Christmas taxi ride turns into nightmare for cabbie
This is one Christmas ride a TransCab taxi driver will remember for all the wrong reasons.
47-year-old Muhamed Malek Mohd Amin was smashed on the head by a wine bottle by one of his passengers early on Christmas morning last week, reported The New Paper. All for allegedly taking the “wrong” route to his destination.
The incident took place after Muhamed Malek picked up two men, who appeared to be in their 40s, from the Holland area just after midnight. The two were headed towards Hougang and were talking jovially to each other, but the atmosphere changed abruptly when Muhamed reached Serangoon North Avenue 3, he told TNP.
That’s when one of passengers “suddenly shouted” at him, accusing him of taking the longer route. He also hurled verbal abuse at him at the same time.
The TransCab driver tried to assure his passengers that he was headed to their destination but was soon told to stop the taxi. As he pulled into a nearby bus stop, he was struck on his head with a wine bottle with a loud crack. He soon felt wet around his upper body, and upon alighting, realised he was soaked with blood.
Hs passengers also alighted from the taxi and his assailant had thrown the broken wine bottle to one side of the road. Muhamed tried to call the police but could not see the numbers on his mobile phone, which was soaked with blood, reported the same paper.
He said he tried to get help from passing vehicles but none did, not even fellow taxi drivers. Muhamed said that all this time, he was still being taunted by his passengers, and stayed away from them by standing at the opposite end of his taxi.
A young Chinese couple eventually came to his rescue and helped him call the police, despite warnings from the taxi driver’s assailant “not to get involved”.
Police and paramedics later arrived and Mohamed was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where he was treated for his injuries. The paper reported that he was on medical leave from Monday to Wednesday, and said on Thursday that his head would hurt after just over an hour of driving.
“Now I would think twice about picking up passengers, especially after they have been partying… You never know how violent they can get when they’re angry,” he said.
Disputes a common occurrence, say cabbie
TransCab driver Jeffrey Loon told Yahoo! Singapore that incidents where drivers get into heated arguments with their passengers from disputes on routes taken do happen, although threats and violence don’t occur as often.
“(Getting into a dispute over a route taken is) a very common thing, and it happens to drivers on the road practically every day,” he said. “Ultimately, drivers should be careful not to provoke their passengers, particularly because we can’t see them from behind us, and we don’t know what they might have on hand,” he added.
He said he has argued with passengers who blamed him for taking the “wrong” route when they themselves are not sure which way they should be going in the first place.
“Sometimes they boss you around, and if we happen to be moody, toes will get stepped on and tempers could flare on both sides,” he said, adding that drivers need to be tactful either way.
The 48-year-old, who has been driving taxis for almost seven years, told Yahoo! Singapore that on most occasions where passengers can prove that he had taken them on the wrong route to their destinations, he would apologise and offer a discount off the final metered fare.
“It’s a learning process for all of us. Some drivers are newer and others are more experienced, but the onus is on us to get the route right, or to be safe, to always check how they want to go (to their destinations) and give them what they ask for,” he said.
When asked if the taxi company has any policies or protective measures for its drivers, Loon said he did not know of any, and that at most, insurance is provided for the vehicle.
“If they insured us (in situations like this), we would be getting into fights freely every day.”
