Taxi Drivers....lack of knowledge!!

Latrade said:
It's irrational, not racist. At worst it is xenophobic, but even that's a huge leap.

My objection is to the throwing around of racism at each and every turn. My objection is that there is no perfect liberal out there who doesn't at some point in time display the good old human trait of being irrational and making a choice against the non-national. Not one.

Just because there are times where a person has a preference and comfort with a more known set of circumstances doesn't mean they're a racist. The poster isn't saying send all foreigners home or white Irish only taxi drivers, it was just that in their experience (what else can they go on?) they've had a better and more efficient service when they'd used Irish drivers and so they have a preference for that.

Heck even the socially conscious unions haven't exactly been too forthcoming in protecting the foreign national worker rights of late in favour of their Irish colleagues. So much so many foreign national workers have had to set up their own unions.

How many female customers have experience of all male drivers in Dublin? Zero.

To make assumptions the assault potential of every driver based upon their gender on the experience of a very small number of events is sexist.
Click to expand...
I don't disagree with you about the absence of 'the perfect liberal' or the sexist requirement for female drivers or the lack of protection for non-Irish national workers here. But none of these change the fundamental issue.

To ask for a taxi driver based on race rather than based on abilities is racist.
 
Complainer said:
To ask for a taxi driver based on race rather than based on abilities is racist.
Click to expand...

I dont think the poster did say they asked for a driver based on race though - they asked for one based on nationality - can I have an Irish driver.
 
Insurance companies are entitled to make decisions against whole swathes of people on the basis of general assumptions about their driving habits which are formed based on past experiences and the likely impacts of insuring those people.

This is not illegal or seen as discriminatory by the Law of the Land.

The poster's comments about preferring Irish drivers is merely the same scenario but on a smaller scale.

No racism here IMO.
 
Complainer said:
To ask for a taxi driver based on race rather than based on abilities is racist.
Click to expand...

In your opinion, fine. In my opinion it isn't. There is no incitement to hatred, there is no incitement to violence, eradication, removal from service, the poster isn't asking others to do the same. It's a simple preference based upon personal experience.

If based on experience I find a better service from Irish service providers for whatever reason (language, communication, etc) and have had bad experiences from non-nationals on the same criteria, then that's not racism.

Racism would be if my first choice prior to any experience was to pick Irish at the detriment of non-nationals and then to start promulgating false accusations against the non-nationals and even to start promulgating hatred towards them.

None of which was the case in the poster's example.

The fundamental issue to me is that someone can make a choice on who provides them with a service based upon their own experience (note the criteria of having to have experienced every single taxi driver is a nonsensical position. In that event we'd never be able to make any decisions based upon a personal preference) without it the need to label them a racist.

I completely stand by a female's right to chose a female driver. I've no problems with female only taxi services. I've no issue if non-nationals make the same choices for their taxi services. They're all based on the same irrational lack of evidence, etc. I do disagree with the fact that just because an Irish man chooses to make the same irrational decision that they are vilified for that choice that they get branded with the RACIST label.

I'm not a racist, some of my best friends are non-nationals....(joke). But in all fairness, I hope my liberal credentials are intact. I've signed up for, protested for, marched for and even got a few cuts 'n bruises in my time as a vocal opponent of racism and fascism.

I'm not saying that puts me above anyone else as a commentator, it's just I see more harm than good to a cause when we confuse a basic human decision making process with some hurtful and superiority motive. I've encountered true racism and it's frightening and vile, this just isn't anywhere in the same league.
 
Last edited:
DB74 said:
Insurance companies are entitled to make decisions against whole swathes of people on the basis of general assumptions about their driving habits which are formed based on past experiences and the likely impacts of insuring those people.

This is not illegal or seen as discriminatory by the Law of the Land.

The poster's comments about preferring Irish drivers is merely the same scenario but on a smaller scale.

No racism here IMO.
Click to expand...
Nonsense. Insurance rates aren't based on 'general assumptions'. They are based on hard actuarial data.
 
The original poster's reasons for preferring an Irish driver are also based on hard data, learned through experience.

Insurance companies make general assumptions on a driver's ability. It may be based on past historical data yes but they are still assumptions.

And whether you like it or not, no insurance company can know anything about my or your or anybody else's driving abilities.

They may hide behind "hard actuarial data" as you put it but at the end of the day they are lumping me in with other people who are the same age etc etc as me.

I could have 10 years of no claims behind me and my policy will still increase as a result of a raft of claims by people in the same motor insurance category as me.
 
Complainer said:
Indeed, it is racist. What you need is a taxi driver who knows their way around Dublin, regardless of where they were born.
Click to expand...

Dear Complainer and Dereko1969, I resent the accusation. You are very one dimensional and simplistic in your thinking. I am not a racist. I don't usually divulge much personal details, but, I recently finished as a senior manager in a greenfield start-up. I directly employed between Dec 2007 and Decembet 2009, 81 people with 62 reporting directly to me. The majority were non-Irish - East European, Asian, African and West European - above minimum wage, vhi and optional PRSA (askaboutmoney was a great source of advice here).

I suggest that you cast an eye around you. Talk to foreign nationals who are sick and tired of some fellow nationals giving the majority of them a bad name. As I already stated Ireland is a better place for the presence of non-Irish in terms of cultural diversity and economic growth. I see my children being more accepting and tolerant and more educated as a result. I do not sterotype by race or creed, but, can recognize when I am being duped. Inefficiency is inefficiency. Deception is deception. Dishonesty is dishonesty. Failings are not race specific. Failings are part of the human condition. I was merely highlighting our truthful experience of a customer service where local geographical knowledge and English language skills are prerequisites in delivering the service, but, were deficient in these individuals.
 
DB74 said:
The original poster's reasons for preferring an Irish driver are also based on hard data, learned through experience.

Insurance companies make general assumptions on a driver's ability. It may be based on past historical data yes but they are still assumptions.
Click to expand...
OK, so one customer's experience with a few drivers is now equivalent to years of data analysed by actuaries?

Is that you, Charlie McCreevy? Your application of back-of-the-envelope calculations to big problems has cost the State billions, so now you want to screw up the taxi industry as well.
 
Complainer said:
OK, so one customer's experience with a few drivers is now equivalent to years of data analysed by actuaries?

Is that you, Charlie McCreevy? Your application of back-of-the-envelope calculations to big problems has cost the State billions, so now you want to screw up the taxi industry as well.
Click to expand...

Not much point in continuing the debate if you're going to resort to insults.
 
DB74 said:
Not much point in continuing the debate if you're going to resort to insults.
Click to expand...
Not much point in continuing the debate if you are going to equate anecdotal experience in dealing with a few drivers with actuarial data.
 
Latrade said:
I still don't see a difference with the female driver. Isn't that sexism? Just how many incidents are there of violence, agression, or inappropriate behaviour from male taxi drivers to female passengers? Are there enough to rationally justify selecting a specific gender of the driver?
Click to expand...

Two incidents in my case with male taxi drivers:

1. Asked me how I would like to pay him! (non-national)

2. Told me I was sitting on a goldmine and didn't have to pay if... (irish driver).

There was no agression used in either case, but I was very happy just to get home safely. I do now have a preference for female taxi drivers when I'm travelling alone.
 
Are there any regulations on the question of providing change for a €50 note? I get a taxi to and from the airport every week, and have had a number of drivers give out to me about having to change a €50 (on a fare of about €25), and one particularly unpleasant driver from the airport who waited until we were on the motorway to say that he hoped I didn't need change of a €50 (so no way of getting another taxi), insisted that I go into a shop to buy something I didn't need to break the €50 and then told me that he knew I was trouble from the minute I got into the car because I said I didn't think it was my responsibility to have to spend money to make his life easier. I paid him there and then and got another taxi home (unfortunately didn't get his car number to make a complaint - it was late at night and I was already nervous), but surely it's not unreasonable to expect taxis to be able to change a common note? I dread to think what impression a tourist to Dublin would have got had they been in the car with him.

I now ask before getting in whether the driver can change a €50, but I don't believe I should have to.

Edited to add: the company I use to get to the airport (NRC) are invariably courteous and I've never had a problem with them.
 
You have no right to require anybody with whom you do business to make change. Most people in business treat it as a normal courtesy, and one of the things they do to make customers happy.

Drivers of taxis that you hail on the street or hire at taxi ranks do not think in terms of your being a prospect for repeat business.
 
For years, I have been appalled at the standards of vehicle that are allowed to operate as taxis.
If you are charging people money to travel in your vehicle, then it should be of a certain minimum standard.
Like anything, I think you need to invest in your business, and take some pride in it.
Last Sunday at a rank, the first car was a 93 reg. and the second was an 89 reg. so I approached the 3rd car and drove home in comfort.
I would do this when flagging down a taxi also i.e. let clapped out ones pass before hailing a decent one.
I have lost count of the times I have driven in dirty taxis, and also the amount of times where the personal hygiene of the driver in an enclosed space leaves a lot to be desired.
I have driven in cars where the driver has to keep rubbing the windscreen with a cloth as there is no defogger.
When calling my local taxi company, I would have no problem saying I want a half decent car.
I am in the minority, but when there are so many clean comfortable taxis, why do people pay for journeys in the other ones?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top