Careful next time you honk your horn at that cabby

The explosion of violence from the cabby came suddenly.

And when it was over, rojak seller Choo Zin Chye, 49, was left bleeding with a broken cheekbone.

The incident occurred at about 9.30am on 9 Jul, along Woodlands Street 31.

Mr Choo had been at Woodlands buying ingredients for his rojak stall in Geylang.

He was driving along a two-way road, with cars parked along both sides.

This made it difficult for more than one vehicle to pass through from either direction.

Mr Choo had been waiting in line behind a taxi, trying to exit from the road. Both their vehicles were straddling the centre white line.

It was then that a delivery truck turned into the road, coming face to face with the taxi.

Mr Choo claimed that there was sufficient space on the left for the taxi driver to move.

The truck driver stopped his vehicle and waited.

However, the taxi driver, described as a bald man in his 30s, persisted in moving forwards – as if trying to force the truck to reverse. (story)

Cabby catches thief

A thief was nabbed on Monday with the help of a public-spirited taxi driver.

The 45-year-old thief was on the run after stealing two handphones valued at $1,250 from a unit at Block 168, Lorong 1 Toa Payoh at 10.30am.

Taxi driver Oh Kim Beng, 50, who had stopped his taxi at the traffic junction along Lorong 6 Toa Payoh, saw the owner of the handphones chasing after the thief and decided to help.

He drove his taxi into the carpark of Block 153 Lorong 2 Toa Payoh and managed to intercept the thief.

Mr Oh got out and gave chase. After a short while, he managed to pin the thief down. (story)

60 yr old woman blocks taxi after dispute

A 60 yr old woman was so enraged by a taxi driver showing her an obscene sign, she planted herself in front of his taxi.

Madam Lee Geok Hiok, a cleaner, was parking her car along the road behind People’s Park Centre at 11.30am on Tuesday when the taxi driver sounded his horn.

She said: ‘I gestured to him to wait and he made this rude sign with his finger.’

She marched to his stationary taxi, opened the driver’s door and asked him why he showed her the bad sign.

‘He tried to deny doing so but then apologised,’ she said.

She called the police and held onto the door to prevent him from driving off. (story)

High taxi fares blamed for low turnout

Higher taxi fares are keeping some commuters away this festive season. ComfortDelgro, largest taxi operator here with 15,000 taxis, saw a 10 per cent drop in all call bookings on Monday, the first day of the increased fares.

SMRT, the second largest operator with 3,000 taxis, also received 200 fewer calls during Monday’s morning peak hours from 7am to 9am.

A spokesman, however, said that bookings went back to normal for the rest of the day. SMRT’s fall in bookings comes despite them not raising fares till Friday.

One commuter who decided to stay off cabs on Tuesday was Ms Shianna Tan, 28, shipping officer. She normally takes a taxi from her home in Aljunied to her workplace in Changi Industrial Park to work by 8.30am. (story)

Crackdown on taxi drivers taking effect

The crackdown on errant cabbies seems to have taken effect, especially against touting. In the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) latest enforcement operations, no cabbies were caught touting. However, six were nabbed for overcharging and eight for refusing to pick up passengers.

The last big enforcement operation from Nov 6 to 17 netted 36 errant cabbies. In the latest 13-day operation, which started on Nov 19 – day the stiffer penalties come into force effect – and ended on Dec 1, LTA officers covered several popular spots with touts like Boat Quay, Clarke Quay, Mustafa Centre, Orchard Towers, Chijmes and Shenton Way. (story)