London Warning or Danger Tips by bzh

There are two types of cabs or taxis in London, black cabs (see photograph) and minicabs. Black cabs are fully licensed taxis, whose drivers will know how to take you anywhere via the shortest route. Minicabs are taxis that are run by a minicab company, whose drivers know London roughly, well enough to take you to most places, for less money than a black cab. Now, the problem stems from the fact that black cabs are very easilly recognisable and fully licensed, whereas minicabs are just standard vehicles used as taxis. They should all be licensed with a recognised minicab company but this is not always the case. Hence, a lot of people make money on the side by driving their car around in the evenings and taking paying passengers, as unlicensed minicabs.

Because thos "rogue" minicabs are not licensed, there is no way for you to get any compensation if something goes wrong during the journey. And it is not unsual to see in the papers stories about young women being assaulted by unlicensed minicab drivers. The Metropolitan Police has been regularly posting reminders for people to be extremely careful. Less serious than being physically assaulted but still extremely annoying is the fact that unlicensed minicabs don't have any fixed fares. This means that, before you agree to step into a minicab, you should always agree on the price to take you to where you want to go. It helps if you know how much to expect for the journey as the driver might be tempted to quote an unresonnable fare. For example, I've had friends who have been charged 80 pounds to go from City airport to Fleet Street, which should normally cost you 25 to 30 pounds. They thought it was expensive but as they were on a business trip, in a hurry and not too accustomed to the currency...

So, if you're on your own, female and not too sure about the price, do yourself a favour, take a black cab. You will pay more but you will arrive to your destination safe, quickly and without being stitched off.

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Website: http://www.met.police.uk/sapphire/feature3.htm