Saturday 3am in the inner north, I found myself requiring a taxi. After a very short wait I was surprised at the arrival of two taxis. The first taxi driver – a female, blocked off the street in what I first thought was a bid to block the second taxi driver off. After she pulled into the kerb, I got into the taxi as the second taxi driver drove by.
As she pulled away from the kerb she was off to a jerky start. When I questioned her about her experience in driving a taxi, her response was that it was a new taxi and she wasn’t familiar with it. This was an excuse that I was only prepared to put up with for a very short time, as her manner was indicative of her driving – reckless and influenced by what I strongly suspect was heroin.
After demanding that she turn around and take me back to my point of departure, she had the nerve to tell me not to worry about paying her any money because “You can’t please everybody”.
After being freaked out by the whole event, it was suggested to me that the taxi was stolen. I urge people to be cautious.
[ED – The interesting thing will be whether the ghosting driver was just planning to pocket fares, or shake passengers down harder.]