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

In message , at 04:57:23
on Thu, 3 Jul 2014, remarked:
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.

Unfortunately we can't drill into people one rule to use in Cambridge
and another in some of the seamier parts of bigger cities.
--
Roland Perry

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
04:57:23 on Thu, 3 Jul 2014, remarked:
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.

Unfortunately we can't drill into people one rule to use in Cambridge
and another in some of the seamier parts of bigger cities.

Local authorities (except in London) can do the same as in Cambridge to
regulate the trade.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at 05:43:57
on Thu, 3 Jul 2014, remarked:
Unfortunately we can't drill into people one rule to use in Cambridge
and another in some of the seamier parts of bigger cities.

Local authorities (except in London) can do the same as in Cambridge to
regulate the trade.

Are you suggesting that in London minicabs *don't* have to be
pre-booked, under a regulation similar to the one in Cambridge?
--
Roland Perry

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
05:43:57 on Thu, 3 Jul 2014, remarked:
Unfortunately we can't drill into people one rule to use in Cambridge
and another in some of the seamier parts of bigger cities.

Local authorities (except in London) can do the same as in Cambridge to
regulate the trade.

Are you suggesting that in London minicabs *don't* have to be
pre-booked, under a regulation similar to the one in Cambridge?

No, just that the regulation works differently in a host of ways.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at 06:16:54
on Thu, 3 Jul 2014, remarked:
Unfortunately we can't drill into people one rule to use in Cambridge
and another in some of the seamier parts of bigger cities.

Local authorities (except in London) can do the same as in Cambridge to
regulate the trade.

Are you suggesting that in London minicabs *don't* have to be
pre-booked, under a regulation similar to the one in Cambridge?

No, just that the regulation works differently in a host of ways.

The part we discussing is "must be booked in advance".
--
Roland Perry

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
06:16:54 on Thu, 3 Jul 2014, remarked:
Unfortunately we can't drill into people one rule to use in
Cambridge and another in some of the seamier parts of bigger cities.

Local authorities (except in London) can do the same as in Cambridge
to regulate the trade.

Are you suggesting that in London minicabs *don't* have to be
pre-booked, under a regulation similar to the one in Cambridge?

No, just that the regulation works differently in a host of ways.

The part we discussing is "must be booked in advance".

Something shown on all hire cars in Cambridge but not in London. Other
places have clearer/larger signs than Cambridge.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

Hey - and look something relevant to the subject header and London!
Makes a change from Cambridge minicabs (no Uber in Cambridge...)

http://thenextweb.com/uk/2014/07/03/...wfully-london/

In message , at 08:10:00
on Thu, 3 Jul 2014, remarked:

The part we discussing is "must be booked in advance".

Something shown on all hire cars in Cambridge but not in London. Other
places have clearer/larger signs than Cambridge.

But when it's 2am and raining and you are trying to get home, who will
remember to look for such a sign?

The concept of "law abiding criminals" rears its head. If someone is
prepared to run an unlicenced minicab, won't they also neglect to put up
the lawfully required sign telling their potential customers not to get
into it?

The only answer that works is tell people that they should only ever
book such cars in advance, and hence be more assured that it's not an
unlicenced one (with all the associated risks).
--
Roland Perry

"Someone Somewhere" wrote in message
...

Hey - and look something relevant to the subject header and London! Makes
a change from Cambridge minicabs (no Uber in Cambridge...)

http://thenextweb.com/uk/2014/07/03/...wfully-london/

I await the return of Mr Nugent to say "sorry" to me

tim