I had an epiphany of sorts this morning; or rather, my husband did. If we all drove like taxi drivers, there would be a lot less traffic and a lot less accidents on the road.
It came upon us both while we were driving our usual route to work early this morning. As we were rounding a tight corner in heavy traffic, a taxi cab to our right simply swept over into our lane, mid-corner, sans braking, but with a signal. He slotted himself perfectly into the space between our car and the car in front.
As he did so, my husband had his mini epiphany and declared that everyone should drive like said taxi man.
At first I didn't agree (as we wives are apt to do), but then I thought about it for a moment and realized that he really might be on to something.
Taxi drivers spend, sometimes, close to 20 hours a day on the road. They deal with city, suburban and highway driving. They're confident on the road and they (generally) know where they're going. So why is it that taxi drivers often get a bad rep? Well, it's everyone else on the road. All the nervous drivers who freak out when taxi drivers pull a move like the one pulled on us this morning.
Instead of honking the horn, slamming on the brakes and generally throwing a fit, I let Mr Taxi Man gently slip into his spot between my front bumper and the car ahead because I realized his skill, saw he knew what he was doing and I let him do it. After all, he did have his signal on.
Now, of course, not every taxi driver is a good driver. Believe me, I've been in my share of crazy cabs. However, for the most part, they're pretty skilled. If you've ever watched taxi drivers together on the road, you'd understand. Their manoeuvres on the road might shock you, but they're actually driving very well.
Now, how to convince local driving schools to offer taxi performance driving courses?
It came upon us both while we were driving our usual route to work early this morning. As we were rounding a tight corner in heavy traffic, a taxi cab to our right simply swept over into our lane, mid-corner, sans braking, but with a signal. He slotted himself perfectly into the space between our car and the car in front.
As he did so, my husband had his mini epiphany and declared that everyone should drive like said taxi man.
At first I didn't agree (as we wives are apt to do), but then I thought about it for a moment and realized that he really might be on to something.
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Taxi drivers spend, sometimes, close to 20 hours a day on the road. They deal with city, suburban and highway driving. They're confident on the road and they (generally) know where they're going. So why is it that taxi drivers often get a bad rep? Well, it's everyone else on the road. All the nervous drivers who freak out when taxi drivers pull a move like the one pulled on us this morning.
Instead of honking the horn, slamming on the brakes and generally throwing a fit, I let Mr Taxi Man gently slip into his spot between my front bumper and the car ahead because I realized his skill, saw he knew what he was doing and I let him do it. After all, he did have his signal on.
Now, of course, not every taxi driver is a good driver. Believe me, I've been in my share of crazy cabs. However, for the most part, they're pretty skilled. If you've ever watched taxi drivers together on the road, you'd understand. Their manoeuvres on the road might shock you, but they're actually driving very well.
Now, how to convince local driving schools to offer taxi performance driving courses?