KNOWING LONDON INSIDE OUT
London taxi drivers know the capital like the back of their hands. Just jump into one of the city's 22,000 distinctively shaped cars and tell the driver your destination. No matter how smali and difficult to fmd the street is, the driver will be able to get you merę without any trouble.
l .........During this period, which can take from two to
four years, the would-be taxi driver has to learn the most direct route to every single road and to every important building in London. To achieve this, most learners go around the city on smali motorbikes, practising how to move to and from different points of the city.
Going around London on a smali motorbike can have its
problems, especially during the winter. 2 ......... 'There was
thick snów everywhere and I had to wear my mother's tights because I was so cold,' hę said.
Learner drivers arę not allowed to work, and earn money,
as drivers. 3 .........The training period can cost ąuite a lot,
because learners have to pay for their own expenses (getting around London using priyate transport), the tests they take and a medical exam.
Once a new taxi driver has a licence, the next thing hę or she has to cope with is the public. Drivers agree that most passengers arę very pleasant, although occasionally they can be nasty.
But, as Brian Turner, 53, a taxi driver for mirty years, explains: 'Your job is to take them where they want to go in a polite and pleasant manner, whatever they arę like. After all, if you're unpleasant to your passenger, you won't get a tip.'
4 ......... Colin Sinclair was once attacked by a passenger
who did not want to pay the farę: 'Hę grabbed my hand and said, 'I am going to beat you up', and then hę started pushing me towards the window. Luckily, I managed to reach the emergency radio and within five minutes twenty drivers had come to my aid.'
5 ......... The big advantage of this system is that drivers
then know the name and the destination of their passengers in advance, which is very useful if something nasty happens.
6 ......... Celebrities and politicians often use taxis and this
can add a bit of excitement to the lives of the drivers. Brian Turner once carried two princesses in his taxi - without even realising it! Hę recalled: 'They stopped me in front of the gates of Kensington Pałace. I knew I had seen them in photographs but it was only after they left that I realised who they were!'
Talking and driving at the same time is not easy. 7 .........
They and their taxis arę a landmark of the capital and arę recognised throughout the world, along with the Queen and Big Ben, as a great British tradition.
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