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London black taxis plan congestion chaos to block Uber

bbc.co.uk

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Re: London black taxis plan congestion chaos to block Uber

#11

Post by crazypyro »

6d0debc071 wrote: post #6

I wonder how legal that is. 'If a person, without lawful authority or excuse, in any way wilfully obstructs the free passage along a highway he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding [F1 level 3 on the standard scale].' - Highways Act 1980 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66/part/IX/crosshea...

This was my thought. Purposely blocking traffic is illegal and I hope everyone of these taxi drivers get fines. This is like a child throwing a fit when they don't get their way...

Re: London black taxis plan congestion chaos to block Uber

#12

Post by oneeyedpigeon »

6d0debc071 wrote: post #6

I wonder how legal that is. 'If a person, without lawful authority or excuse, in any way wilfully obstructs the free passage along a highway he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding [F1 level 3 on the standard scale].' - Highways Act 1980 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66/part/IX/crosshea...

How easy would that be to prove? At what point does a group of vehicles that happen to be driving down the same piece of road turn into a 'wilful obstruction'?

Re: London black taxis plan congestion chaos to block Uber

#13

Post by nakedrobot2 »

corin_ wrote: post #4
nakedrobot2 wrote: post #2

What a deplorable, luddite attitude. The black taxis should be banned for some period of time for this behavior. "The Licensed Taxi Drivers Association complains that Uber's drivers are using a smartphone app to calculate fares despite it being illegal for private vehicles to be fitted with taximeters." So using this website in your car is illegal?! http://www.worldtaximeter.com/

If that law is correct then it seems they have a perfectly valid complaint, using an app on your phone instead of a dedicated device is just circumventing the spirit of the law. Whether the law should still exist, and whether this method of protest is appropriate, are other questions of course.

"private vehicles to be fitted with taximeters"

You can measure the distance on a paper map as well. The smartphone app is only slightly more convenient. I do not think they are breaking the spirit of the law.

Re: London black taxis plan congestion chaos to block Uber

#14

Post by kevingadd »

brianlweiner wrote: post #3

Ridiculous behavior. I'm glad the black taxis seem to have their customer's well-being at heart. "Uber, funded by Google, Goldman Sachs and others, has a stated aim of challenging legislation that is not compatible with its business model," said Mr McNamara. "This is not some philanthropic friendly society, it's an American monster that has no qualms about breaching any and all laws in the pursuit of profit, most of…

The company's profits are far in excess of the employee salaries that are taxed in most cases anyway. That's the goal. If the goal was to retain exactly $0 in profit by paying your employees generously, then yes, the taxes your employees paid would be enough.

Re: London black taxis plan congestion chaos to block Uber

#15

Post by marksbrown »

They also brought Southwark (near London Bridge, London) to a complete standstill on Tuesday because TfL (Transport for London) is not ensuring enough well placed taxi ranks. The Shard for instance has a space for a single taxi.

Frankly this new protest and the former reek of an unwillingness to change. Given the monopoly black cabs generally possess, it's not they're ever going to be short of customers.

Re: London black taxis plan congestion chaos to block Uber

#16

Post by alandarev »

oneeyedpigeon wrote: post #9
fennecfoxen wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, causing gridlock and disrupting the commute is not the best way to make friends and influence people. Unless you have a really clear moral outrage, people will get pretty upset at you as well as those you have a problem with. (If it were otherwise the transit unions would have a much easier time of things.) "illegal to install taximeters" isn't going to resonate with the public, I think. It's hardly the abuse a…

What would probably resonate is the 'no tax paid in the UK' argument - that's something that everyone can understand as a negative.

Oh god, you have reminded me of a 'No tax paid' by Google/Amazon/Starbucks scandal last year. [1]

Yes, definitely, the Tax card is enormously effective in UK.

I wish the legacy businesses would rather change themselves, seeing how ineffective they are, instead of spending resources on fighting innovation.

[1] - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20560359

Re: London black taxis plan congestion chaos to block Uber

#17

Post by k-mcgrady »

corin_ wrote: post #7
brianlweiner wrote: post #3

Ridiculous behavior. I'm glad the black taxis seem to have their customer's well-being at heart. "Uber, funded by Google, Goldman Sachs and others, has a stated aim of challenging legislation that is not compatible with its business model," said Mr McNamara. "This is not some philanthropic friendly society, it's an American monster that has no qualms about breaching any and all laws in the pursuit of profit, most of…

> Besides the ridiculous attempt to conflate Uber with evil bankers, it seems strange to suggest "most" of the profit will never be taxed in UK. Aren't all the UK drivers paying taxes? They would, yes - but when any big company gets bad press for not paying taxes in the UK (for example Google), nobody uses the excuse "but their staff in the UK still pay UK tax", the focus is on whether the company's profits are being…

>> "They would, yes - but when any big company gets bad press for not paying taxes in the UK (for example Google), nobody uses the excuse "but their staff in the UK still pay UK tax", the focus is on whether the company's profits are being taxed."

Because the tax paid by employees is insignificant compared to the tax the company should be paying.

Re: London black taxis plan congestion chaos to block Uber

#18

Post by rubiquity »

nodata wrote: post #8
nakedrobot2 wrote: post #2

What a deplorable, luddite attitude. The black taxis should be banned for some period of time for this behavior. "The Licensed Taxi Drivers Association complains that Uber's drivers are using a smartphone app to calculate fares despite it being illegal for private vehicles to be fitted with taximeters." So using this website in your car is illegal?! http://www.worldtaximeter.com/

> What a deplorable, luddite attitude. Well presumably you know their side of the story too? Presumably (hopefully someone who actually knows can fill us in) the taxi drivers have spent huge amounts of time learning The Knowledge and buying their cars and keeping to the fairly strict regulations that exist, and don't find it fair that another company can offer a service without a level playing field. Presumably.

Yes, but I think the taxi associations only have themselves to blame for all the ceremony required to become a taxi driver. I think a lot of these regulations were created by existing taxi companies to present barriers of entry to people wanting to form new taxi companies.
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