed by allegations of overcharging.
In the first five months of this year, 258 complaints have been made about taxi drivers.
Last year, 340 customers complained about the conduct of drivers.
- Kevin Doyle
So despite protestations that the industry is heading south since deregulation the Herald has a litany of complaints. Is it?, simple poll. Yes it's worse and getting worse, No it's better and improving all the time?Taxi Industry in Standards Decline 23 votes
Yes Its Better since Deregulation0%No It's Worse Since Deregulation100%
23 votes
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No It's Worse Since DeregulationYes the taxi industry has gotten much worse since deregulation. Deregulation is the devil. Taxi drivers have gotten noticably ruder and their general knowledge of geography has disimproved significantly.
Half the time you get in, you have to direct them to your destination yourself. On the rare occasion that they do actually know where you're going, they deliberately take you the long way around just to cost you more money. They spit. They swear. They have poor hygiene.
I got in a taxi the other day and it stank of smoke. I said do you mind if I open the window a little and he punched me in the face and stole my phone.
I've lost count of the number of times a taxi driver has tried to rape me since deregulation. And just like Andy Dufresne, I'd like to say I managed to fight them off every time. I'd like to say that.
I always seem to get overcharged when I get in a taxi since deregulation. They stick on extra charges for luggage and animals even if I'm on my own. I once got charged €140 for the soiling charge because he said my jeans looked new and the dye might rub off on his seats.
Why oh why was the taxi industry deregulated? None of this stuff ever happened before. If something isn't broke, don't try to fix it. Oh if only we could go back to those halcyon days before deregulation when you could hop into a readily available taxi and be brought swiftly and comfortably to your destination by your friendly neighbourhood taxi man. And if you couldn't quite scrape together the fare, they'd be happy enough to let the few pennies in the difference slide. After all, as one pre-deregulation taxi driver once said to me "The satisfaction of getting a customer to their destination is payment enough. I didn't get into this game for the money."
I notice murder is on the up since deregulation too. That can't be a coincidence. Plus this recession thing has to be linked in to it somehow.
Is that ok OP? That what you were looking for?
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admiralofthefleet wrote: »when i read the title i thought a baby had actually been thrown out of a moving taxi.
whats your take on things spook_ie, your a taxi man arent you?
My take of the headline, I thought it was to do with a baby being thrown out of a window due to an accident or some emotionaly disturbed person. My take of the actual article, Yep, too many taxis, not enough enforcers, to rid the industry of scammers, 9 enforcers are only able to target the silly misdemenours like plying for hire in loading bays, forming illegal ranks outside pubs etc. easy pickings for some €250 fines, rather than sorting out the major problems...
An example from irishtaxidrivers.com, I know it's true because it's my post..Funny how these things happen, but I had a customer in the car last night, rang the office for a taxi because she had taken a cab from Dublin to Donabate intending to go on to Malahide, the driver was apparantly falling asleep, so decided to end the journey at Donabate and ring a taxi..
During the usual conversation, she was asking how to complain, so I took her to the Garda station in Malahide to see if they could follow up on the complaint based on the driver or taxi number ( if the driver was falling asleep then IMO it should be a Garda matter ), no surprises there, they can't access the database of driver IDs or taxi numbers....took her home and gave her the TRs number, just wonder if they actualy did anything or fobbed her off!!!
How do they expect enforcement when the Gards don't have access to the databases needed.
Just suppose a girl was taken hostage by a taxi driver at midnight, taken back to his house she knows his ID and plate number but not where he's taken her, she's then told I'm going to rape and kill you at 1.00 am, she manages to dial 999 and tells the Gards that taxi plate no 12345, driver ID Z1234 is going to do this, and they can't access the database......
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No It's Worse Since DeregulationJust suppose a girl was taken hostage by a taxi driver at midnight, taken back to his house she knows his ID and plate number but not where he's taken her, she's then told I'm going to rape and kill you at 1.00 am, she manages to dial 999 and tells the Gards that taxi plate no 12345, driver ID Z1234 is going to do this, and they can't access the database......
Sounds like a great film to me. I'm thinking Chuck Norris as the hero, and maybe Jessica Alba as the damsel in distress. Who would we get to play the evil villain though?0 -
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No It's Worse Since DeregulationJust suppose a girl was taken hostage by a taxi driver at midnight, taken back to his house she knows his ID and plate number but not where he's taken her, she's then told I'm going to rape and kill you at 1.00 am, she manages to dial 999 and tells the Gards that taxi plate no 12345, driver ID Z1234 is going to do this, and they can't access the database......
I wouldn't worry too much. If he's anything like the taxi drivers I've experienced, he won't rape her until 3 or 4am if at all, despite the dispatcher repeatedly telling her that "he's at the top of your road now. Just look out your window" every time she rings up.
Timekeeping is not their strongest point.0 -
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No It's Worse Since DeregulationJust suppose a girl was taken hostage by a taxi driver at midnight, taken back to his house she knows his ID and plate number but not where he's taken her, she's then told I'm going to rape and kill you at 1.00 am, she manages to dial 999 and tells the Gards that taxi plate no 12345, driver ID Z1234 is going to do this, and they can't access the database......
I've re-read this a few times, it just has to be a joke.0 -
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The Mighty Ken wrote: »OP - deregulation happened. Get used to it.
Me thinks you need to realise I was and am still in favour of the deregulation issues of a closed cartel being overturned, however, the deregulation issues that the majority of drivers complain of are the number of taxis that ply the streets with obvious ( to any sane observant person ) suspicions to the legitimacy of the taxi or it's driver..0 -
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Definitely! OP, no amount of deregulation bashing is gonna make a re-regulation.The Mighty Ken wrote: »OP - deregulation happened. Get used to it.
Just get used to it will ya??0 -
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Dont be so racist!!:mad::mad:square_igloo wrote: »Such a wonderful headline, and then such an anticlimactic thread.
Disappointing.0 -
brendansmith wrote: »Excuse me???
I did not miss the point thank you very much!
You want a full reverse de-re-regulation and me and the mighty ken are here to stop you in your tracks! Give it up OP youll never win!
Deregulation is here to stay!!!
:p:p
You're excused, but just where is it that I am saying I want a full reverse of deregulation? I think you might well need to be posting in the thread about dyslexia.........:rolleyes:0 -
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