EDITOR – Who actually has control over the taxis on our roads? Not the Taxi Associations, not the police, nor the government. They do what they please when they please. It is such a scary notion for me to ever have to take a taxi anywhere, and I feel for the people who have no choice.
I am a passenger in a car that travels to and from Umbilo and Umhlanga every day and it is always mayhem with taxis, you cannot leave a safe distance between you and the car ahead of you because they see it as a quick way to shoot in there for a spot, making you slam on breaks. It happened this morning that a taxi flew in front of us, no indicators, nothing, and we had to slam on brakes to avoid hitting the back of him. They drive on shoulders, in emergency lanes just to get ahead in traffic. We’re all in traffic, and yet we obey the rules and they just make up their own ways on the road, driving counter flow at a circle so they can get around quicker, drive up a left only turning lane so they can get in front to turn right, and this is only a fraction of wrongs that occur.
The accident on the M4 this Sunday is just another example of how careless they are and have no regard for the passengers they carry or motorists around them. If you put in a complaint with any Taxi Association nothing happens, Metro sit at intersections and circles but it makes no difference.
When did it become all about how many trips they can do in a day and how much more money they can make and stop being about offering an efficient and trustworthy service to the passengers? Something really drastic has to happen and fast! I think if enough people get behind this and talk more about it something can be done.
Anonymous
Durban
