ever had any drunks try to pile in at traffic lights?

Its happened to my friend a few times its made him some money tho.

I get it all the time...........

.........but then I actually am a taxi driver!!

Be careful, if you take payment for any journey technicaly you are not insured, and yes even if you take your parents to the airport or somewhere and they give you 'petrol money' you are not covered unless you have 'hire and reward' insurance.

Also the 'reward' doesn't have to be financial - if you gain in any way from giving a person a lift you are not covered!!

Social domestic and pleasure only counts if there is no 'reward' in it for you.

Insurance Co's are prize a-holes!!

my car hasn't been mistaken for a taxi yet... but one of the guys at work did say to me, when I put alloys on a few months ago, "nice alloys, and at least it doesn't look like a taxi now!"

Having said that... I do occasionally get 'waved out' at junctions by taxi drivers.... and not just Octy taxis Can't remember that EVER happening when I was in the puma....

Just as an aside on the 'getting payment' for taking someone to the airport.....

surely if you don't actually MAKE any money from it, you're not gaining anything.. so it shouldn't do anything insurance-wise?

Example - you take someone to the airport... it costs you 20 quid in Diesel... they give you 20 quid to cover the cost. You've gained nothing.

??

Just as an aside on the 'getting payment' for taking someone to the airport.....

surely if you don't actually MAKE any money from it' date=' you're not gaining anything.. so it shouldn't do anything insurance-wise?

Example - you take someone to the airport... it costs you 20 quid in Diesel... they give you 20 quid to cover the cost. You've gained nothing.

??[/quote']

I think this only counts if they split the cost with you, and not to cover the entire cost. We have a car share scheme in work and it has been discusse at great lenghts about how much people should be giving for "petrol money" if they are getting a lift.

The figure quoted was about 10p per mile. In the case of Driver plus 4 passengers, the bill should be split 5 ways (including running costs) or it could be seen by insurance that this is a benefit the driver is recieving.

I don't know how payment in kind is considered although you would have to choose carefully who you car share with :eek:

JD

On a weekend night, sometimes people try and flag down the diesel noise before seeing that the car is not a black cab after all! I've also seen the occasional 5crote hide in the shadows, presumably after mistaking the diesel noise for a police Tranny (although seeing how I could see them, presumably Old Bill could have done too so all they were doing was drawing attention to themselves!!!)

Happened once to me when I was waiting outside a working mens club, I found it pretty funny especially given the 18" wheels and brembo's.

As for taking payment for giving someone a lift and insurance implications as long as they only cover costs and you make no profit then it's not a problem.

Yes, my girlfriend and the kids make that mistake all the time!!

I find I can park in the taxi rank outside the railway station when waiting to pick poeple up. If I tried to do that in my Astra the taxi drivers blocked me in!

Happened once to me when I was waiting outside a working mens club' date=' I found it pretty funny especially given the 18" wheels and brembo's.

QUOTE']

Speaking from experience, you tend not to look at the finer details after say having a few in the local. I have had many a night where i flagged down everything i could see, because of the state i was in. It wasn't until they were 10 feet away that i could even make out whether or not they had a TAXI sign on the roof!

If it sounds like a taxi and looks like a taxi, then at 4 in the morning, there's a pretty good chance it is a taxi!!!

JD

Yes, my girlfriend and the kids make that mistake all the time!!

Funny that, now you come to mention it, I have a similar problem with SWMBO too!

Just as an aside on the 'getting payment' for taking someone to the airport.....

surely if you don't actually MAKE any money from it' date=' you're not gaining anything.. so it shouldn't do anything insurance-wise?

Example - you take someone to the airport... it costs you 20 quid in Diesel... they give you 20 quid to cover the cost. You've gained nothing.

??[/quote']

It's a bit of a grey area really, my other half is quite high up in a major insurance company and she cant get a clear cut answer, it would seem on the information she has gathered so far that you cannot take ANY money even if it doesn't cover the cost, certainly my local authority and hire/reward insurers believe this to be the case anyway!

It's a bit different for me as I would risk losing my job/income/cab licence (even when off duty) but so long as you dont tell anyone, chances are you will be perfectly fine, just make sure whoever you take, parents etc, know not to drop you in it should anything happen!

Having said that... I do occasionally get 'waved out' at junctions by taxi drivers.... and not just Octy taxis

Thats just cos were mostly all nice guys!

ever had any drunks try to pile in at traffic lights?

Its happened to my friend a few times its made him some money tho.

Yeh , cant think why?

Steve

Just pulled up around the corner from a take-away in Norwich one night and this bloke opened the door and got in beside me!! Took some time to persuade him that I wasn't going to take him home.

I had a similar event, On my way home from work I had to stop outside the local race course at chucking out time due to the hugh traffic jam, just after I stopped the back doors opened and 3 rather drunk young ladies "poured" in.

I was about to say "Oi does this look like a F$%^&G taxi" and then I noticed that the three cars in front where all Octavia Taxi's, They did leave after I explained that the car they where currently in was not actually a taxi and unless they wanted to come home with me to meet the wife & kids they would be better off joining the cue for the real taxi's in front.

I must add I have never seen a TAXI in "Very Green" or whatever they call it

loads of drunk welsh men trying to flag me down at 2am drving to the bracon beacons for a rally, at least i hope all they wanted was a lift