EDITOR – Having read about the recent antics of the taxi drivers in Edenvale, I was not surprised to see a taxi driver driving next to me in the on-coming traffic lane of Voortrekker Avenue on the morning of Saturday, March 15.
What did surprise and amuse me was what followed.
A young man in a red car, two cars ahead of me, slightly overtook the car in front of him that was turning into Van Riebeeck Mall, at which point the driver of the taxi, which was a good 25 meters behind the red car, started hooting madly and sped up next to the red car.
The passenger in the taxi rolled down his window and attempted to thump the red car with his fist.
The taxi then pulled in front of the red car and cut him off just past the Edenvale Taxi Rank. The taxi driver and his passenger climbed out with a knobkerrie and started shouting accusations at the young man who had cut him off, apparently oblivious to the oncoming cars that were forced to pull to the side of the road so he could carry on driving.
When he reached the driver’s side window of the young man’s car and attempted to reach in, there was a loud cracking sound, which I later realised came from a stun-device and the taxi driver dropped to the floor.
The young man then opened his car door and examined the taxi driver to make sure he was alright; by this time the passenger had run back to the taxi and locked himself in.
After determining that the taxi driver was okay, the young man gave him a pat on the head, closed the door and casually drove around the taxi and on his way.
The driver soon after stood up unsteadily with the help of his friend and, with the exception of an obvious urine stain down the front of his pants, seemed otherwise okay.
The drivers who had been inconvenienced by the taxi blocking the road and my son all seemed highly amused by this all and the taxi driver looked shaken up enough that he may think twice about his bad driving in the future.
I wanted to submit my account of the incident because we seem to live in an age where people are shooting each other in road rage incidents in our country, because the law keepers are not doing their jobs to their full potential and people feel they need to take the law into their own hands.
At least on this occasion, instead of it escalating into violence the young man managed to keep his calm and dissuade any further violence from either side.
And the fact that he stuck around long enough to make sure the person, who meant to do him and his car obvious harm and was acting with complete selfishness and disregard for road safety, was alright says something about how intense situations can be resolved without the loss of life or property.
After the incident, I followed the young man and saw him enter a local martial arts school which I am now thinking of enrolling my son in, because I have no doubt that something he was taught there contributed to his relaxed and quick thinking state of mind in a situation that would have terrified me and has left many other residents shaken.
ANNELISE HURST,
EDENVALE.
