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).
In ireland there is no glass in the cars, and the drivers dont really get hassle, you will always get some who are chancers when it comes to trying making a quick buck though. I use a base so often that almost every driver knows me by name and if skint they would drop me wherever and could sort them out later,
Some people in Aus consider it snobby to sit in the back if you are one person.. as in, a class thing. There is a cultural pride in everyone at least having the appearance of equality.
Yes, I agree with that. I would be worried about offending a driver if I was alone and got in the back and I guess for a male passenger that belief would be even stronger. The only time I can remember getting in the back seat when I was not accompanied by another human passenger is when I had a cat in a cat carrier.
I only ever sat in the back, but I've only really used taxis when in the US. Around here they're quite expensive, but in the us they're comparative cheap, and most US cabs have HUGE legroom in the back. Something that's a big factor for me at 6'3".
front seat. It's easier to talk with the driver, I can easily keep an eye on the meter and sitting next to him or her means neither of us needs to perform painful contortions when I pay my fare.
Agreed. I've never sat in the back seat when I'm by myself and would definitely consider doing so without obvious reason to be rather snobby. Even in a group, I would expect someone to sit in the front seat.
mostly back seat. sometimes drivers have their stuff in the front seat. but sometimes I have to sit up front if it is a suv cab and the back seat is a half seat. I have trouble getting in the cab then
^Vulcan mind meld (though that one's a bit tricky from the backseat, too, unless you have extremely flexible wrists)
I can talk to them, I can also read the meter. I don't mean it literally anyway, I just hate those forced discussions that neither of you really care about, but both feel obliged to engage in. I just want to look out of the window and have my thoughts.
As with the other Australians I sit in the front. I don't like the back seat in any vehicle and always prefer to be in the front passengers. The last time I was overseas and caught a cab I asked the driver whether to sit in the back or front. Recently the news here has been around the idea of "pink taxis" specifically to transport women late at night due to a number of assaults on women (I think mostly intoxicated women) by cab drivers in the last few years. By recently, I mean a recent push, I'm sure I remember this issue coming up a year or two ago as well.
I prefer to assume that sitting in the front implies a certain familiarity with the driver. If I sit up front in a strange taxi next to a strange driver, I'm imposing familiarity on him, that I have no right to do. Sitting in the back is where I consider it normal for a customer to sit, because I don't know the driver.
I've taken cabs in NYC, New Haven, Providence, Boston and Dallas. Only once, when I was with my entire family (5 of us), do I recall my father having to sit up front while us girls crammed into the back. As I generally was alone, and am a woman, and the cabbies I've dealt with can't drive for beans, I felt much safer behind the glass in the back seat. That said, I prefer subways, trains, light rail, buses and trollies when possible.
^ The cabbies you've dealt with can't drive for beans? Well I hope not. They should be driving for passengers.