In the very
city to which they were born, some of our DaC taxis were
having difficulty starting up after being parked in Coventry
Station car park while covering the WCT account.
One such driver was Andy
Morris (B78) who told Call Sign: "It’s like
Holborn Viaduct all over again! I drove in ok, but it seems
that my cab likes it here so much it doesn’t want to go!
Fortunately those nice people at Virgin made us drivers
welcome, so there was every incentive to stay! But I wanted
to go home eventually!"
The sudden
failure to start baffled everyone at first. Andy thought he
had a battery problem while all sorts of other theories
abounded – some of which to put it delicately, were less
technically sound than others! Offers to tow the cab back
down the M1 to London were politely declined by the
motionless cabs’ owner! Andy recollected the problem might
lay with the alarm immobiliser, and efforts to override the
electronics were focussed there. Then someone looked
skywards, shouted "eureka" and in unison all the
DaC drivers together peeked out from under the stricken cabs’
bonnet in the direction of the raised arm to see a forest of
antennae on the roof of a nearby office tower block.
It now seemed likely that
the radio waves emitted by the aerials |
DaC's Cut-Out
in Coventry!
did indeed have a killer punch as far as
Andy’s cab was concerned and efforts then revolved
around finding a place in the car park away from the ‘black
spot’ that had scuttled the cab’s electrics. A game of
‘checkers’ then began, as the immobile cab was
pushed/towed around Coventry Station car park to find a
safe haven away from the gaze of the aerials. Eventually,
refuge was found and the cab re-started of it’s own
accord, to the audible sigh of relief from its driver!
Should you find
yourself in a similar predicament, try manually entering
the code numbers on the pad above the sun visor. This will
over-ride the immobiliser. If you have forgotten or
misplaced the code numbers, your dealership may have them
on file.
Otherwise, more
desperate measures may be necessary. If in Coventry for
WCT, try moving your cab towards the bicycle park near the
exit and position the cab in line with the rubbish skips
on the far side adjoining the coach park. With a bit of
jiggling around, hopefully, the ‘failing to proceed’
syndrome will be overcome. The above worked for Andy’s
cab but success, however, cannot be guaranteed and we
offer the above advice for guidance only.
© Call Sign Magazine MM4
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