Drink Driving / Operation Holly

You cannot fail to miss the police campaign on drink driving that is running throughout December. The police are being very vocal and there has been plenty of publicity in the press and media, especially social media such as Facebook and Twitter.


During the month of December, Hampshire and IOW police are running their drink-drive campaign, Operation Holly. As well as random (and sometimes reported) breath testing, Hampshire police are also taking the wreck of a crashed car to various venues around the county to show people what could happen if they get behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol.


The wreck was at West Street, Fareham, on December 2, accompanied by PC Adam Jackson from the Fratton Roads Policing unit who said: "I got an excellent response from people in Fareham today. The car we used is similar to one involved in a drink-drive related death I've personally dealt with, so being able to talk to people about that was very impactive. As soon as you mention the word 'death' to them, people stopped; the fact we could talk about real examples brought it home. This is what we as the emergency services, both police and the fire service, deal with and yet these collisions could be prevented. We've got no time for drink-drivers anywhere in Hampshire or the Isle of Wight. If you suspect that someone is drink-driving, especially if its your friend or a loved one, lets us know. Grass them up, snitch on them, whatever you want to call it, because by letting us know, you could be helping to save a life."

At the time of writing this, there has been 52 arrests across Hampshire and IOW for drink driving with the youngest being 17 years of age and the oldest so far being 76 years of age. This is a significant increase on last year.

Why do people drink and drive? There are many reasons, perhaps they think they won't get caught, or that they are not over the limit. perhaps they don't have anyone who can give them a lift or do not think they will get a taxi (or even afford a taxi).  Whatever the reason, there is NO excuse. Drink driving costs lives and if you get caught, the very least you can expect is a ban and a fine.

Superintendent Chris Brown, head of Roads Policing for Hampshire Constabulary and Thames Valley Police said "The bottom line is that there is no excuse for drink driving. It's a choice that costs people their jobs, their relationships and their lives, not to mention the lives of others. Our message is very simple, very clear. Do not drink and drive. Do not take the risk."

TAKE AWAY THE TEMPTATION TO DRIVE AFTER A FEW DRINKS:

If you cannot afford a taxi (which will only cost you the price of a couple of drinks, depending on the distance that you are travelling), why not take it in turns to be the designated driver? Or if you think you may be tempted to drive after a few drinks then leave your car keys at home, arrange a lift to work the next day and think "Do I want to die or be responsbile for someone elses death?" Think "Do I want to pay a fine of upto £5,000?" or "Do I want to lose my licence and have a criminal record?" Is it worth the risk? No of course not.

We hear reports of customers saying that they drive their car because Taxi companies do not answer their telephone during busy periods. Our phones are ALWAYS answered and whilst we appreciate that sometimes there may be a slight delay, we will answer as soon as possible. We have over 250 cars on our fleet and we have plenty of 5, 6,7 and even 8 seaters that can reduce the cost of your travel if you can share the cost with friends/family. We even have cars with chip and pin facilities so if you run out of cash, you can pay with credit or debit card.

There are also other ways you can book a taxi. You can text us from many points across Southampton. Please visit www.radtax.co.uk/textpoint for more information. You can email as at booking@radtax.co.uk and best of all, you can book online from your computer or smartphone at www.ebook.autocab.net/guest/3346 , where you can also check on the status of your booking and track your taxi.

If you require anymore information on our services please contact us on 02380666666 or by email booking@radtax.co.uk. in the meantime, we'll leave the final words to Hampshire Police:
Suspect someone's drinking driving?
If you suspect someone has been drinking and is over the limit and getting behind the wheel – then please text us on 80999, tell us where the car is, give us the registration, and we will do the rest.
If you see someone that you suspect is drink driving or driving whilst drug impaired, you can ring us on 999.

(With special thanks to Hants Police, in particular Tim Feltham and Chris Spellerberg for the information provided.)

Introducing TEXTPOINT

On the 30th September 2011, Radio Taxis (Southampton) Ltd were proud to introduce TEXTPOINT to our list of ways that you can book a taxi.
Unlike text booking, you do not have to pre register to use TEXTPOINT. All you need is to know the unique code for the location that you want the taxi.


This service is FREE and very easy to use. All you have to do is text RT followed by a space, followed by the unique code, followed by another space, followed by your name to 64446. Your taxi will be dispatched immediately.

For example, if you wanted to book a taxi from Cafe Parfait you would text:

RT CAFE RICH

to 64446

You will recieve a text message confirming ryour booking. It will say:

Your taxi from CAFE PARFAIT has been booked. Ref: 123456.

(Please note that the reference number you receive in your confirmation text will also be on the drivers data screen. This means that you, the customer can be sure that are in the correct taxi, ensuring SAFETY at all times.)


You will also receive a text message with the make, model and registration of your vehicle, when it arrives to collect you.


There are many benefits and reasons why you should use TEXTPOINT:

• You do not have to register to use this facility.
• No more waiting on hold on a busy evening.
• No more using phone credit/exclusive minutes.
• No more trying to find a quiet place to call from.
• Impress your friends. 

AND if you want to book a multiseater or pay by chip and pin, thats no problem. Simply put the corresponding number or letter after the unique code.

• 5 seater - 5
• 6 seater - 6
• 7 seater - 7
• Saloon car - S
• 8 seater - 8
• Chip and pin - C

  For example:

RT(Space)CAFE8(space)RICH

You can find more information on TEXTPOINT on our website at www.radtax.co.uk/textpoint . In the meantime, here are a few of our most used TEXTPOINT codes:

Aqua Lounge - AQUA

Aura - AURA

Bedfords Pub - BEDP

Buddha Lounge - BUDD
Chilli White - CHIL
Club Rosso - CLUB
Dungeon - DUNN
The Edge - EDGE 

Inferno - INFE
Isobar - ISOB
Junk - SUBL (Please wait at Subway)
Kellys - KELL
Lennons - LENN
London Hotel - LOND
90 Degrees - NINE
Oceana - GROS (Please wait at Grosvenor Casino)
Orange Rooms - ORAN
Que Pasa - QUEP
Reflex - REFLE
Rhino - RHIN
Sobar - SOBO
Square - SQUA
Tokyo - TOKY
Unit - UNIT
Wahoo - WAHO

A little bit about us.

Radio Taxis are very proud of our status as Southampton's premier Taxi and Private Hire Company and, with over 250 cars, we have the largest fleet in the city.

In the early part of 1972, a group of 12 Southampton Hackney Carriage Taxi owners decided to try and improve the level and standard of the taxi service in the then town of Southampton. The idea of a new taxi company created much interest with several other owners and in March 1972, the Association of Radio Taxis was formed, with a total of 29 Hackney Carriages.

The Association of Radio Taxis continued to grow and in November 1984, Radio Taxis (Southampton) Ltd was formed and registered. This is how the company is still known to this day. The company is now owned by 50 shareholders and they, along with several owner drivers operate a fleet of over 250 Taxi and Private Hire Vehicles. The vehicles, along with several Southampton licensed drivers keep the cars available to you, the public 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.

In recent years, Radio Taxis has become a very large and expanding force in the Southampton area. Our commitment to provide the best taxi service available has led to the company investing heavily in new technology, equipment, larger offices and workshop facilities. Every vehicle is fitted with data and radio systems that enables secure and accurate customer information to be passed to the closest car to the pick up point, meaning all bookings are dispatched as quickly as possible. All cars are also fitted with taxi meters that are set and sealed at the current Southampton City Council tariff rate.

In 1997, the company's management team realised that the data dispatch systems available at that time were just not suitable for the company's requirements and that in order to give the customer the best possible service, they would have to develop their own in house software. This "in house system" proved to be very popular and was envied by all our competitors.

However, over the next few years, technology was developing at an incredible rate and, alongside our continuing development, it soon became clear that the company needed to take advantage of the new booking and dispatch systems that had been made available over time.

Radio Taxis invested in the latest and most sophisticated system available and, because of our knowledge in dispatching systems, we've been able to assist in developing that system even further. Today, the company regularly dispatches over 3000 bookings per day to our drivers and is close to completing one million bookings per year.

Radio Taxis is always looking towards future development and notes all current trends with interest. We are very proud of our position as Southampton's leading Taxi and Private Hire company and intend to remain in that position for many years to come.

Welcome to the new Radio Taxis (Southampton) Ltd blog .

We hope our blog will be of interest to you. Radio Taxis is keen to keep up with developing trends and recognises the increasing role that Social networking and the internet is playing in promoting and marketing businesses. We are very keen to play a part in these new trends and hope to bring our company to you, our loyal and valued customers.


We hope you enjoy your blog. Please note that you can find us online at http://www.radiotaxis-southampton.ltd.uk, on Twitter at radio_taxis and on Facebook at facebook.com/radiotaxissouthampton