To all Taxi Drivers

Crossing the road on my way to the bus interchange, I experienced a sudden
adreneline rush as a taxi that wanted to execute a right-turn without
stopping to wait for me to cross almost executed me instead. The cabbie
jammed his brakes at the last moment, and had to swerve further to the right
to bring his taxi to a halt a little more than a metre away from me.

This is not the only occasion a taxi driver's antics has caused my heart to
skip a beat. Cutting across all the lanes at one go, be it to pick up a
passenger who flags the cab at the last moment, or to get to the fast lane
immediately on entry into the main road or expressway. Abrupt changing of
lane without checking their blindspots and without regard for other road
users. Or squeezing into a small gap in traffic then braking abruptly to
match the traffic flow, causing the following vehicles to brake abruptly as
well.

And that's just the beginning of it. Every road user I've spoken to
agrees that the most dangerous drivers on the road that one must look out
for are taxi drivers.

Of course, I do understand that the long hours that they spend behind the
wheel may have frayed at their level of concentration. But more often than
not, the F1 style lane changes they perform are out of a desire not to stop
their vehicle, or even slow down; to save themselves a few seconds. They
don't realise that those few seconds, if spent driving more cautiously,
wouldn't really matter to them. What are a few seconds? Even after saving
those few seconds, the cabbies are likely to spend them stretching out their
kinks when they stop at a petrol kiosk. And so what's the difference in
stretching now and a few seconds later??

And often enough, even though the near accident is their fault, when you pull them over, they bawl belligently that 'you never use your own eyes to see properly', or something else that ultimately makes it sound like its
your fault he cut into your lane and forced you to brake hard along with him.
Most cabbies often display that high and mighty attitude. Mainly due to the
fact that most road users can't do much but bitch about it.

I think there's one thing we can do though, and it has to be a collective
effort. It's pretty easy, since complaining is a national pastime anyway.
Look at how the good old disciplinarian days I experienced during my school
days have disappeared. Look at how National Service has become so much more
concerned for the welfare of the men, and how the punishment and intensity
of the training has decreased in such a short time span. All the result of
complaint after complaint from over protective parents made to sympathetic
MPs. And to me, all these things that were removed as a result of these
complaints are good things. Without them, the children become harder to
discipline and become likely juvenile delinquents. Without them, the recruits
and trainees serving NS become softer, and are ill prepared for war and
hardship.

And so, if our good citizens can complain away good things, why not complain
away bad things like errant taxi drivers whose fathers change name everytime
they make a turn into a different road (my father's road wat...why? cannot
izzit??? Now I'm on Boon Lay Way, so my father's called Boon Lay. Later when
I turn to P.I.E my father also will be called P.I.E!! *smirks*). If enough
of us lodge complaints to the relevent authorities like the taxi companies
and the TP (puiiii), and if something is done against these taxi
drivers, soon enough, cabbies will be as petrified of complaints as NS
instructors and teachers, and will think more than twice before committing
rash road acts. Not a bad idea don't you think?

Please, if you do know a taxi driver, or someone who drives like that,
please, tell them to drive more carefully. Lives are more important than a
few seconds saved.

Thanks to PJ I have something more to blog about tomorrow. Pedestrians who
cross the road thinking they're faster than the vehicles....haha. Maybe I'll
do it...

Riding hard, fast, safely AND taking a few corners.
Enjoying public transport.