WTF? I’m supposed to pay you money so you can drive like a drunken muke through busy streets? So you can make me sick to my stomach after two minutes? So I’ll still be sick TWO HOURS later, and miss an important lecture? Just because you cant be bothereded to drive propperly?
Asshole! You and all your idiot taxi-driver buddies should be deported, prefferably to a small yurt in Siberia.
I vote for making taxi-driving by fucktards who can’t drive propperly a capital offense.
Ahh, I see the taxi driver who took me and Mr. Neville to the airport in Stockholm has moved to Oslo. That taxi driver drove at about 160 km/h on a road where the speed limit was 100, and drove way too close for comfort to the car in front of him.
Motion sickness is no fun for those of us who have it. It’s not something we can control, either. Fortunately, my motion sickness tends to go away pretty soon after the motion stops, but that’s not the case for everyone.
I don’t think most people appreciate it when someone comes to a lecture and vomits during it. I think the OP should go to the lecture next time with a plastic baggie in his (her?) pocket, and sit by you.
Wow Septima , I drive taxi part-time, a couple of days a week ( not in Oslo but…)
I’m surprised you didn’t ask him to please slow down. Most of the drivers I know are very conscious of the rules of the road, if for no other reason than that a complaint from a customer usually results in the driver being grounded for 24 hours. I’ve seen it happen many times.
For a driver who drives full-time and depends on it for his living, this is a severe reprimand.
Anytime I have a fare going to the bus or train station or the airport, I always ask their departure time and if I feel I have to, I inform them I may have to drive a little faster than usual. Some people do leave things till the last minute.
Have you thought of calling the company and making a formal complaint? Obviously, I don’t know how things work over there but I would think any responsible owner would want to know when a driver is endangering the safety of his customers.
Last month, my wife and I went with a group of family and friends to Las Vegas. Cab drivers there are a mixed bag; some are great, some are scary as hell. In a category all his own was the young fellow who opted to program his brand new cell phone while driving at blinding speed. Now that was scary as hell.
I must say, gommsn, you don’t sound anything like any cab driver I have ever had anywhere on this earth (outside of London). Kudos to you (even though I like fast drivers).
If you want to insult someone, you could say that they “live in a yurt, are covered with dirt, and have only one shirt” (from Larry Gonick’s Cartoon History of the Universe)
I once had a cabbie in DC who turned all the way around to talk to me, gesticulating wildly with both hands, while driving down a narrow street between parked cars with lots of jaywalking pedestrians, in the rain. <shudder>
Most cab drivers are experienced and drive better that professional race car drivers. They may appear dangerous, but your safest bet is inside the cab. Anywhere outside the cab is Death Zone, however.
I take a lot of cabs, and I have to say that 95% of drivers are stellar. I’d trust them sitting my kids (if I had any). It’s that other 5% that’s very very scary and/or incompetent.
I avoid cabs when I can, but that’s not always possible when I travel on business (4-5 times a year).
I have had such a wide range of experiences (mostly good, though), but it only takes one ride with a driver who scares the crap out of you to make you want to write an OP like this one.
Anyway, I’ve always though it would be a good public service (and maybe make a little money doing so) to print up cards that state (in several languages) something like this:
If you take me to my destination without flagrantly violating traffic laws, I will reward you with a generous tip. If you drive in such a way that causes me to fear for my safety or for the safety of pedestrians or people in other vehicles, then you shall receive no tip at all. Choose accordingly.
If anyone want to use this idea, please go right ahead.