An alarming case of a comfort cab driver

From ST Forum:

Jan 10, 2006

Cabby doesn't like to be told how to drive, stops at PIE, eats dinner, taunts stranded passengers

I would like to express my utmost displeasure and disgust at a Comfort cab driver whom my wife and I encountered on January 2.

We flagged down the cab outside Centrepoint Shopping Centre along Cuppage Road. The taxi number was SHC1995L. The driver was instructed to go by Bukit Timah Road, Steven Road, PIE, BKE to Bukit Panjang.

Along the PIE, the driver kept driving on the extreme left lane of the expressway at about 60kmh. I advised him to stop tailgating a lorry and if it was possible to drive on the other lanes as that lane was meant for slower vehicles.

The driver then abruptly changed lanes before driving back to the extreme left lane. Then he suddenly stopped the vehicle on the left road shoulder on the PIE, just before entering BKE (Woodlands) Exit 24.

I questioned him on the reason for stopping the vehicle. The driver said he 'does not like people to tell him how to drive his taxi.'

He then accused me of 'thinking that I've got money and can order people around', an accusation which was absurd. The driver then said that he had 'plenty of time to play with us, even until midnight' and that 'he doesn't mind sleeping in the cab for the night.'

Then the driver claimed that he was hungry and took out his dinner box and began to eat in front of us. He even taunted us by saying 'too bad you cannot eat.'

I asked if he could continue to drive after eating. But he refused and said that he needed to sleep. I demanded that he carry on driving, but this was greeted with his vulgarities.

The driver tried to scare my wife by saying 'What do you think if on-coming vehicles come crashing onto the back of the vehicle? The back passengers will surely die first and will be crushed to death.'

The driver also switched off the air-conditioning and refused to let my wife open the doors to allow air in by auto-closing them. Disturbed, I called the Comfort hotline to see if they could arrange another cab to pick us up as we could sense that we were in a precarious situation.

To our disappointment, we were told that taxis cannot pick up passengers on the expressway.

The driver said he was not afraid of being banned from driving cabs as he did not mind losing his job. He also challenged us to sue him and take him to court.

The episode ended when my son hailed another Comfort cab, ironically, from West Mall Shopping to pick us up on the PIE.

I have always believed in the high quality services of Comfort taxi but this dramatic incident has definitely changed my mind about the standards of the company.

This incident clearly portrays the unruly and unreasonable behaviour of the Comfort taxi driver. It was raining very heavily on that stormy night and you can imagine the physiological trauma and distress that my wife, who has a history of hypertension, went through, being stranded on the road with a 'weird' driver in a cab at night in almost complete darkness.

This incident has also tarnished the image of Comfort taxi drivers and it raises questions about Comfort's philosophy of providing excellent and fuss-free transport services to commuters.

I am totally flabbergasted and shocked at this incident and I hope to get a satisfactory explanation for what happened on that night.

Mok Chee Cheong