Taxi - back or front seat?

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by Miss Chicken, Sep 17, 2013.

  1. Miss Chicken

    Miss Chicken Little three legged cat with attitude Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2001
    Location:
    Howrah, Hobart, Tasmania
    If you are catching a taxi and are the sole passenger, are you more likely to sit in the front next to the driver or would you sit in the back seat?
     
  2. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 10, 2005
    Location:
    Confederation of Earth
    I always sit in the back seat. I assume that's what you're supposed to do, unless there's so many passengers that there's only room in the front.
     
  3. Miss Chicken

    Miss Chicken Little three legged cat with attitude Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2001
    Location:
    Howrah, Hobart, Tasmania
    I sit in the front for two reasons a) it is easier for me to get in and out of the taxi when I have the extra leg room and b) it is easier to speak to the driver.

    Many Australians sit in the front seat but that might be a cultural thing.

    One driver says he often prefers it because it means he caanot be attacked from behind.
     
  4. Davros

    Davros Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2001
    Location:
    Kaled bunker, Skaro
    I've never seen a passenger in the front seat of a taxi.
     
  5. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2001
    Location:
    Great Britain
    What's a taxi? ;)
     
  6. Finn

    Finn Bad Batch of TrekBBS Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2006
    I've never seen anybody sit in the front unless the back seat is full
     
  7. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jul 16, 2001
    Location:
    Trekker4747
    I've never even heard of sitting in the front seat of a taxi barring maybe the extreme situation where the back-seat is going to be full.
     
  8. Shanndee

    Shanndee Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2010
    Location:
    Canada
    I used to sit in the front seat when I lived in a small town. I continued the practice when I moved to a very small city. As soon as I moved to a larger centre, I made the move to the back seat (I had been given some strange/unfriendly looks from the drivers, so I figured that sitting in the front was strictly "small town").
     
  9. auntiehill

    auntiehill The Blooness Premium Member

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2006
    Location:
    on the couch

    ^This. The few times I've taken a taxi, the driver opens-- or at least unlocks-- the back door; there is no option WHERE you sit. You sit in the back, period, unless the back seats are already full.
     
  10. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jul 16, 2001
    Location:
    Trekker4747
    I just think it'd be awkward ridding shot-gun with the cab driver. Just looking over at him like, "Sup? Wanna grab some Arby's?"
     
  11. Miss Chicken

    Miss Chicken Little three legged cat with attitude Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2001
    Location:
    Howrah, Hobart, Tasmania
    I have never had a driver open a door. Occasionally they don't even get out to open the boot/trunk if the customer has something to put in it and the customer does it all themselves.

    The only time I have known a cab door to be locked is one News Year Eve when I was catching a cab home from the Casino and the driver urged myself and my friends to lock our doors as we drove through the city centre. He said that if we didn't the drunks would try to climb in, as no cabbie in their right mind services the inner city on New Years Eve. He said it was the one day of the year when drivers could be as fussy as they wanted to be about who they took for fares.
     
  12. auntiehill

    auntiehill The Blooness Premium Member

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2006
    Location:
    on the couch
    ^Cabbies get robbed and killed here fairly regularly. Those doors are f***ing LOCKED. They only unlock them when you are about to get in or out.
     
  13. Davros

    Davros Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2001
    Location:
    Kaled bunker, Skaro
    That seems like it would be incredibly easy for the police to catch them.
     
  14. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 19, 2005
    Location:
    Far North Chicago Suburbs
    Same here. In Chicago they'd never let you sit up front. Always in back, behind the bulletproof glass
     
  15. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2007
    Location:
    inside teacake
    I always sit in the front and I always visibly type in the taxi driver's reg number (which is displayed) into a text which I fake send. It is normal to sit in the front here. There is no glass dividing the front and back.
     
  16. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 10, 2005
    Location:
    Confederation of Earth
    Who would want to sit up front in a strange car, next to a driver you don't know, anyway? You never know who's driving that taxi you just got into. Especially in the larger cities.
     
  17. Captain Ice

    Captain Ice Cookie Constructor Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2002
    Location:
    Getting Captain Ice on to the naughty list
    When I lived in Flagstaff (about 60000 people), I would sit in the front. Here in Phoenix, I will sit in the back...though about the only time I take a cab in Phoenix is to get home from the airport, and usually you can find a limo driver who will take you home for the same price as the cab.
     
  18. thestrangequark

    thestrangequark Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2006
    Location:
    Brooklyn thestrangequark
    New York is definitely one of the cities where you don't sit in the front.
     
  19. sidious618

    sidious618 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2005
    Location:
    sidious618
    I ask to sit on the driver's lap.
     
  20. Miss Chicken

    Miss Chicken Little three legged cat with attitude Admiral

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2001
    Location:
    Howrah, Hobart, Tasmania
    I guess here in Australia we know that the driver has gone through the accreditation process which includes a nationwide criminal history check plus I live in a reasonably small city (200,000 population).