Celana Gemes Review Score
5
Illegal minicabs usually operate in major cities and towns accross the country touting for business outside clubs,
bars, restaurants or any other social events that attract large crowds. Driving saloon cars posing as taxis hoping to
grab an easy fare that is either too drunk, tired or desperate to get out of the rain to notice that the service being
offered is completely illegal. Completely unregulated and answerable to no-one,they offer no guarantees what-so-ever and
no safety at all. You may be riding in an unroadworthy car that has no MOT or insurance and therefore you wouldn't be
insured if you were to be involved in an accident. The driver may not even have a driver's license, may not speak English
except for a few words like "taxi" and "money" and may not know his way round to get you home or may indeed take you the
long way to extort more money out of you. He almost certainly wouldn't have been screened by the local licensing
authority and therefore will not have had a CRB check. You won't know him from Adam (whoever Adam is!).
bars, restaurants or any other social events that attract large crowds. Driving saloon cars posing as taxis hoping to
grab an easy fare that is either too drunk, tired or desperate to get out of the rain to notice that the service being
offered is completely illegal. Completely unregulated and answerable to no-one,they offer no guarantees what-so-ever and
no safety at all. You may be riding in an unroadworthy car that has no MOT or insurance and therefore you wouldn't be
insured if you were to be involved in an accident. The driver may not even have a driver's license, may not speak English
except for a few words like "taxi" and "money" and may not know his way round to get you home or may indeed take you the
long way to extort more money out of you. He almost certainly wouldn't have been screened by the local licensing
authority and therefore will not have had a CRB check. You won't know him from Adam (whoever Adam is!).
In my 15 years as a taxi-driver myself, I have heard the occasional story from customers, usually men, of how they got
a great deal from a minicab driver: Central London to Letchworth Garden City for £25! Almost 40 miles - that's hardly
enough to pay for the fuel. So, was the car stolen? As the customers were men, and in a group, they thought this was
a nice and cheap way to get home from club-land and didn't feel in any danger. A good thing the wheels didn't fall off!
For women, however, jumping into the nearest available minicab outside a nightclub might be a different story - one that
I haven't personally heard first hand yet, thankfully. Maybe they wouldn't have got such a good deal.
Apparently, in London alone, 11 women each month are attacked after taking an illegal taxi and 80% of stranger rapes are
committed by unlicensed taxi-drivers. A sobering figure.
For a woman to swap the potential perils of walking home alone at night for taking an unlicensed taxi just because it seems
a great deal from a minicab driver: Central London to Letchworth Garden City for £25! Almost 40 miles - that's hardly
enough to pay for the fuel. So, was the car stolen? As the customers were men, and in a group, they thought this was
a nice and cheap way to get home from club-land and didn't feel in any danger. A good thing the wheels didn't fall off!
For women, however, jumping into the nearest available minicab outside a nightclub might be a different story - one that
I haven't personally heard first hand yet, thankfully. Maybe they wouldn't have got such a good deal.
Apparently, in London alone, 11 women each month are attacked after taking an illegal taxi and 80% of stranger rapes are
committed by unlicensed taxi-drivers. A sobering figure.
For a woman to swap the potential perils of walking home alone at night for taking an unlicensed taxi just because it seems