Stolen taxi alert system needed.

Atlantic Dawn

Another taxi hijacked last night, I see a big need for an emergency alert system to alert the public where a taxi has been robbed. The gantry notices on the M50/M1 and also the Department Of Transports Taxi Driver Check App should have alerts. The potential for kidnappings or worse through stolen taxis going around the place is huge.



http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0608/622342-dublin-crash/

Jamie2k9

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Another taxi hijacked last night, I see a big need for an emergency alert system to alert the public where a taxi has been robbed. The gantry notices on the M50/M1 and also the Department Of Transports Taxi Driver Check App should have alerts. The potential for kidnappings or worse through stolen taxis going around the place is huge.



http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0608/622342-dublin-crash/

Good end result IMO, better than any stolen system.

Kingser

Already one in place. It's called 999. U call it.

coylemj

What's the difference between a stolen taxi and any other type of car? It's easier to steal a taxi because by it's nature a taxi will stop when flagged down by thieves intent on stealing it from the driver but once the thieves are in the car they don't seem to be any better or worse than people who have robbed a parked car so why should there be a special system to alert the public about stolen taxis - and who'd take any notice?

Atlantic Dawn

coylemj wrote: »

What's the difference between a stolen taxi and any other type of car? It's easier to steal a taxi because by it's nature a taxi will stop when flagged down by thieves intent on stealing it from the driver but once the thieves are in the car they don't seem to be any better or worse than people who have robbed a parked car so why should there be a special system to alert the public about stolen taxis - and who'd take any notice?

A stolen taxi can drive around the streets and be flagged down by unsuspecting members of the public who would for the most part trust it as being a legitimate taxi. A private stolen car does not have such features.

Strumms

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

A stolen taxi can drive around the streets and be flagged down by unsuspecting members of the public who would for the most part trust it as being a legitimate taxi. A private stolen car does not have such features.

Have you any statistics that would back up the requirement to invest in such a system for taxis alone ? How many stolen taxis have been found to attempt picking up passengers ? I'll think you might find that the modus operandi of these summers is just the thrill of the hijack, the money and the joyride.... Like another posted said....999

kub

A thief who has the intention of robbing a taxi would really need physic abilities to know that his intended is going to hail a taxi

If one was needed for criminal purposes then a normal car would most likely be done up to look like one

coylemj

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

A stolen taxi can drive around the streets and be flagged down by unsuspecting members of the public who would for the most part trust it as being a legitimate taxi. A private stolen car does not have such features.

Who's going to get into a taxi with a passenger already in the front seat? All of the recent taxi hijacking have involved more than one person and in none of the cases did they attempt to pick up passengers, they just wanted a car that was easy to steal.

The Gardai have several Twitter accounts and as far as I can see they only issue alerts for missing children considered at risk. If they started tweeting about stolen cars, people would take no notice and probably unfollow them, as happens with 'celebrities' who retweet every photo of a missing pet or a plug for a charity event so they lose followers or people just ignore them.

expectationlost

i wonder if you had pictures of the driver/drivers on the window so people could see if the faces don't match

Mr.Frame

expectationlost wrote: »

i wonder if you had pictures of the driver/drivers on the window so people could see if the faces don't match

Do you not get taxis??
All taxis have a photo ID on the dash .If its not displayed (legally it should be) or is face down ,then don't get into that taxi

Marhay70

Why don't they have cabs like they do in London or Belfast, where the driver is segregated from the passengers? Let's face it, we've almost had to barricade bus drivers into their seats because of these same obnoxious pricks, yet taxi drivers are sitting ducks.

Mr.Frame

Marhay70 wrote: »

Why don't they have cabs like they do in London or Belfast, where the driver is segregated from the passengers? Let's face it, we've almost had to barricade bus drivers into their seats because of these same obnoxious pricks, yet taxi drivers are sitting ducks.

Vast majority of drivers don't want to be separated from passenger.
Drivers are well known for their chat and banter and they like it that way

coylemj

Mr.Frame wrote: »

Vast majority of drivers don't want to be separated from passenger.
Drivers are well known for their chat and banter and they like it that way

It's nothing to do with chat and banter, it's because taxi drivers do not want to be forced to buy purpose-built taxis as in London when over here they can pick up a crappy 15 year old Toyota which will do the job instead.

expectationlost

Mr.Frame wrote: »

Do you not get taxis??
All taxis have a photo ID on the dash .If its not displayed (legally it should be) or is face down ,then don't get into that taxi

im saying have visible to people outside the car, maybe the side window (too) so the compare drivers face before they get in

Marhay70

coylemj wrote: »

It's nothing to do with chat and banter, it's because taxi drivers do not want to be forced to buy purpose-built taxis as in London when over here they can pick up a crappy 15 year old Toyota which will do the job instead.

The last few times I was in a taxi in Dublin, the driver didn't have enough command of English to engage in banter.

bk

expectationlost wrote: »

im saying have visible to people outside the car, maybe the side window (too) so the compare drivers face before they get in

Not a bad idea, however you can sort of do this now using Hailo.

Hailo shows a picture of the driver who is coming to pick you up. Only problem is that the picture is tiny. They should make the picture clickable and expandable to help with this issue.

dowlingm

In Toronto there is an "alarm light" which blinks at the back of the car with a sticker to call 911 if lit. I don't know how it's disarmed.

Mr.Frame

coylemj wrote: »

It's nothing to do with chat and banter, it's because taxi drivers do not want to be forced to buy purpose-built taxis as in London when over here they can pick up a crappy 15 year old Toyota which will do the job instead.

Its comments like that that are at best ridiculous and at worst plain ignorant.
You simply have no clue.
I didnt say what I said just to say something , it was based on facts and knowledge .
Whereas your comment is based on ignorance

coylemj

Mr.Frame wrote: »

Its comments like that that are at best ridiculous and at worst plain ignorant.
You simply have no clue.
I didnt say what I said just to say something , it was based on facts and knowledge .
Whereas your comment is based on ignorance

These would the same 'facts and knowledge' you used to defend the system in operation at the Gresham taxi rank in a recent thread?

You bang your drum all you like, I use taxis frequently so please listen to the customer for once in your life.

Mr.Frame

coylemj wrote: »

These would the same 'facts and knowledge' you used to defend the system in operation at the Gresham taxi rank in a recent thread?

You bang your drum all you like, I use taxis frequently so please listen to the customer for once in your life.

You're the typical armchair critic making inaccurate comments about things you simply have no clue about

Spook_ie

coylemj wrote: »

It's nothing to do with chat and banter, it's because taxi drivers do not want to be forced to buy purpose-built taxis as in London when over here they can pick up a crappy 15 year old Toyota which will do the job instead.

You can't pick up a crappy 15 year old Toyota anymore and put it on the road as a taxi, you can pick up a less than 9 year old crappy Toyota and put it on the road for a year

Spook_ie

coylemj wrote: »

These would the same 'facts and knowledge' you used to defend the system in operation at the Gresham taxi rank in a recent thread?

You bang your drum all you like, I use taxis frequently so please listen to the customer for once in your life.

You may be a customer, you may be a frequent customer, all that means from your statement about picking up 15 year old crappy Toyotas to put on the road as taxis is that you are frequently behind the times and thus frequently wrong

coylemj

Spook_ie wrote: »

You may be a customer, you may be a frequent customer, all that means from your statement about picking up 15 year old crappy Toyotas to put on the road as taxis is that you are frequently behind the times and thus frequently wrong

Let me get this straight - you get one fact wrong therefore you're always wrong?

Sounds like self-serving gibberish.

Spook_ie

coylemj wrote: »

Let me get this straight - you get one fact wrong therefore you're always wrong?

Sounds like self-serving gibberish.

coylemj wrote: »

These would the same 'facts and knowledge' you used to defend the system in operation at the Gresham taxi rank in a recent thread?

You bang your drum all you like, I use taxis frequently so please listen to the customer for once in your life.

You set your self up as a fount of all knowledge regarding taxis without knowing about the age rules then you're going to be taken to task about it

Going Forward

I'd be surprised if the junior minister for taxis wasnt working on this very problem as we speak.

Purpose built taxis here we go.

bk

Spook_ie wrote: »

You may be a customer, you may be a frequent customer, all that means from your statement about picking up 15 year old crappy Toyotas to put on the road as taxis is that you are frequently behind the times and thus frequently wrong

But in fairness, he wasn't wrong about the majority of Taxi Drivers going mad if they were required to buy a €40000 to €50000 dedicated vehicle.

The reality is well over 50% of current taxi drivers would probably be forced out of the business under that circumstances.

Not that wouldn't be a bad thing, I think it would be quite good for full time, serious professional taxi drivers and for the people of Dublin:

- Our streets less clogged up with empty taxis blocking buses etc.
- A very high quality, purpose designed vehicle
- All taxis wheelchair accessible
- Serious, probably better skilled drivers (specially if this change was also made at the same time as introducing a test like the knowledge in London).

But you would certainly get a massive amount of whining and probably street protests from casual drivers.

Marhay70

bk wrote: »

But in fairness, he wasn't wrong about the majority of Taxi Drivers going mad if they were required to buy a €40000 to €50000 dedicated vehicle.

The reality is well over 50% of current taxi drivers would probably be forced out of the business under that circumstances.

Not that wouldn't be a bad thing, I think it would be quite good for full time, serious professional taxi drivers and for the people of Dublin:

- Our streets less clogged up with empty taxis blocking buses etc.
- A very high quality, purpose designed vehicle
- All taxis wheelchair accessible
- Serious, probably better skilled drivers (specially if this change was also made at the same time as introducing a test like the knowledge in London).

But you would certainly get a massive amount of whining and probably street protests from casual drivers.

It would also, IMO, get rid of the moonlighters, fraudsters and general cowboys and leave the field for the genuine full time driver.
Mind you, there is always the danger of certain individuals and undesirables monopolising the industry, such as happened in Belfast and to an extent in Dublin, before deregulation. We have a record in this country of doing things by halves.

Spook_ie

bk wrote: »

But in fairness, he wasn't wrong about the majority of Taxi Drivers going mad if they were required to buy a €40000 to €50000 dedicated vehicle.

The reality is well over 50% of current taxi drivers would probably be forced out of the business under that circumstances.

Not that wouldn't be a bad thing, I think it would be quite good for full time, serious professional taxi drivers and for the people of Dublin:

- Our streets less clogged up with empty taxis blocking buses etc.
- A very high quality, purpose designed vehicle
- All taxis wheelchair accessible
- Serious, probably better skilled drivers (specially if this change was also made at the same time as introducing a test like the knowledge in London).

But you would certainly get a massive amount of whining and probably street protests from casual drivers.

Quite agree with you, though I doubt the need for "the knowledge" considering the 2 very different city layouts, though perhaps seperating the canal corden from the rest of dublin/fingal/dlr rather than covering the entire area might be a step in the right direction.

bk

Spook_ie wrote: »

Quite agree with you, though I doubt the need for "the knowledge" considering the 2 very different city layouts, though perhaps seperating the canal corden from the rest of dublin/fingal/dlr rather than covering the entire area might be a step in the right direction.

Even just a basic test, I once had a driver who didn't know where Griffith Avenue was!

And he was Irish! his excuse was that he normally only does the south side :rolleyes:

Good point Marhay70, but I'm not suggesting a return to the bad old days. Continue with the same mostly deregulated licensing system, with just the requirement of some basic test like I mentioned above and a specific vehicle like the Nissan NV200, no more then 5 years old.

Yes, given the cost of such a vehicle I can imagine some Taxi companies popping up and renting them to drivers, but it wouldn't be as bad as the old days as a driver could get their own vehicle if they saved enough.

The key is to find some happy medium between the the bad old days and deregulation.

Five Lamps

Marhay70 wrote: »

The last few times I was in a taxi in Dublin, the driver didn't have enough command of English to engage in banter.

Probably got you there faster.

There's no need for an alert system as suggested. In fact, it's hard to know if any taxi driving around these days is actually the real thing.

hfallada

expectationlost wrote: »

im saying have visible to people outside the car, maybe the side window (too) so the compare drivers face before they get in

Except I imagine a few people when they would see the taxi drivers isnt a European, that they would say no thanks, ill take the next taxi. I have seen a fair few people refusing to take a taxi with a non-national driving.

Personally I think all Taxis should be standardised in Ireland. Pretty much every major city has standardised taxis. Give the drivers a certain amount of time to switch to the new cars. In Munich and Berlin, most taxis are a cream Mercedes. But an efficient but affordable brand like Skoda would be ideal. A lot of taxis are Skoda anyway now

Mr.Frame

hfallada wrote: »

Except I imagine a few people when they would see the taxi drivers isnt a European, that they would say no thanks, ill take the next taxi. I have seen a fair few people refusing to take a taxi with a non-national driving.

Personally I think all Taxis should be standardised in Ireland. Pretty much every major city has standardised taxis. Give the drivers a certain amount of time to switch to the new cars. In Munich and Berlin, most taxis are a cream Mercedes. But an efficient but affordable brand like Skoda would be ideal. A lot of taxis are Skoda anyway now

The "standard" car in these countries are due to the fact that the authorities give tax reductions and subsidies.
Drivers in Ireland don't get one cent invested in the taxi business by the NTA,despite it having approx. 25 million euro( last count) from drivers renewing licences/purchasing licences ect
So you cannot compare like with like unfortunately

Spook_ie

Mr.Frame wrote: »

The "standard" car in these countries are due to the fact that the authorities give tax reductions and subsidies.
Drivers in Ireland don't get one cent invested in the taxi business by the NTA,despite it having approx. 25 million euro( last count) from drivers renewing licences/purchasing licences ect
So you cannot compare like with like unfortunately

To be fair ( and more to the point accurate ) the NTA did do a Wheel Chair Accessible grant scheme in 2012

http://www.nationaltransport.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Information-Guide-for-WAV-Grant-Scheme-Appicants-2012-How-to-complete-Form-WAV1-160112.pdf

The funding is set at €250,000. €165,000 is being allocated for upgrading existing wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAV) owned by existing licence‐holders and €85,000 is being allocated for new applications for WAV licences or for change of vehicles by existing WAV licence holders. The initial round of funding will be divided on a 50:50 basis between Dublin and the rest of the country

Not sure if they did a grant scheme for 2013 or 2014 or even how successful/unsuccessful the 2012 scheme was.

expectationlost

hfallada wrote: »

Except I imagine a few people when they would see the taxi drivers isnt a European, that they would say no thanks, ill take the next taxi. I have seen a fair few people refusing to take a taxi with a non-national driving.

Personally I think all Taxis should be standardised in Ireland. Pretty much every major city has standardised taxis. Give the drivers a certain amount of time to switch to the new cars. In Munich and Berlin, most taxis are a cream Mercedes. But an efficient but affordable brand like Skoda would be ideal. A lot of taxis are Skoda anyway now

the question is about stolen taxis, for spur of the moment hijackings a ID visisble to the outside would show anyone difference between the driver and the ID for some hijacker who decides to take a car and pick up passenagers!

but for sometime more determined to pretend to be a taximan how about an electronic display of ID hooks up to the central gov database.

of course that could be manipulated too have to have something that the person in the taxi doesn't have direct access too... which means you have to go back to the OPs suggestion.