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Taxi driving
Posted by MarathonHK (54 days ago)
Wondering if anyone has ever driven a taxi in HK as I ve been trying to understand something for ages..
You ll all have noticed how taxi drivers, when following traffic, never gently press the accelerator. It is always full throttle, lift, full throttle, lift.
Is this because the accelerator is not progressive, meaning it s fully open or closed, or is this just how most learn to drive in HK?
It is really jerky and uncomfortable when you re sitting in the back, yet every taxi driver seems to do it. I actually had the worst taxi ever yesterday as the driver, in a traffic jam would slam the accelerator, then slam the brakes.. You could hear his foot moving every second from one pedal to the next. I can t believe he was doing this deliberatly as I m sure he d get a cramp at the end of the day.
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Posted by axptguy38 (54 days ago)
Yes this behavior is indeed very annoying. I assume they just don't know how to drive. I've driven some pretty crappy cars in my time but I have never had to jerk the accelerator like that, especially if I have driven the car for any length of time. You just learn to be smooth (or in my case my wife will give me a dirty look).
This fits in with my general observations about the lack of situational awareness among drivers here. In most of Western Europe, when you learn how to drive there is a lot of emphasis on being aware of what is happening around you, and trying to predict what other cars will do. This allows smoother driving. Here, most drivers just look straight ahead in their lane. There is no though to predictive driving. It's full throttle then brake, regardless of what is happening around them.
A related behavior is staying EXACTLY on the speed limit by pressing the accelerator, then letting go, back and forth. It's as if they were taught to stay exactly on the limit without the least deviation, no matter how jerky things get.
Also, what's with setting the handbrake at red lights? Really?
Posted by MarathonHK (54 days ago)
I think the handbrake is common for automatics, as drivers don t want to sit with their foot on the brake.... I m not a fan of it. Better to get into neutral.
As for the throttle thing, I just can t imagine how you could do this deliberately all day.
I was really thinking it may be a problem with the cabs.. But as you suggested, I ve also driven alot of cars and doesn t make any sense why you d only be able to go "all in"..
Posted by axptguy38 (54 days ago)
If it were a problem with the cab itself, no driver would be able to drive smoothly. And there are some that do that.
As for foot on brake, I guess it's personal preference. I don't mind at all.
Posted by aussieinla (54 days ago)
My rant –
I am so glad to hear that it is not just me who is being driven crazy by this practice. I think if the HK government was serious about reducing emissions they would start an education program explaining that this method of driving creates the worst fuel consumption possible as well as driving the occupants of the vehicle crazy. I know that someone here will tell me there are more important things to worry about and just accept it, but really if anyone could give me a logical reason for this I could a least try to understand it and accept it, but I haven’t been given one yet. If you drive with locals in private cars this does not happen and when I ask why the taxi drivers do it, they don’t have an explanation or seem to care. However I will say taxi’s in HK are some of the best I have ever used in world except for the accelerator thing. Sure I haven’t been to every country or city on the planet but within the ones I have been in, HK stands out to me as one of the best for taxis.
I would like to se how the drivers would react if I sat behind and head butted the back of the seat every time this pumping started. I do fear I would have a sore head in about 500 meters.
At least when I go drinking my 500 beers tonight I get to walk home rather than take a taxi.
Peace.
Posted by MarathonHK (54 days ago)
Taxi drivers must go to the same driving school as others.. Still can t explain why it only seems to be them.
Your fuel efficiency comment is true.. It s even worse when they come up to a red light full throttle and brake at the last second..
Posted by axptguy38 (54 days ago)
Perhaps we should start a petition. After all it's not about our comfort, it's about SAVING THE PLANET! Ok it's mostly about comfort, and wanting to strangle the drivers.
Posted by nw (54 days ago)
I think the exact same thing every day!!! Some of the minibus drivers are pretty bad too although I guess they have more of an excuse with their big clunky gears.
I also have an issue when they have their walkie talkie type device turned up to the max with the annoying static and repeated messages over and over again.
Posted by FKKC (54 days ago)
Some of the taxi-drivers have their walkie-talkies and their radios in full force which is so annoying! And if you happen to sit in the front seat, you'll be freezed to death.
Posted by sleepnaked (54 days ago)
Get in. Tell the driver where you want to go. Put on your i-pod and look out of the side window, never ahead.
The only way for a regular taxi user to prevent the build up fatal blood pressure levels.
Posted by axptguy38 (53 days ago)
If I look out the side window I am liable to get horrible nausea. ;)
Posted by MarathonHK (53 days ago)
I have to always watch straight ahead if not I also feel terribly sick..
There do seem to be alot of annoying things when you think about it.. Another one might be the drivers who have 10 phones (I seriously counted 10 one day.... all line up on the dashboard) and each ones keeps bipping with a text message every 30 seconds. =)
Posted by Sapphire (53 days ago)
Another thing which really irks me is the constant use of hazzard warning lights everytime they stop or just slow down! I was taught that these were for use to warn other drivers of 'hazzardous' situations or 'emergencies'. If they are just pulling over to let someone out they should use their indicator and pull in to the roadside, and when they are slowing down their brake lights should be sufficient to warn the driver behind that they are doing so.
Posted by axptguy38 (53 days ago)
I have actually started using the hazard lights, but only if I am behind a blind curve with a sudden slowdown. Seems prudent. I do agree that some drivers use them all the time.
"Another one might be the drivers who have 10 phones (I seriously counted 10 one day.... all line up on the dashboard) and each ones keeps bipping with a text message every 30 seconds. =)"
Those guys are really with it. As I understand it they are the switchboard for a small fleet.
Posted by Cat.LG (51 days ago)
Try to talk to taxi drivers in English..especially when you only got a less well known address... :(
Posted by 190k (49 days ago)
Handbrake at Red lights is a good driving practice along with putting the vehicle into neutral especially for automatic gearboxed vehicles (Taxi's are auto). If you get rear ended your foot will come off the foot brake and you will be shunted forward to either hit the vehicle in front, a pedestrian crossing the road ahead of you or worse be shunted into the junction and then get T-boned by another vehicle.
As for the kangaroo accelarator pedal just pure bad driving but a lot of public service vehicle drivers do it even double decker busses. I reckon it is lack of anticipation and awareness of the raod and traffic conditions. I have been is some taxi's where the driver saws at the steering wheel when driving on a straight road really really annoying
Posted by MarathonHK (49 days ago)
I forgot the steering wheel thing. I ve witnessed that a few times and again wondered if the taxi had a serious problem..
I really think the handbrake is only to stop the "crawling" automatics. Most taxi drivers leave them in D. If you put it in neutral, I don t think the handbrake alone would stop the car from rolling in the case of a rear end crash.
Another funny thing.. What is it with the decorating of some taxis? This morning I had a Hello Kitty themed one. Hello Kitty was all over the side windows (I couldn t see outside), and there were Hello Kitty figurines all over the dashboard (dozens of them..) =)
Posted by Starbucks2 (49 days ago)
That decoration style is not limited to just taxis. What is with grown men and women driving cars with rows of soft toys along the back window??? Maybe I could understand if you also had a car full of kids but even then ...
Posted by axptguy38 (49 days ago)
Those are great. My daughters love the Hello Kitty taxis. We had a hard time explaining we couldn't wait for one of those the next time.
As for the "cute" it's a Far East thing. In Japan it is even more prevalent. Accepting and liking "cute" things like Hello Kitty is socially acceptable for adult males in Japan and HK, in a way that is completely alien for a Western male.
Posted by six (48 days ago)
why don't we get someone to type (in chinese) an explanation of
stop start being bad for fuel efficiency (they pay for their own fuel after all) and
a description of how to watch 4 or 5 cars ahead for the need to break
then we can all print it and give it to taxi drivers on an as needs basis....
maybe that's how we can actually improve the situation.
Posted by tetsuos (48 days ago)
Re: Handbrake -
The creeping automatic thing is definitely not the reason. Taxi drivers have been doing this since I first arrived in HK almost 10 years ago, when almost all the taxis were automatic. The minibus drivers still do this too, and AFAIK none of them are automatic. Logic suggests that this is either a way for the drivers to rest their ankles/calves when stopped, since much of Hong Kong is quite hilly and they would otherwise have to keep one foot on the brake, OR this is a learned habit from the days of manual transmissions to avoid sliding backwards down a hill when starting up again.
Re: pumping the pedals (a.k.a. binary acceleration) -
This is not unique to taxi/public transport drivers. One of the moms in my high school carpool was from HK, and she matched the worst of HK's taxi drivers with her pedal madness. I dreaded the days when she would drive, since I would arrive at school with horrible nausea from the lurching drive there. I think this MUST be caused by some cadre of psychotic driving instructors in HK teaching their students to drive this way. Did you know that there are only a handful of driving instructors? Have you ever been stuck behind one of those pitiful "learner" vans that has to drive at no more than 10 km/h? I wonder every day how those students can seamlessly transition from snail's pace drivers training to road rage delivery van/truck kamikaze pilots. Gripe gripe gripe.. I love HK. :-)
Posted by axptguy38 (48 days ago)
"Have you ever been stuck behind one of those pitiful "learner" vans that has to drive at no more than 10 km/h?"
No, but I see them every day. Seriously, how slow can you go?
Posted by magnolia_khan (46 days ago)
Oh man don't get me started on taxi drivers in hk...
Posted by starries (46 days ago)
old grey haired guys are the best taxi HK drivers- they speak English usually - know where you want to go and usually drive Ok -what you don't want is the tense angry looking young bloke or the burly pockmarked long haired scary looking one...
Out on Lantau there are supposedly only 50 blue Lantau taxis and one ,I swear to god, was intellectually/physically handicapped or on heavy sedatives -he had the go slow go faster thing happening but never over 20kph...torture.
Suggest get a car...I did....
Posted by MarathonHK (46 days ago)
The grey haired ones don t always speak english, and what I don t understand is when you point to the radio so they can call the central for you to explain where you want to go, some will refuse.
Posted by shotcaller (46 days ago)
taxi drivers in HK... i too could tell a hundred stories about some of the drivers i have met. i really hate the ones that grunt at my 'cheery hello' and then give me the 'i really dont want to drive you to where you want to go' look when i give them the address. really gets my goat.
in contrast i have met maybe 5 or 6 wonderful drivers since i have been here. I remember the last one was really nice - he spoke great english, restarted the meter because we had to go around the block to avoid traffic, and then he asked me if the air con was too cold. Damn near brought me to tears.
Posted by axptguy38 (45 days ago)
shotcaller, it's nice of you to point out that there actually are some really pleasant drivers in HK. So here's a shout-out to the guy who drives my wife to work every morning. Always punctual, always pleasant.
Posted by Thames (45 days ago)
Yep, there are some great guys - and women - who have driven me around the place. Okay, there have been some really bad ones too, but somehow it never seems quite so bad when one's paying relatively little to get from A to B. In the UK town I used to live in I regularly risked life and limb getting in to dirty, malodorous and clapped-out old jalopies and paid five times as much for the privilege. Quite often the communication difficulties were about the same too.
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