On Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 06:14:33PM +0000, Neil Williams wrote:
Robin9 wrote:
Quite separate is the question of taxis picking up and setting down in
bus lanes. I leave you to dictate to the elderly, the sick, the
physically disabled and the blind that they are not allowed to be set
down or picked up from outside their building and that regardless of the
severity of their problems and regardless of the distance involved they
must move themselves to a location where there is no bus lane.
As with parking I am quite happy for there to be exceptions for people with
genuine need like that

How does a cabbie know that his prospective customer (or indeed his
customer) has a genuine need? You have to remember that not all
mobility impairments are visible.

How, for example, is a cabbie meant to tell that the person standing at
the side of the road and waving at him has recently sprained his ankle
and that walking a few hundred yards to some obscure side street (down
which far fewer cabs will travel while looking for custom, but never
mind that) will be very painful?

though as with blue badges I am not sure why they
should not have to consider where is appropriate to avoid causing a serious
obstruction (a blue badge holder is not permitted to park causing danger or
an obstruction, AIUI). OTOH most black cab passengers I see causing such
an obstruction appear to be fully able-bodied, usually lazy businessmen who
think their time is more important than that of all 50 odd passengers on
the bus stuck behind them while they pay their taxi fare.

When I travel on buses, I see far more delays caused by delivery
vehicles in bus lanes, road works, police in bus lanes, and bus
passengers being idiots and only looking through their cavernous
handbags for their tickets once they're standing next to the oyster
reader - and hence blocking everyone behind them - than by taxis.

--
David Cantrell | Enforcer, South London Linguistic Massive

For every vengeance, there is an equal and opposite revengeance.
-- Cartoon Law X