Passenger alights from moving taxi in middle of ECP after cab driver suffers blackout

Passenger alights from moving taxi in middle of ECP after cab driver suffers blackout
PHOTO: YouTube/The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - Taxi operator Comfort DelGro has apologised after one of its drivers fainted while driving on the East Coast Parkway (ECP), colliding with the centre divider and causing his passenger to alight in the middle of the expressway.

Dashcam footage of the incident, taken around 1.10pm on Friday (March 8) shows a Comfort taxi swerving in and out of the rightmost lane on the Benjamin Sheares bridge.

The cab is seen colliding with the centre divider of the bridge, appearing to leave a dent in the barrier, before swerving across another two lanes.

Other road users are seen slowing down or moving out of the way to avoid the taxi.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvYrLnlkfD4[/embed]

As it slows down, its left passenger door opens and a man steps out. He closes the door and quickly moves to the side of the road.

A silver car drives into the path of the cab, seemingly in an attempt to block it, but the taxi manoeuvers around it and drives off.

The taxi's passenger is soon picked up by another car.

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"I don't understand," says the passenger of the car recording the footage, before the video ends. Many netizens also expressed confusion as to what had caused the taxi driver and passenger to act the way they had.

On Sunday, Comfort DelGro's group chief corporate communications officer, Ms Tammy Tan, told The Straits Times that the cabby in the video had "blacked out momentarily".

She said that when the driver regained consciousness, he realised that his passenger had disembarked.

"He wanted to get off the expressway to seek medical help and continued driving slowly until he was out of the expressway and at the Rochor Road exit gantry," she said.

The driver then proceeded to call for assistance, she said.

He is currently warded at a hospital for observation.

Ms Tan added that Comfort would like to reach out to the passenger who was on board the taxi to find out about his well-being, and that the company has been unable to contact him thus far as he had hailed the taxi on the street.

"We would like to apologise to him and all affected motorists for this incident," she said.

The police confirmed that a report had been lodged, and are investigating the incident.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.

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