Why do I feel like a 12th grader stuck amongst 3rd graders when surrounded by amateur motorists? In reality I'm a college graduate, but in the life of taxi driving, I'd say my life experience/ maturity is equivalent to a studious/ outgoing senior in high school. And based on the skill with which the cars (and some cabs) around me change lanes, turn, merge, respond to light signal changes, etc.... they're still in elementary school. It can get quite frustrating. Like an olympic swimmer trying to do laps amidst a game of water polo. Like a ball player trying to shoot hoops amongst an assortment of vendors using the court as a flea market. A few days ago I was traveling south along Seventh in the upper teens. I had just picked up a new passenger and I was skirting the leftmost lane (at 30 mph) to make a turn up ahead. Another cab (this one vacant) darted across several lanes and stopped abruptly in front of me. Less than five seconds before the incident, I had actually intuited that something was about to happen, jeopardizing my collision-free status. Instinctively I had my foot ready to slam on brakes, which saved my front from careening into his rear end by just a couple inches. He was picking up a passenger in the worst possible manner.
If you're one of those inconsiderate and downright dangerous cabbies who cruise in the middle lane of a wide avenue, eyeballing both sides of the street to maximize your fare potential at the cost of public safety, I've got some serious beef with you. Pick a side and skim the far left or right lane. None of this split second crap. It's not worth the risk of having to pay thousands of dollars worth of damage (most cabbies don't carry their own insurance), maiming innocent bystanders, and causing a big traffic taco (jam in Spanish.)
word!! yeah most of them seem to do it by mistake and they just don't know that they're in the wrong lane to find people. Some of them are so good that they can switch over and do pick-ups without causing any traffic mess, but for the most part it slows down half if not the whole avenue for anywhere between 5 seconds to as much as several hours when an accident occurs.
ReplyDeleteMy least favorite is when i have a passenger, and the middle lanes no longer work because to idiot selfish morons are driving miss daisy without any fare inside right in the middle of the damn road!!
so frickin agrevating, why can't drivers figure it out, if one street has no open side lanes or spaces with open area to move to the shoulder freely, they should just pick another road.
Some people drive like crazy, situation is worst in night shifts though.
ReplyDeleteJust last night I was coming south onto Lexington Avenue and one stupid guy was racing 65-70 miles, now Lexington Avenue lights are synchronized which forced him to hit brakes harder on every block after he catches on the light, there were empty cabs in almost every block and lights sequence wont let you pass them by, then what is reason for stupidity, I never understand.