Editor – Reckless driving by taxi drivers is something that needs to be recognised, acknowledged and dealt with accordingly.
The level of danger taxi drivers pose on the roads cannot be underestimated.
A vast majority completely ignore traffic signs and robots, speeding ahead where the speed limit is clearly 60, while paying no mind to yield signs. They swerve in between motorists in an attempt to get to their designated areas as fast as possible, but this is not ‘The Fast And The Furious’. A person’s life is longer than 180 minutes.
As drivers, we have a moral obligation to not only worry about ourselves, but the next driver as well.
One begins to question the legitimacy of their driver’s licences. Something desperately needs to be done to stop such absurd and in some cases reckless driving.
Just last Friday, I was a passenger on a taxi where the driver did not seem to care that there were more than 16 passengers (the designated limit) squashed into four rows, even allowing one passenger to stand in between the rows so long as they did not mind. In between the rattling of the door whenever we hit a bump and his horn that he used as a greeting sign to other drivers, I sat on the stained cushion questioning my own safety and whether or not my parents had a funeral cover prepared for me in case of a foreseeable “emergency”. While this is a rare commodity for some, it is a daily experience for others.
I write this letter to express my concern and anger at not only the drivers, but those who have the authority to do something but do not. I cannot further reiterate that something needs to be done NOW!
Taxi drivers should be heavily fined if they are caught on the roads with vehicles that are not roadworthy and traffic officers should go as far as suspending their licences if need be. Although it must be noted that it takes a whole community to bring about change, from drivers to passengers to pedestrians, we must all want our roads to be safe before it can happen.
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