THERE have been many complaints in the press about taxi drivers and how they are rude, inconsiderate and provide poor service.

However, has anyone heard the cabbies' side of the story?

I made my own observations over a period of time and gathered feedback from full-time taxi drivers.

Here are a few categories of difficult passengers:

The silent ones

There are those know the route they want to take but who keep mum, seemingly in an effort to "test" the driver.

Should the driver take a different route from what they had in mind, they would then make a fuss.

In contrast, some passengers always plan their route in advance and give clear directions to taxi drivers.

This saves time for both parties and money for the passenger.

Always in a rush

Some passengers say that they are in a hurry and need to reach their destinations at a certain time.

While it may or may not be true, asking drivers to rush puts both driver and passenger in danger.

Demanding passengers

Some passengers treat cabbies like personal drivers, especially when they have a lot of belongings with them.

They expect cabbies to load their items into the boot alone and stand there without lifting a finger.

MR TEO KUEH LIANG

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