Let’s face it; we’ve all been in this situation before. When we don’t need one, they’ll drive by in droves, all empty, all just waiting for you to flag them down, but when you’re desperately in need of one, they’ll vanish without a trace, and the buzzards will be picking at your bones before one finally comes along…
That’s Murphy’s Law of course, and has little to do with this article, but I thought it’d be a nice way to start it off anyway, since it’s happened to me countless times. Taxis – we love them and we despise them. I call it my ‘different hat’ attitude actually, when it comes to this ‘love / hate’ relationship we all have with taxis. It’s a well-known fact that I am both a driver and a biker, and as I’ve declared openly, when I drive, I hate bikers, and when I ride, I hate drivers. Ironic isn’t it?
‘Hate’ is of course too strong a word to use, but you get my point. It’s the same with taxis I guess; when you need them, they’re a Godsend, but when you don’t, they can be very annoying. What sparked this article was actually ‘aurally’ induced. I’ve just heard the longest ever honk; I’m not kidding it lasted a good minute, and at the tail-end I do believe that said horn began to disintegrate from being leaned-on for so long, because its tone changed to a squeak…
It was being used to aurally abuse a taxi, which despite having a proper place to stop and let passengers off further up, had decided to stop next to another taxi which was parked illegally by the curb-side, thus turning an otherwise free-flowing road into a one-lane bottleneck. Granted, I’m sure said taxi had the requisite ‘Warning – Vehicle stops frequently’ sticker plastered on its boot, but does that automatically give them the right to stop anywhere? Of course not.
So why have taxis become seemingly the most hated of vehicles on the road? Every day I see fellow motorists absolutely refusing to give way to taxis, again despite the requisite ‘Thanks for giving way’ sticker on the back of most taxis. Today I decided to drive to work, something I’ve not done in quite a while, favouring my trusty scooter instead for my daily commute, and during one particular mandatory bumper-to-bumper stretch, I noticed a taxi tailing me so close, I could see the pores of the driver’s face in my rear-view mirror. It was because he was adamantly refusing to let cars merging from a flyover exit on the left to cut into his lane. Had I tapped the brakes suddenly, he would not have been able to stop in time.
This is not an isolated incident. I have noticed that taxis absolutely refuse to give way to other motorists, but ironically they expect us to give way to them when required; sounds very one-sided if you ask me. They also stop whenever and wherever they want, something that was kindly reiterated to me just moments ago.
Then there’s the attitude of some of the drivers themselves. We all have our own horror stories about this; women are especially privy to various forms of verbal and even physical confrontations with taxi drivers, and many have lodged police reports claiming verbal and even sexual harassment, while even more have re-accounted their harrowing tales on various forms of social-media.
Global polls have also suggested that Malaysia has the worst taxi service in the world, and that’s really saying something. The advent of UBER was a welcome relief to many who swear by it, and apps like MyTaxi have helped curb some of the negativity and outright animosity and vehement disdain towards using cabs to get around, but it all boils down to one thing; the drivers themselves.
I always like to think of things from a different perspective, thus I decided to try and fathom what it must be like to be a taxi driver in KL. Truth be told, it must be one of the toughest jobs in town. Think of it this way, we get stuck in a traffic jam for an hour and we’re already going ballistic; how about getting stuck for a day?
Taxi drivers are pretty much stuck in traffic all-day, with little respite. It’s hot out there, and sometimes even the best a/c system can’t overcome the heat and humidity. It’s a thankless job too, with little by way of fulfillment, much less job or personal satisfaction. Taxi drivers have a bad rep in this country, there’s no doubting that, but based on my personal experience, yes there have been some very unpleasant moments, I’ve also found that some are genuinely good people, just trying to make an honest living.
Unfortunately, thanks to social-media, no one ever posts a ‘good’ experience with a taxi driver; however, a nasty experience often goes viral within a matter of hours, doesn’t it? But does one bad apple really spoil the whole bunch? When it comes to this 21st century judge, jury and executioner called social-media, yes.
It’s hard to end an article like this on a positive note, when everything about our local taxis absolutely reeks of negativity. Suffice it to say taxi drivers really don’t have the best job in the world, and put yourself in their shoes; they have to deal with some pretty unsavory characters in the form of passengers too, day-in and day-out. I’m pretty sure if they had a social media network of their own, we’d be hearing some pretty awful stories about the kind of passengers they encounter too, apart from the ever prevalent threat of being robbed or worse.
Is this why they have become ‘hardened’ like this? Is society actually to blame for turning our taxi drivers into veritable latter-day monsters? Are we equally to blame? Have we made it such a hostile environment for taxi drivers, both in terms of the way we treat them on the road, and the way we interact with them, as well as the negative mind-set we all have of them, that they’ve simply given-up trying to make a difference? If ones’ environment dictates attitude, then maybe we are as much to blame as they are.
It always takes two hands to clap, so do spare a thought the next time a taxi wants to cut in or merge, or get ahead of you, just let them get on their way; remember, you may be driving for leisure, they’re driving for a living; and maybe, just maybe, they’ll start to adopt the same attitude…eventually. – Chris Wee.
Got a story to tell us about your taxi experience, or have anything to add to this? Hit us up in the comments below!
