Should sat nav be mandatory in taxis ?

Mykola

I had a cowboy taxi driver the other day who didn't have a clue where he was going, He ened up going 20 minutes in the wrong detection. If he had a Sat nav this wouldn't have happened.

hfallada

No I think taxi drivers should be made learn the city like they do in London. In London they learn where every street and landmark is so they know the quickest route. Taxi drivers often here have no clue of the city. I feel bad for tourist who are taken on the slowest route possible around the city

dowlingm

Sometimes the sat nav doesn't necessarily pick the right route - may not recognise construction etc. Then you have a taxi driver who's trying to give the customer a better journey using local current knowledge but the customer is pointing to the sat nav going "no, that way"

think as hfallada says it's better to weed out cowboys than hamper good ones.

the groutch

yep, we definitely need an Irish version of The Knowledge

EricPraline

Mykola wrote: »

I had a cowboy taxi driver the other day who didn't have a clue where he was going, He ened up going 20 minutes in the wrong detection. If he had a Sat nav this wouldn't have happened.

It should be a minimum requirement, but not sufficient alone to be a taxi driver. Unfortunately I still come across occasional drivers who either unable to use their new Sat Nav, or are so unfamiliar with their surroundings that they can't relate the Sat Nav map to the area. Local knowledge is often still crucial.

Losty Dublin

A taxi driver I know had his Sat Nav turned on one night as he drove up through Adamstown. The device told him to turn back as he was "now driving through a field."

Cookie_Monster

Losty Dublin wrote: »

A taxi driver I know had his Sat Nav turned on one night as he drove up through Adamstown. The device told him to turn back as he was "now driving through a field."

Well if you do choose to use one as part of your job you'd think you'd also update it with the yearly updates.

Better would be a smartphone using google maps, will be far more up to date and with users correcting it near instantly these days it's a far better option than sat nav.

Carawaystick

On the one hand you could depend on the knowledge of a human

Or on the other hand rely on a device made in China, relying on the us military and another foreign map making company

amtc

I was double checking a route from Blanchardstown to Baggot St, and it was insistent I go over the M50....

bk

Carawaystick wrote: »

Or on the other hand rely on a device made in China, relying on the us military and another foreign map making company

Well if you use a smartphone, at least you can use OpenstreetMaps which are crowdsourced primarily by Irish people (for the Irish maps obviously).

murphym7

Whatever about finding where they are going when I am in the car, I would really like more Taxi's using Sat Nav to find my bloody house in the first place.

Cookie_Monster

Carawaystick wrote: »

Or on the other hand rely on a device partly made in China, relying on the us military and another foreign car making companies

Mr.Frame

Mykola wrote: »

I had a cowboy taxi driver the other day who didn't have a clue where he was going, He ened up going 20 minutes in the wrong detection. If he had a Sat nav this wouldn't have happened.

How could anyone possibly sit in a taxi for 20 minutes knowing the driver was going the wrong way ??? Surely once he took the first wrong turn that would have been the time to tell him to correct his mistake ? He was a Dublin driver or no?