Taxi Driver Stupidity Syndrome

Or TDSS as I like to call it. This is a poll for everybody to rate the taxi drivers in their fair city. So when your turn comes around, stand up, say your name and tell us where you’re from. Then lurch into a rant about the idiotic moves pulled by your local taxi drivers.

Me first.

Hi, I’m Attrayant. I live in Washington DC and have seen taxis seemingly try to run people down on occasion. Often the driver will whore himself as he drives down the street, beeping his horn as he passes me as if to say "hey there handsome, need a ride? You like my nice taxi eh? Beep-beep-beep-beep! They must think that I don’t know what a taxi looks like, so they need to do their mating call to attract fares. I guess I am supposed to smack my forehead and say “wow it’s a good thing you flagged me down, otherwise I might never have been able to locate a viable means of transportation in one of the busiest cities in the world.”

True story: I once saw a lady hail a taxi, but the taxi was in two lanes away from the curb in on a pretty busy street. Seeing the potential to make a few dollars, the driver slammed on his brakes (much to the alarm of the vehicles behind) and then veered across two lanes of traffic, causing those drivers to swerve or slam on their brakes to avoid hitting him. The woman looked horrified, and waved him away because (I assume) she didn’t want to be a passenger in a car with a driver like that.

Several passersby on the sidewalk (on both sides of the street) cheered her decision.

Is it just this city, or does TDSS happen wherever there are taxis?

When I couldn’t get a ride to PittDope, I called a taxi. The guy was real nice and drove all the way out to the 'burbs, a nice half hour out of the city. He got me there so fast I gave him a ten dollar tip.

No, I have never encountered this TDSS, even when in New York.

This actually reminded me of something strange I saw earlier today. I was waiting to be picked up at the train station, and there were several taxis, about a dozen, waiting in the train station parking lot to pick people up. No less than five drivers, pulled this stunt for no apparent reason: When it comes time for these idiots to pull into the main part of the parking lot, they open the driver side door and pull up with their left foot out the door nearly touching the ground. Is this some fad among taxi drivers? Are they trying to use their foot as a brake like on a bicycle?

What a bunch of baffoons.