By Majorie van Leijen www.emirates247.com
Crazy cabbies are a global phenomenon. Wherever you go, you are likely to face an odd, unexpected or unpleasant experience.
Not all experiences are negative. Plenty of customers are lifted and safely transported to their destination every day, sometimes with a pleasant memory added to their day.
At the same time, complaints about taxi drivers seem to be an unending phenomenon. Complaints about Dubai cabbies may not be common, but one could find a few on Twitter, in newspapers columns, or addressed to taxi drivers and sent to the emirate’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), which oversees taxi movement in the city.
The RTA has rolled out a number of initiatives over the past few years to curb the number of complaints about taxi drivers, which represented the largest share of complaints about public transportation overall. The results are now showing, with a claimed reduction of 70 per cent in the number of complaints about taxis in Dubai last year.
Yet, some complaints are just too outrageous to be ignored and forgotten. ‘Emirates24|7’ collected five of the craziest cabbie stories from last year.
Assault
A Pakistani resident in Dubai recently experienced a traumatic event involving a raging taxi driver. It all started with a disagreement about the pick-up point.
“As the luggage I was carrying was extremely heavy, I had asked the taxi driver to come towards the luggage, which he refused, claiming it to be a no-go zone. He yelled: “Get out of my cab now and close the door,” narrates the customer who asked not to be named. More info
