Taximen suicides

Pineapple stu

On the issue of taxi drivers and their qualitys that has been mentioned in this thread, i picked up a taxi at the airport to go to Blanch and she hadnt a clue how to get there and what was worse was that she didnt shut up and concentrate on the road and i had to talk her through the directions and which lane she should be in etc. It was like i was giving her a driving lesson
She was Irish.
I got a decent chap last week though, proper fare and proper route. I was ment to round up the fare as a tip but i told him to just give me a tenner back and realised i had just given him a €40 fare from the airport . he was short of hugging me sound bloke though.
My point being, although i hate taxis in general and their constant complaining about too many taxis etc when some only got their taxi licences in the last 2 years or so, there is a large amount of genuine decent taxi drivers out there whether they be irish or otherwise. Im sick of people giving out about foreign taxi drivers when some of the irish ones will fleece you as much as they can. Whats sad is the racist attitude by some in the form of that they would choose a dodgey irish driver over a genuine foreign driver.

Taxipete29

cymro wrote: »

Im sure there was more to these deaths rather than them being taxi drivers and fed up with the industry. Im sure there are others in diffrent professions who have killed themselves in this country but we dont see articles in papers questioning their industry.
It was just a coincidence that all 4 were taxi drivers .

A coincidence?? Are you serious?? The reason this was highlighted was the fact that they all occured in such a short space of time.

The % of taxi drivers commiting suicide is disproportionate to the number of taxi drivers as a % of the population. These guys( to the best of my knowledge) do not fall into the high risk bracket fot suicide which is males aged 20-24. I know of 2 others cases this year which makes at least 6. We had 424 suicides here last year which is a declining figure and has been since the mid- 90s. Taxi drivers represent about 0.6% of the population. Using last years figures and the approx fig for this year they represent about 1.4% of the suicides. Yeah its all a big coincidence :rolleyes:

gdael

Taxipete29 wrote: »

A coincidence?? Are you serious?? The reason this was highlighted was the fact that they all occured in such a short space of time.

The % of taxi drivers commiting suicide is disproportionate to the number of taxi drivers as a % of the population. These guys( to the best of my knowledge) do not fall into the high risk bracket fot suicide which is males aged 20-24. I know of 2 others cases this year which makes at least 6. We had 424 suicides here last year which is a declining figure and has been since the mid- 90s. Taxi drivers represent about 0.6% of the population. Using last years figures and the approx fig for this year they represent about 1.4% of the suicides. Yeah its all a big coincidence :rolleyes:

Perhaps there should be some mental tests for taxi drivers as well as checking for criminal records.

mikemac

In a way it's a solitary job. Not like a driver has an employer providing conselling service. Though maybe the unions have something for this.

So if you have worries and stress, you may find yourself in rank for an hour repeating and multiplying it over and over again in your head.
Sure take a break, turn on the radio and you'll just hear more bad news.

A taxi-driver is self-employed. And this isn't America where failing is seen as one step closer to success. If a taxi driver has a go and fails to make a living at it they may view themselves as a failure.

Suicide among elderly famers is also disproportionally high for many of the same reasons. Money problems, lack of contact, feelings of failure and many other reasons. They don't fit into the 20-25 age group.

I'm just addressing the thread title and my own views on it.
With multiple threads on taxis how and why did this one go offtopic again with posters moaning about drivers getting lost and overcharged?? Of course it happens but this isn't the thread for it

Rowley Birkin QC

What I'd like to know is when are taxi drivers going to realised that they do not provide an essential service, the "industry" is not deserving of protection from the govt. and nearly everywhere* else it is accepted as a low-skilled, low wage means of employment? Deregulation is designed to let the market correct itself, the good taxi-drivers will still make their money, the rest won't. Survival of the fittest and all that.

As to the suicides, tragic as they are for the families, it is never ever a solution. The out of whack income expectations of taxi drivers when compared with the reality could also exacerbate any underlying problems.

Also, the latent racism in this thread is disgusting. If Paul McGrath/Seán Óg Ó hAilpín/Phil Babb were to take up driving a cab would people get into their cars?

*London is the only exception I can think of with their "The Knowledge" exam.

Capt'n Midnight

How many of these sucicdes were of foreign drivers ?

( OK it's the Herald so not exactly a reliable source of factual information )

Dai John

mike kelly wrote: »

I notice a lot of the new taxi drivers pass the time by studying the Koran, it certainly beats brooding on depressing issues

I think Karl Marx had a valid point about religion being the opium of the masses. As everyone in Ireland knows. Looking at the track record of Muslim suicide bombers I would be reluctant to ask one to take me to the airport terminal.

Pineapple stu

Taxipete29 wrote: »

A coincidence?? Are you serious?? The reason this was highlighted was the fact that they all occured in such a short space of time.

The % of taxi drivers commiting suicide is disproportionate to the number of taxi drivers as a % of the population. These guys( to the best of my knowledge) do not fall into the high risk bracket fot suicide which is males aged 20-24. I know of 2 others cases this year which makes at least 6. We had 424 suicides here last year which is a declining figure and has been since the mid- 90s. Taxi drivers represent about 0.6% of the population. Using last years figures and the approx fig for this year they represent about 1.4% of the suicides. Yeah its all a big coincidence :rolleyes:

Of course its a coincidence otherwise you are suggesting all of them planned it together.
Yes im serious. I take it you are a taxi man?

Pineapple stu

gdael wrote: »

Perhaps there should be some mental tests for taxi drivers as well as checking for criminal records.

They should pass that test with flying colours as most of them are mental allready judging by their need to disregard the rules of the road as if they had the sole right to be on the road.

Terrontress

Going back to Lost Marbles' posts, I wonder why taxi drivers who refuse to discount always use the fact that those that do have a call out charge against them.

He offered an example of two fares on a different post, one costing €15, the other €20.

A €15 journey between 2 passengers and a call out fee will come to €18. Hailed on the road €16. 20%? Knock off €3.60, down to €14.40. €1.60 cheaper than hailing and it comes to your house. The €20 fare on the same premise would save €2.60 off going out to the road and you don't have to go searching.

This is not the first time I have seen the call out charges used against 202020 and to be honest it doesn't stack up.

Taxipete29

cymro wrote: »

Of course its a coincidence otherwise you are suggesting all of them planned it together.
Yes im serious. I take it you are a taxi man?

Coincidence suggests that they all killed themselves for reasons other than their financial situation or other reasons due to their business. In that case it would be coincidence that they were all taxi drivers.

If all four killed themselves because of their economic plight as a result of a downturn in the taxi business( this is the suggestion in the op and in the article it cites) then how is it coincidence they were all taxi drivers??

Colpriz

If all four killed themselves because of their economic plight as a result of a downturn in the taxi business( this is the suggestion in the op and in the article it cites) then how is it coincidence they were all taxi drivers??[/quote]


I made no 'suggestions', just quoted the article, asked some questions and left it open for discussion. But perhaps you ask a deeper question.. do we as a society or individuals think that being a success is the only way forward, that a seeming failure is a reflection of our worth. Compare ourselves to other trains of thought whereby a seeming failure is deemed as a success for at least trying? or define 'success'

Pineapple stu

Taxipete29 wrote: »

Coincidence suggests that they all killed themselves for reasons other than their financial situation or other reasons due to their business. In that case it would be coincidence that they were all taxi drivers.

If all four killed themselves because of their economic plight as a result of a downturn in the taxi business( this is the suggestion in the op and in the article it cites) then how is it coincidence they were all taxi drivers??

But we dont really know why they killed themselves. Its just the media and fellow taxi drivers assuming it was because of the downturn in the taxi industry and one even blamed the taxi regulator on the deaths just to use it to further their course.

Taxipete29

cymro wrote: »

But we dont really know why they killed themselves. Its just the media and fellow taxi drivers assuming it was because of the downturn in the taxi industry and one even blamed the taxi regulator on the deaths just to use it to further their course.

No we dont know. I dont agree with blaming anyone.

You however stated it was just a coincidence they were all taxi drivers. I was correcting you. You have know way of knowing this. That was my only point

Pineapple stu

I didnt need correcting,but then again you are a taxi man so you are always right and everyone else is wrong