Few taxi drivers go through a shift without being asked about the weather or how busy they’ve been. But something that is more annoying than passengers struggling to make conversation is backseat drivers.
Pain in the backseat
Taxi and PHV drivers are licensed professionals and there are few things more infuriating than when a backseat driver tries to recommend a shortcut, or questions why they are travelling along a particular route.
It’s bad enough for any driver when family and friends think they know better, but for taxi drivers, it can feel as if their professionalism is being questioned.
As well as being annoying for drivers, it can also be distracting and create safety issues as they manoeuvre through traffic while trying to appease and reassure belligerent passengers who think they know best.
London taxi driver Travis Bickle explains perfectly how to deal with the situation. He said: “At first, I pretend I haven’t heard them and hope they forget about it.
“But some just won’t stop and keep telling me I’m going the wrong way and tell me how to do my job. Sometimes I just think ‘You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me?’ Are you really talkin’ to me?
“It’s like flying on a plane and telling the pilot you know a quicker route or questioning which runway they’ve landed on.”
Extra cover
To help drivers such as Travis deal with this distraction and frustration, new protection is being launched next month — Back Seat Driver Cover.
Leading industry experts have come together to provide protection against know-it-alls, whether they want you to break the speed limit, take a shortcut that isn’t any shorter, or try a risky manoeuvre.
It is available to taxi drivers, private-hire drivers, chauffeurs — in fact, anyone who runs the risk of picking up mouthy know-it-alls.
And to further tailor the cover to drivers’ specific needs, there will be three levels of protection, depending on the level of backseat driver: Captain Clueless, Moody Grump and Show Off.
It will cover drivers for all eventualities, whether they are operating in busy towns and cities, or more remote rural areas.
And for those who specialise in airport runs, there’s the optional extra Ejector Seat cover. Unfortunately, there’s too much paperwork involved to actually fire someone out of a cab on an ejector seat, but it provides extra peace of mind for longer runs when backseat drivers are stressing that they’ll miss their flight.
It does, however, come with a seat cover which says ‘Ejector seat’ which might give passengers something to think about when they try to tell you how to do your job.
Terms and conditions
There will be strict terms and conditions that must be adhered to for Back Seat Driver Cover.
The first is that this is not a real policy and, as much as drivers would love it, it never will be.
Happy April Fool’s! 🎉
