Taxi Drivers Not Wearing Seatbelts.

[geoff1057]

Recently mentioned to me that a lot of local taxi drivers don't wear seatbelts . I now always look to see if they do ,and must admit the majority of them don't . Are they risking a 3 point licence penalty or dont they legally have to wear them.

[Old_Geezer]

Humph !
It's one law for them, another for us.

[Baldric]

Toorak, see link @ 22:50

// a licensed taxi driver who is ‘plying for hire’ or carrying
passengers //

[Davemano]

Baldric - It is your 2250 link.

[Baldric]

Not from your post it ain't.

[Toorak]

I’m sorry - I thought that was the point I was making (I.e if plying for hire they don’t have someone in the cab to rob them)

[Baldric]

PS,
Dave, it's because you've put a Full Stop at the end of it.

[Mamyalynne]

It's still from Northern Ireland.

[Davemano]

Baldric Dot taken, but as Mamya says it still relates to NI

[Baldric]

And there was me thinking NI was part of the UK, silly me.

[Mamyalynne]

Obviously different there when handing out points, strange.

[Davemano]

It is part of the UK, but like Scotland and Wales it can have its own rules on motoring and other matters I believe.

[douglas9401]

Our taxi drivers have never had to wear them. They cited the robbery thing back in the day but we all knew it was a combination of sheer laziness and a fear of pollutant transfer between 'drivers' at shift change.

[EDDIE51]

Has the law that a taxi driver has to carry a bale of hay for the horse ever been repealed? It dates from the days when cabs were pulled by horses.

[woofgang]

Eddie, I think that’s a fake. Cab horses would be fed oats from a nosebag while working.

[Baldric]

http://www.southamptontaxis.org/blog/94/Do-taxi-drivers-need-to-carry-a-bale-of-hay-in-their-boot-by-law

[EDDIE51]

^ Thank Baldric. Astounding that it was not removed as a law until as late as 1970.

[andy-hughes]

I find it strange in the extreme that anyone would take advantage of a law that compromises their safety.

The first time I sat behind the wheel of a car was in 1971, years before it was a rule to wear a belt, and I put my seatbelt on because it felt like common sense.

My dad taught me to drive, and I made him wear his seat belt, although he moaned every single time. I also got him into the habit of wearing his seatbelt when he was driving, and when he crashed off the road into a field and his seatbelt saved his life, he stopped moaning about wearing it.

[New Judge]

"I find it strange in the extreme that anyone would take advantage of a law that compromises their safety."

Me too, Andy. I think among some drivers there is a "macho" mentality that somewhat distorts their thinking process. However, having seen the results arising from some "macho men" not wearing a seat belt, it makes you wonder whether Darwin's theory applies to them as well. Just as crazy (particularly in this weather) are idiot bikers and scooter riders who bomb about in shorts, T-shirt (or even no shirt) and flip flops.

[ummmm]

My dad went through the front windscreen....still didn't make him wear a seat belt.

[EDDIE51]

I can remember when seat belts were being made compulsory there was a lot of opposition to them. The most common reason was 'I don't want to be trapped in the car if it catches fire'. There were knives on sale specifically designed to cut seat belts. You got holders for them similar to the ones we have now for mobile phones.