London Banter - View Single Post

[email protected] · July 3rd 14, 09:57 AM posted to cam.transport,uk.transport.london

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
17:54:34 on Wed, 2 Jul 2014, remarked:
In places where local authorities take their licensing
responsibilities seriously there can be no doubt whether a car is
licensed or not. They are clearly marked. Most hire cars are marked
"pre-booked only" too.

Good luck knowing where to look at 2am having just come out of a
nightclub in the pouring rain.

It's clearly marked on the doors you have to get in through.

That it's a licenced minicab?

That it's a licensed private hire car, pre-booked only. The term minicab
is really only used in London.

Putting aside the quibble about terminology, how does a sign on the
back door of a licenced private hire car (is there one - my
impression is there will be perhaps a phone number on the front door
of some) stop people getting into a kerb-crawling unlicenced one at 2am?

To do that you need to drill into people only to use cars they've
booked.

It may be unclear in Ely but Cambridge and South Cambs hire cars, the vast
bulk of the local fleet, are very clearly marked. Any poorly marked car in
one of the busier areas of Cambridge's night life would probably be chased
away by the local trade.

--
Colin Rosenstiel