You'd think, right, that spending one's entire day behind the wheel of a motorized vehicle would make one, at the very least, a competent driver. That this experience would make one aware that city streets are by and large in fact TWO lanes. That inching up through the crosswalk at a red light when you see pedestrians approaching might not be the most courteous maneuver. That having a nine-hour phone call with a fellow cab driver that necessitates wild gesticulations while you're driving may not espouse the notion of putting safety first. Thanks for bucking these assumptions, legions of Philadelphia cab drivers!
I'm sure it's a dangerous job: when you're not dodging your fellow yellow menaces on the road, you've got to worry if the trick you picked up is going to break your ass and steal your wallet. But it begs the question: are bad drivers drawn to being cab drivers or does being a cab driver make one a bad driver? Or a sociopath, for that matter?
Danny Sullivan, former NYC cab driver, who won the Indy 500 or... the "Car & Driver" 'Driver of the Decade' who used his cab to 'pin' a fleeing purse-snatcher in LA are MY candidates.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, cab drivers aren't BAD drivers... they are aggressive drivers because time is money and the way most dispatch systems used to work there is the constant risk that a co-worker will steal a radio call assignment if they get to the callers' address first. Cab drivers have ten times the road exposure of the average commuter yet half as many collisions.
I'm going to have to try and keep that in mind the next time a taxi almost runs me down! :)
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