It's so cliched to say that women are bad drivers, especially when insurance companies are even giving better rates to women than men at a certain age (typically they identify the type of men that are into drag-racing and the like) but really, ALL types of drivers pick up bad habits!
Dare I defend taxi drivers? Well, people keep asking me if passengers complain when a taxi driver is cutting in or blocking traffic... so, here's my best attempt at sharing my experiences....
I've been in a taxi at the beginning of peak hour, when the main aim is to drop off a load as fast as possible and get back to the rank to pick up another load - I braced against the dash board and tried not to look at the speedometer which was shaking at 140km/hr.
Like many of you, I've also driven passed several accidents involving taxis (this is worse when you're in a taxi going passed) but couldn't this be explained statistically - taxis spend more time on the road than private vehicles and like trucks they can be categorised. We don't ever make a point to say "oh, another white bakkie was in an accident", or "sudans are always in accidents"...
I've also been in a South Beach taxi that trawls the streets for passengers, stopping anywhere and everywhere it likes, as well as a taxi to Wentworth in the Bluff and it has stopped 5m ahead of the bus stop and blocked traffic for no special reason.
Other than these occurences, the drivers are very courteous - did you know that there is an unwritten rule that you don't smoke in taxis? One day a lady got out of her taxi and marching along next to me exclaimed, "Can you believe it! That driver was so rude! he was smoking in the taxi?!" - Hawu ayingege!!!
In 3 months of taking the LaLucia taxi, I don't think I've driven with the same taxi driver more than twice... And every taxi driver is different - some look like they've been awake all night and you dare not complain, others are pumping gospal tunes and seem to enjoy life, others just get on with the job and don't pass a word... Generally, they respect the passengers and just want to get as many people from A to B.
