The notion of cabs that are just regular cars is a bit foreign to me. Are these really legit cabs, or are they gypsy cabs (i.e., anybody on the street who wants to make a quick buck and/or mug you)?
Totally legit cabs, authorised and regulated by the local council. Nothing shady about this at all - they need to be registered, and have a badge from the council. It’s pretty common in the UK, and I think in a lot of Europe too.
Here too. All the cabs are the same color (white), and all of them have the hat and the taxi markings and everything, but they can be whatever model of car the owner likes.
Front, always.
Having spoken to cabbies, they hate it when someone climbs in the back seat. It’s the surest sign that someone’s up themselves far enough that they treat the driver as a servant rather than someone who’s working a job.
Front seat. Center. With my hand on the cabbie’s leg.
It’s truly a regional thing. If I was in a place where it’s customary to ride in front, I would do so. Where I am, in Chicago, it’s a no-no unless you are a group and the back is full. If you are a single alone person, whether male or female, don’t be surprised if you make a move to open the front door and the driver just takes off. He will most likely think you’re going to rob him.
In the winter, when it’s really cold and I’m wearing my shapeless, long, hooded, quilted sleeping bag with arms and I’m trying to hail a cab, I push my hood back when a cab approaches so they can see I’m a woman. Otherwise, they just keep driving.
I’m in Montreal, and it seems weird for anyone here to sit in the front seat of a cab (unless several people are travelling together and the back seats are filled already.) So now we know that seat preference isn’t the same nationwide.
I’m curious as to where you live that the cabbies would consider this rude. What this thread has established is that in some places, it’s very rude to sit in the front seat, and in other places, it’s very rude to sit in the back seat.
It’d be useful if we could compile a list of cities/places and which seat you’re supposed to sit in, to avoid awkwardness while visiting another city.
Where is the choice for Elaine Nardo?
I generally sit in the back. Unless the driver opened the front passenger door for me, asked me to sit up front or there were so many people I couldn’t fit in the back, sitting in the front would never have occurred to me.
Also, I’m willing to chit-chat, but if I can avoid it, I’d rather daydream. I rarely get any time when I’m sitting still and not required to be doing something; having a chance to let my mind wonder for any amount of time is a relief.
It’s really common for a single passenger to sit in the front of a taxi here, and I always head for the front first. If you don’t sit in the front, how do you get more than two people in a cab? Do you have to go to a minivan style one as soon as there are three people wanting to take the taxi?
I’m in the UK and tend to ask the driver if it’s OK to sit up front. As far as I can tell it’s perfectly normal to do so.
When I lived in the US, I would never have made such a request, and I always climbed straight into the back. It just seemed like US cabbies would not have been comfortable with the idea.
I’m tall-ish/long-legged, and prone to motion sickness, so I typically ask the driver if it’s okay with him/her if I ride in the front. Not one has ever said no. I’m in the southeastern US.
More data points: My mother owns a taxicab company, she and my dad have both driven cabs, and my best friend/sister and my cousin drive cabs. All agree that they are perfectly comfortable with letting a lone middle-aged woman like me, or older man or woman sit in the front, especially if she asks first. All also agree that a lone young person of either gender might not get the same answer - depends on the “vibe.” Each of them agree that they have turned down fares (even at times when they really, really needed the money,) if they weren’t comfortable with the passenger.
I’ve never sat in the front of a US cab. Elsewhere, yes, in the US, no.
And where are you located? Choosing to sit in the front here (New York City) when you are traveling alone is just not done. It’s weird and the driver would think it odd.
Yeah, definitely not the norm in the US, in my experience. Plus cabs here for the longest time had partitions (they don’t seem to be as common recently, or perhaps they’ve been completely eliminated–I’m not sure as I don’t take cabs very often anymore) and they wanted you to be behind the partition for their safety.
Aussie here, front seat.
It depends on the location. In some countries it’s the norm, but not in the US. I think the only times I’ve sat in the front of a cab in the US is when I was with a big group, or in Baltimore with has (had?) a thriving gypsy cab industry where you’d catch rides in unmarked cars.
There are still lots of partitioned cabs in Chicago, but most of them are shoulder height and with an openening between the front seat headrests, and just have the plexiglass behind the driver’s and front passenger seat. That portion in the middle that used to have plexiglass with a little drawer for cash exchange has been removed in the partitioned cabs I’ve been in.
Not only do they have partitions in the big cities, that’s where they’ve attached the credit card/advertisement machine. That’s right! When you’re not using the touchscreen to pay via credit card and input the tip you’d like, it’s playing advertisements to you. The sound can be turned off at least. I’ve noticed these ad screens installed in some parking garage elevators as well, so they can get you no matter what mode of transport you’re using.