Bytes from the Back Seat

Taxi numbers on the increase

2007-03-06T05:19:00.000+09:00

Alannah MacTiernan the minister responsible for all things cab related has announced she will be releasing 20 taxis a month each month for the next year in an effort to reduce waiting times at peak demand times.

Does this mean they will be peak period plates ?? That would be preferable from my point of view. If they are going to be full time then I worry about our incomes as weeknights are far quieter than weekend.

She claims the ratio of 1 cab to 1111 persons in Perth is the highest of all the Australian states. Whats that got to do with the price of tea in China? No one I know outside of my job catches cabs. Plenty of people I meet in my job only get 1 or 2 cabs a year. Others are catching cabs several times a day. Maybe our ratio needs to be different based on the way people catch cabs in Perth. A comment on my blog over on blogspot mentions 14,000 cabs for 2 million people where the commenter lives we have 1,500 for 1.5 million maybe the cab prices are more affordable there hence higher instance of taxi travel. He doesn’t mention if the drivers are making enough to live on which I think is the major concern of all cabbies.

The story from TheWest is here

Adelaide... More sex attacks

2007-03-02T07:10:00.000+09:00

2 More women have complained of sexual attacks/assaults that have occurred in recent times in Adelaide cabs. The article states there have been 5 attacks now since the start of 2007 following on from 21 attacks in the last 7 months of last year.

I really do feel for the legit honest cabbies that are trying to make a dollar in Adelaide at the moment. This time of year would be one of the busiest for them with the V8 Supercars kicking off their season at the Clipsal 500 event in Adelaide this weekend.

I was driving in Perth when the Claremont murders happened and almost over night our income dropped 50% on what it had been. Women sat in the rear of cabs shoved up against the rear doors trying to remove themselves as much as possible from the cabbie whilst still remaining in the car.

Mothers came outside to take my photograph standing in front of my taxi license plate while holding my Dept of Transport photo ID card. I’d jokingly ask them to email me a copy but I never got one.

Cabbies got DNA swabbed by police to ‘rule them out’ of the investigation.

Of course I realise murder and sex attacks are completely different crimes for one thing the police have a live person to talk to and a description of the person they are looking for which is a big help. But anyway you look at it 26 attacks in 9 months is shocking.

I just hope they catch the drivers responsible.

Here’s something else to think about. It will be the good cabbies, the ones that know where they are going, speak english and are an asset to the industry, it will be those cabbies that will leave because they simply can’t make a living any more if this drags on for too long and they are the very drivers Adelaide needs if they are going to rebuild and regain the trust of the public.

Fake Cabbie

2007-02-26T15:28:00.000+09:00

Well I’m still not totally sure but it seems tonight I was picked up by a male person driving a taxi, who wasn’t actually a licenced and registered taxi driver. This person even explained the whole thing to me. He met a friend a legit cabbie it seems at his house and the cabbie wanted a drink. Our moonlighting friend declined and instead decided to make a few dollars on the side by driving his mates cab. From what I could see in the darkened interior of the taxi the id card on display didn’t match his face. But it was the fact he didn’t run the meter that initially raised my suspicions. I let them know at base when I booked the cab that I was a driver and the had obviously included that information on the job details as he asked me if I was heading to or from work when I got in. When we got to my destination I expected him to say something about forgetting the meter but he just said the fare was on him and don’t worry about it. Given my suspicions I didn’t complain and hopped out and went about my business.

Had he been the real thing I would have given him $10 even after the kind offer of a freebie as we all have to make a buck and he had done me a favour.

UPDATE: I just contacted the base supervisor and asked if my job had been picked up by the driver who accepted it thinking he might have rejected the fare or called a no-job but no he had run the meter to indicate pickup just not while I was in the cab …. Weird if you ask me!!

You ran over my feet

2007-02-23T01:42:00.000+09:00

That last post reminded me of another sunday night down at the Obie.

I had picked up and was trying to make my way through the throng of people inch by inch tapping the horn as I went as they were really tightly gathered around the whole car. Finally I got through and pulled onto the road wating for a gap as I needed to make a u-turn.

Anyway before I got the gap a guy comes running up to my open window and shouts at me “You just ran over my f***ing feet!” To which I replyed “Well obviously your feet are alright, after all you just ran down here to tell me!”

Stereotypes

2007-02-15T07:17:00.000+09:00

I’ve never really put much thought into stereotypes. That is until one Sunday night probably 6 or 7 years ago. Back then I used to work the Sunday session around Cottesloe, mainly from the Obie (Ocean Beach Hotel). Now the routine was fairly simple. The session would wind down around 9pm at the Obie and the crowd would gather outside before moving on to Claremont and Club BayView a short trip of just $6. Liquor licenses on Sundays in Perth back then ran out at midnight so time was limited both for the punters wanting a skin full and the cabbies wanting to fatten the pocket. So once you’d dropped at ‘Club’ it was straight back to the Obie for hopefully the next car load.

What has that got to do with stereotypes you ask? Well 1 Sunday night I got stuck behind a slow driver. Nothing unusual about that I agree but the problem was that over 50% of the trip was on a tight single lane each way road with 2 roundabouts and several speed humps. In other words a road with absolutely nowhere to pass. This particular driver however must have bagged every stereotype ever thought up for slow and/or annoying drivers.

I was behind a Volvo Estate (station wagon), with country plates. Driven by a female driver (no flames please), wearing a hat with kids moving unrestrained around the back and she was driving at 30km/h basically half the legal speed limit. I mean imagine every joke you’ve ever heard about driving and I was looking at it.

Thankfully she turned left where I turned right and I never saw her again

Road rage

2007-02-06T14:16:00.000+09:00

I’m not ashamed to admit it. I was scared. Not wetting my pants, crying like a baby scared, but hair standing up on my neck, got my attention, knot in my stomach kind of scared.

I made a right turn in front of a 4-wheel drive on the way home for a coffee break Sunday night. Okay I didn’t have heaps of room but I gave it a boot full (read accelerated with purpose) around the corner and I’m fairly certain the 4wd didn’t have to slow down in the slightest as a result. That didn’t bother him though as he flashed me several times with his 100watt spotties. I gave him the finger and he drew closer almost to the point of hitting me.

I wasn’t intimidated by his carry on at this stage as this is something which I have experienced several times during the 11yrs I've driven a cab. I just slowed down a bit making sure to stay right on the speed limit.

After about a minute he backed off and I thought maybe he had enough. Just the same I didn’t indicate my intention to take the next left just in case and turned at the last moment. Thats when I realised he was either really pissed off or just wired wrong in the head as he stopped in the middle of the intersection before turning the corner and speeding after me.

The first road had been single lanes both ways but now we were on a dual lane road and he was coming up alongside me or at least thats what he thought. In the past cars have passed me then moved over in front of me and slammed the brakes on. Not wanting to be part of his crazy game I waited till he was just passing me and hit the brakes hard. He went sailing past and stopped about 25-30meters further down at which point I did a u-turn and headed back the other way hoping he would get tired of it all and leave me alone.

He didn’t. That was the point I got scared. It’s one thing to flash your lights at someone or tailgate them to scare them a little, even brake testing someone is pretty much nothing to get excited about provided your expecting it which I was. It’s when the other guy changes direction twice determined to follow you and exact some revenge that things get a little too exciting for me.

I wondered just how far this guy was prepared to go. I was also faced with a choice. Less than 1km from where I was was a highway should I head out there and use the power of the engine to out run this moron, the downside being it’s out of the way and if anything happened I would be on my own or should I turn left through the intersection again and head through the suburbs.

I decided on suburbia and once on the side road noticed it was also dual lane and thankfully it had some traffic. I took the right lane, found a gap, put the boot into it and pasted around 8 or so cars before pulling back into the left lane and slowing back to the speed limit. At the next set of lights I took the left, glancing in the mirrors the whole time. Mr Psycho stopped part way into the intersection and waited maybe 10 or 15 seconds before carrying on to wherever crazy individuals like him go.

I continued on my way home, checking the mirrors the whole way. Almost expecting him to pop up behind me like some cheap horror movie and start at me again. I made my coffee when I got home and sat down to watch Rocky IV on the TV.

I can tell you, it was at least a quarter hour after I got home before I stopped shaking.

Duty of Care

2007-01-31T06:34:00.000+09:00

Tonight I picked up a guy from outside a local pub. It was clear to me he was well tanked as he was slurring his words and talking in unrelated bursts. Anyway he requests the bottle shop drive thru and when we get there the attendant noticing his condition tells him sorry but I can't serve you alcohol. We leave there and I ask "Where to?" assuming he will head home but no he tells me to find him the nearest bottle shop as he still wants his block of cans.

Finally after driving around for a fair while and finding all 3 bottleshops in the area closed I took the guy home. But it raises the question. The bottleshop attendant has a duty of care under the law requiring him to refuse service to someone visibly under the influence, which he did. But where does that leave me? and what are my obligations under the law or the taxi act for that matter?

Do I blindly drive him wherever he wants to go or am I meant to tell him the best place for you is home you've had a skin full? Simply put my job is to drive people from point A to point B but we all know the law is anything but simple

New twist on Drink driving

2007-01-28T04:48:00.000+09:00

A gold coast man caught for DUI upon leaving the police station, hailed a cab to go to a bottle shop and then returned to his vehicle and drove away.

Police were waiting for him however and to add to everything else he now blew a higher blood alcohol reading.

The news article is here

Announcing WordPress Blog Mirror

2007-01-23T17:15:00.000+09:00

Well it took a while but I have finally copied all the posts from this blog over to the mirror I created on WordPress. The annoying thing is I have more readers on that blog after only 2 weeks than I have here on Blogger and I haven't done anything to promote it. That's the power of WordPress I guess.

Anyway should you want to check it out the uri is Bytes from the Back Seat

Your only a cabbie

2007-01-20T03:08:00.000+09:00

4 words that don't look like much on a page or a computer screen for that matter but damn if they don't make my blood boil when they are said in a derogatory and/or dismissive manner as they were Friday morning.

Yes I am a Cabbie should I be ashamed of the fact? Should I apologise for it? Sure I might not get to wear the nice suit or have lunch in the fancy restaurant and sure I don't have the ditsy but definitely good looking personal assistant and I'll never have the six figure income. But damn him I'm 'PROUD' of being a Cabbie. I'm 'GOOD' at what I do and hey he 'NEEDED ME'

So be dismissive Mr Arrogant and up yourself but remember this. When you needed to get somewhere I turned up and took you there and I did so efficiently, professionally, courteously and without treating you in the manner you treated me.

Signed

Only a Cabbie

I never got to say thankyou

2007-01-18T07:40:00.000+09:00

--- This was originally posted as a comment on my blog here ---

A few years ago I was leaving the airport doing 80kays on the access road and suddenly the traffic just stopped, literally. I managed to stop under full emergency braking with maybe half an inch between me and the car in front but after that realisation I glanced at the rear view mirror and I could tell the cab that was bearing down on me was never going to stop. Not in time.

The next few moments were spent glancing at the car in front praying he would move up even the tiniest bit so I could also move up and maybe just maybe it would be enough and looking back at the mirror and the cab that was about to run straight thru me. Of course this all took a fraction of a second and then he came flying past me on the left in the breakdown lane.

He stopped under full emergency braking exactly in line with the front of my car. Had he not had the presence of mind to dive left at the last second I would have been sucking my Christmas dinner thru a straw in intensive care. If I lived at all. It was Christmas eve.

My greatest regret is I never got his number and as a result never got the chance to meet him, shake his hand and thank him for being on the ball when it mattered the most.

Lost property and secret recordings

2007-01-18T05:54:00.000+09:00

I picked up 3 young women tonight in their mid twenty's they wanted to go from Trigg to Cottesloe. Anyway after about 10 minutes 1 of them asks me for my cab number and promptly sms's it off to a friend. I thought that was a bit strange but she says she has a habit of leaving stuff in cabs and wanted to make sure she knew the cab she had been in so getting her stuff back would be easier. I suggested just checking the cab when she got out would be the smart option but it seems she is a serial loser of stuff in cabs. The tally was 8 mobile phones, 3 handbags, numerous sets of keys and sunglasses.

Anyway towards the end of the fare she says "Shit!, I've been video recording the whole cab ride since we left home. Everything we've said has been recorded and I've just sent it off to 'Beck" Now I'm not sure how to feel about this. I mean had she not sent it too her friend I would have asked her to delete it as I wasn't aware I was being recorded and didn't feel too comfortable about it.
Am I overreacting?? Conversations happen in taxis that would be inappropriate in another context but from what I can remember nothing was said that I should worry about.

What do yo think?? If your a cabbie how do you think you would feel being taped without your permission? I'd never even thought about it but with mobiles today it's certainly possible.

A daughter lost.

2007-01-12T06:14:00.000+09:00

My thoughts go out today to FreddyBeach Cabbie.

Today is the 8th anniversary of the death of his daughter in an alcohol related traffic accident. Head on over to his blog site and take a look at the video he put together (I'm on dial-up it's not that big) She was very young and very beautiful

They say it gets easier with time but I hazard a guess there will be 1 less cabby on the roads tonight. All the best mate.

-: I drove like an idiot after dropping my last fare off this morning at the airport, trying to make up time between there and changeover with a fuel stop on the way,even thou at the time I knew it was stupid. Then when I got online and read the post by FreddyBeach Cabbie and watched the movie, I felt twice as stupid.

What have you done this past week in your car that was stupid, dangerous or foolish?? Maybe this is a good time to reflect on those things and make an effort to do less stupid, dangerous or foolish things behind the wheel.

Blog problems

2007-01-05T03:39:00.000+09:00

I have noticed some problems with my blog over the last few weeks. Firstly the recent comments widget hasn't updated when someone has left a comment. I understand it wont happen instantly as blogger has to reindex the comment feed but 1 from the 23/12/06 has only just appeared there today!

The other thing is my archives. If you look on the sidebar it shows the 3 (4 when I post this) posts I have made this year. The problem is even thou the post date is correct it still shows the archive as being 2006 and the month December! You would think with Blogger out of beta things like this would be fixed. So anyway being the lazy person I am I'm going to leave it another week and hope they sort it on their side and if its still showing incorrectly then I will email support and see what happens.

Pedicabs

2007-01-05T03:21:00.000+09:00

I have been seeing these 'Bail' style Pedicabs around Northbridge lately and never really gave them much thought I mean there not about to take our $25-$100 job market off us are they? It's more of a novelty factor something you would do for a bit of fun that is until last night.

Last night it was dead, so dead I did $57.50 in 4 hrs and had to take 5 jobs to make it!! Thankfully it did pick up and the night finished off much better but this story is about Pedicabs and last night they moved in on 'my' turf.

I drove past the Rydges hotel in hay st and saw not 1 but 4 Pedicabs. Have they got a license I wondered? Have they been given permission to park right outside 1 of the more popular city hotels ?? What really annoyed me is they were parked right outside the hotel and the taxi rank is 150 meters down the road from there. Last night I wanted every and any job I could get, even the little $7 one mattered.

So I've decided I need to give my dispatch a call in the morning and ask them if they have any knowledge of these Pedicab vultures. I don't want to shut them down but I would prefer it if they stayed out of the city and just worked Northbridge that's the place for something like this in amongst the bars and clubs and kebab joints.

Its funny how my attitude has changed towards them now it's January and work is scarce. I'll post up the response I get from dispatch tomorrow if I get the chance.

Persistance pays off

2007-01-02T06:47:00.000+09:00

I realised after talking with the service station guy this morning that the title of this post "Persistence pays off!!" could have been the title of this blog, it certainly is my motto I just didn't realise it until this morning.

Taxi drivers are a funny lot. 4 nights a week they will work from 6pm (usually) to midnight or 1am then head for home and in doing so they forego the remaining 5 or 6 hours of their shift. They justify it by saying "it's not worth my time" or "it's too quiet/theres no work" when in reality there is work out there you just have to know where to find it and given that I don't work Fri/Sat nights I have to stay out and make the most of those early morning hours.

I've gotten to the stage where I LOVE the quiet times and I realise that may sound a bit strange to you but I really mean it. I feel a much greater sense of achievement and accomplishment right now after finishing my shift even thou I'm $80 down on my take for New Years Eve. The reason is because unlike NYE the money wasn't thrown at me I had to search it out, It would have been easy to finish the night with $100 less than I ended up taking but I wanted to work, I searched out the work and I found it and because of that I got the reward.

So my motto for 2007 is going to be "Persistence pays off!!"

Below Par

2007-01-01T06:11:00.000+09:00

Crap!! That is my assessment of this New Years Eve. It rates second in the list of crap New Years only missing out to the New Years of 1999/2000 when everyone thought the world was going to end because of the y2k bug and no one could agree if it really was the new millennium or if that started with 2001.

My best night in 2006 came in November before we had a fare increase and it was a weeknight I don't work Fri/Sat night and haven't for over 12 months. Well tonight after the fare increase which gave us 6cents a kilometer, 20cents each flagfall and 50cents on our phone booking fee and including the New Years Eve surcharge of $4.50 on each fare I only bettered my previous best by $6

I had time to go home at midnight for a toilet break and a coffee a luxury you just never get on a busy New Years Eve. If I had to estimate it I would say I should have made at least $150 more than I did and thats not ego talking or greed thats an honest estimate based on a good night including the extra $4.50 surcharge.

Part of it was the increased public transport that was put on something I support totally. It's about time people both customers and officialdom realise taxis can't cope with the huge peak demand that occurs at times like this and we can't be expected to.

The other problem was the media beating up the fact that taxis will be swamped and getting 1 will be nigh on impossible so make sure you have other arrangements. The trouble is they did. The trains left Perth packed while the taxis coasted around busy but far from flat out.

My take for the night was good don't get me wrong and any other night I would be more than happy with it. It's just that this was New Years Eve and I guess there just wasn't the sizzle that you normally expect. It lacked that total consuming edge to it that you associate with a good New Years Eve.

Tonight we have Perth Cup and 20/20 cricket at the WACA so it will be another busy night hopefully it will make up for last night. 1 thing I know, the extra transport isn't running.

New Years Eve

2006-12-31T03:53:00.000+09:00

I would just like to wish everyone a very enjoyable and safe New Years Eve.

I will be out there and working hard to get as many people to and from their party's as possible.

For the taxi drivers out there may it be a safe, enjoyable and profitable night for all of you.

A wish for 2007
May the best of your yesterdays
Be the worst of your tomorrows

Happy New Year

For Christ`s sake, it`s Christmas Eve!

2006-12-28T04:08:00.000+09:00

That was the response of a German taxi driver when an armed assailant pointed a gun at his head. While not the response you would expect it was certainly effective scaring the robber away. He was arrested with his girlfriend a short time later.

Read more here It's Christmas

"Bloody hell, Even the bins are in green and gold!!"

2006-12-19T22:02:00.000+09:00

That was the comment made by a rather dejected English cricket fan on the night of the 4th day of the recent 3rd Ashes test held here in Perth.

Our household recycling bins are green with a yellow lid and are put out on the verge the night before and then emptyed early the next morning. I guess after the 2 late wickets fell putting victory in this test and any chance of retaining the Ashes beyond the reach of the English team my passenger didn't want to be reminded about anything Australian.

Frank Feldman

2006-12-11T03:23:00.000+09:00

I get several Google Alerts each day emailed to me and since posting A Perfect Man I have been seeing the story of 'Frank Feldman' popping up on blogs more and more. So much in fact it prompted me to run a Google Blog Search on 'Frank Feldman". It turns out the story has been posted 64 times with 1 poster even taking the time to write their own Frank Feldman story called 2 Amazing Franks.

Who would have thought it? I'm sorry but I'm going to have to say it.

It could only happen to Frank!

Rip off!

2006-12-11T02:51:00.000+09:00

I picked up a lady around 2am from the Sheraton hotel wanting to travel to Como. She seemed very nice, attractive and well dressed and we chatted easily about her night out. Then I mentioned the fare and was stunned by her reply. It came to $12.60 no surcharges applied.

I got the job even thou I was the second cab on the rank. The point driver gave it too me, why I don't know I suggested to the customer maybe her either didn't know where it was or thought it wasn't worth his time and effort. Anyway the conversation went like this.

me: Maybe he thought it wasn't worth his effort for $12.60
lady: Personally I think it's a rip off! I mean you've used like $1 worth of gas and I still have to pay $12.60.

At that point I started getting defensive explaining how it wasn't only the gas but the clean cab, friendly conversation and the fact I knew where to go without checking my map that she was paying for. None of that matters thou and she was very polite about it. It just shocked me when she came out with it and I finished with my stock answer.

me: I just switch the meter on at the start and off at the end, what happens in between has nothing to do with me.

(QLD) Driver robbed at knife point

2006-12-08T23:43:00.000+09:00

Read the story here Queensland driver robbed at knife point

I think it is every taxi drivers nightmare. Being locked in the boot by a knife wielding maniac. I know it's mine. I guess it has something to do with not being able to see whats going on and being powerless to control or alter the outcome. This driver was lucky he had his mobile in his pocket and could call his supervisor from inside the boot. The driver escaped unharmed, for which I have no doubt he is extremely grateful. I know I am.

Update: Here is a news report from the Courier Mail that shows several in car shots of the wanted man Cabbie locked in boot

My pax had a knife

2006-12-05T05:43:00.000+09:00

Tonight I had a passenger in the front of the cab and he had a knife. Not only did he have a knife but he was agitated, really agitated. You always wonder what you will do if a situation like this occurs in your cab but until it does you really have no idea. For a split second I panicked and my mind raced. What was the right thing to do in this situation?? Keep driving and hope he doesn't use it?? or stop and bolt hopefully without provoking him into using it before I can get away??

Then he started talking. I wasn't the problem. In all reality he most likely has no idea how I felt for those few seconds. It probably never occurred to him that it would be a problem taking out a knife in a cab. You see he is a chef.

The story goes someone else in the kitchen has been using my passengers knife. Apparently that is just not on especially as they weren't looking after it which it turns out was the reason my passenger was so agitated. I guess knives are a big deal when your a chef and believe me I could see the roughness of the blade from where I was sitting. So anyway the guy then pulls out a sharpening (pole/rod) thingy that chefs use and goes to work trying to put some life back into the blade.

By this stage I had relaxed as I understood the situation and to relieve the tension a bit I grabbed the mike without actually calling anyone and jokingly shouted "Base! Base! he's got a knife, he's got a knife! We both got a good laugh out of that and the rest of the fare passed without incident.

1 thing was certain as I drove away after dropping him off. I doubt I will ever forget that fare.

Another Joke

2006-11-30T00:24:00.000+08:00

I heard this on the radio in the cab tonight and just had to share.

A broken leg is lying in the road and an arm goes screaming past.
The arm comes back and asks, "Need a hand?"
"No thanks" is the reply
"I'm waiting for a toe!"