Arab News  
 

JEDDAH, Apr 1:  Countless women in the Kingdom depend on taxis. This solves a good deal of commuting problems in a country where they are not allowed to drive. But this is far from a hassle-free solution.

“When a woman gets into a cab, she is in fact getting into a stranger’s car,” said Um Jameel.

“This stranger might be a good person, or any other kind of person. I say if you can’t handle that this person might turn out to be someone dangerous, or even partially insane, don’t get into the car. I recall a bizarre incident — once I hailed for a cab, I negotiated the fare and everything seemed OK, but after about five minutes I noticed that the driver was muttering angrily to himself, then he started to go really fast, he maneuvered the car very carelessly.”

Um Jameel says she got frightened that they might get into an accident, so she asked him to slow down.

“He snapped at me, yelled that it is his business to drive not mine. I told him that a lot of accidents happen because of speeding,” she said. “Finally I told him that if he didn’t slow down I would call the police from my mobile, he got angry and stopped the car on the side of the road and asked me to get out, and he said he didn’t want any fare.”

Shocked by the driver’s behavior this passenger felt she had got out with her life. “The way he was driving I was sure that an accident was inevitable, I was more than happy to run out of that car.”

More often than not women find that the driver wants to flirt and sometimes makes disgusting advances.

Sana M, a mother of a teenage girl, recounts experience once when she was traveling with her daughter in a taxi.

“We got into this cab and we were heading home, but I needed to make a few stops, so I asked the driver to wait for me and I told him that I would pay him the extra for the stops,” she said.

“I asked him to stop near a pharmacy; my daughter wasn’t well so she waited in the cab while I got the medicines. When I was gone this driver started asking her questions, he asked her how old she was? And which school she studied in? And what was her name? When my daughter refused to give him this information, he told her that there was no need to be frightened of him, because he is friends with many girls and they all like him. He told her ‘if you become friends with me you will like me too, I can take you in my car for outings to amusement parks and the beach.’”

Sana said that unfortunately her daughter didn’t tell her about the taxi driver’s questions until they got home. “I would have turned him to the police,” said Sana. “I’m terrified each time I think what would have happened if my daughter had been fooled by that pervert and given him her details.”

Taxi drivers that are corrupt and out to find someone to prey on rather than to make a decent buck often do the good-guy act; they are very cunning and often seem to know the kind of conversation that appeals to their particular passenger.

Um Khalid, a Yemeni, doesn’t own a car and so depends on taxis. “I needed to go to a clinic and I got into a cab,” she said.

“As I was in the taxi I received a call from a relative and in the conversation I confirmed an appointment I had the next day. After I ended the call the driver started up a conversation even though I showed no interest. At first I didn’t think anything of it — he started to talk about how expensive things had become and how poor families are suffering, then he started to talk about how people should be good to each other and take care of each other and the world could be a better place. I thought this is a good person. I was surprised and thought it a coincidence when I saw his taxi come up to me the next day. This time he started to ask questions, he asked how large is my family and how many family members lived with me?”

Um Khalid said this was when she felt suspicious of the driver’s intentions. “The whole time that I was in the car he wouldn’t stop asking questions. He asked if I had shares in a company or if I wanted to start any business. Then he told me that he was married to an elderly woman, but has divorced her now. Then he said he wants to buy me dinner. I told him, ‘no thanks’! Then he had the nerve to ask me to visit his home. He said his sisters would like to get to know me.”