Do Taxi Cabs have set standards they have to adhere to?
Say for instance, winter tires. This I would think is a safety issue. I have seen many Taxi’s attempting to go up Smithers street in just slush, not snow or ice, but gravel ridden slush and having problems. This is nothing however to when it is a bit icy.
I have also seen taxi’s doing 30km on the highway out to Port Ed. Indicating that they are having tire or traction issues.
Taxi’s at the best of times are a danger on our roads, winter just adds to the danger.
Locally, one cab driver in particular looooooooves to park up on the side walk (nose in parking), outside of a local drinking establishment. I’m not saying that he’s actually doing the hard stuff but how come he gets away with blocking the sidewalk day in and day out?? The RCMP seem to be turning a blind eye to it when you or I would get a warning or ticketed…winter tires?? Hah!
It’s no more a safety issue for a taxi cab to drive without winter tires than any other vehicle on the road, right? The fact that they drive people around is probably a null point–you choose to get in the cab.
However, I heard from a friend of mine that the RCMP in town have had numerous talks with the different characters at Skeena Taxi because they get so many complaints from Rupertites and visitors about unsafe and/or rude driving.
On issuing tickets to bad parkers–is that an RCMP responsibility? I was under the impression that it’s up to the bylaw officer who drives around with no door to write parking tickets. Could be wrong.
I dunno, I’ve never seen a bylaw officer issuing tickets around here but I have seen the RCMP chewing out truck drivers for being double-parked, so they are the only ones laying down law in the downtown core that I’ve seen obeyed. Plus where the cabbie is parking is not a “no-parking” or “Two-hour parking zone”, it’s just parking. But I want to kick the car everytime I have to walk around the street side of it on my way into work. Grrrrrrrrrr!
I asked a driver the other day if there were any cabs on the road without winter tires… he said every cab on the road has winter tires on right now… but he did agree that not every driver knows the best way to drive in the snow.
I take taxis quite frequently, and have had numerous problems, but most of the time things work out. If you ever have a problem or a complaint, make sure you call the non-dispatch line (I think it is listed in the phone book,) and ask to talk to a manager. If there isn’t one there, leave your name and phone number and one will call you back to speak about your concerns.
One thing to remember about this time of year… if you ever get into even the littlest fender-bender, or similar accident while in a cab… make sure you go to the hospital and get looked over… you’ll thank me later.
Skeena Taxi should really replace all of the Ford Crown Vics and Chevy Caprices in the fleet with FWD vehicles. RWD cars, no matter how well it’s been equip for winter conditions, never runs well on ice and snow.
I didn’t think to look at any of their tires at the time, but I have pulled two cabs out of snow with my own vehicle and pushed another in the last couple of days. However, it is probably unfair to point the bad-winter-driver-finger, since cabs have been the most common vehicle on the road lately. If you looked out the window and saw a Ford pickup spinning out on Smithers St, would you have started a ‘Pickup Drivers’ thread?
I’ve seen cabs driving on roads they probabaly shouldn’t be, and 4x4s driving less than half the limit on roads that are fine.
That said, slush exists in conditions warmer than 0, so the conventional snow tire is pretty much as good as any all-season with good tread.
In the past few days, I have pushed out a cab, a dinky little car, and I saw an SUV stuck across the street. My husband pushed out a mini van the other day.
And just to let y’all know. The cabs that “park” in the middle of the street, aren’t parking at all. The police can not give any driver a ticket for parking in a no parking zone, or in the middle of the road for that matter, if said driver is still in the vehicle and the engine is running. Because then you aren’t parked, you’re stopped, and can move at any time.
Saw a guy get out and push his taxi up the hill. He was the paying passenger. I would not be paying for that trip. Hope the cabbie gave him a discount.
I don’t know what kind of idiot would park on a sidewalk other than a drunk one.