Last Friday I was privileged to see an almost perfect example of appalling taxi driving. My vantage point, the passenger seat of a Jeep Wrangler on Sheikh Zayed Road, allowed me to watch in morbid fascination while a representative of Cars Taxi tailgated and repeatedly swerved across all five lanes. The only thing the driver wasn't doing was exceeding the speed limit. There was far too much traffic to make speeding even remotely possible.
The thing about Dubai's taxis is that they each carry a reference number on the back along with the message "If you have any comments about my driving please telephone Dubai Transport on 04 2080 888".
I wasn't at the wheel, so I decided to comment. I politely explained to the operator what was going on and how I thought the driver's technique was dangerous, particularly considering that he had passengers on board at the time.
Dubai Transport telephoned me this morning. I was told that the driver was hauled into the office today and given a dressing down before being sent on a week's retraining.
As far as I'm concerned, this is a Good Thing. It has all the potential to save lives further down the line. I'm particularly pleased that Dubai Transport appears to have taken my complaint seriously, and even had the courtesy to call me and let me know what they'd done about it.
Another authority that takes a dim view of erratic driving practices is Dubai Police. Their number is the free 800 4353, and they'll be happy to hear about highway hooliganism and hard-shoulder abuse, and not just by taxi drivers. From a hands-free telephone, obviously.
7 months ago
2 comments:
Wow. It's nice to hear that someone is taking actual action about that sort of thing. Now if they'd actually enforce all the driving laws equally, there might be some sanity on the roads!
They answered your call, acted on the complaint and called you back to report! Amazing, and top marks to them.
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