Puke & pay in cabs Calgary proposal would see passengers fined for vomiting in taxis

[thetransporter]

Puke and pay in cabs
A proposal heading to Calgary city council would see passengers fined for vomiting in taxis


http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada...ID/2426088945/

[epp01]

For how many times I've been in a cab, and all of the times the driver has pulled shit on myself and my friends. Let them clean it up. It's not intentional that somebody pukes in a cab. Too many times the Visa machine "Doesn't work" after we got to the destination and we "have" to pay cash. Or how many times they ask for twenty dollars upfront on the cab fair.

[JustinMCS]

I've heard of taxi drivers trying to bill 200 dollars, or trying to, for when someone vomits in a taxi for the cleaning bill.

I once cleaned up puke in a cab to avoid the bill. I was sober and my friend was not. Man does he owe me.

But, much like businesses have to build in "shrink" into their budgets, picking up drunk people at clubs, I mean come on, the chance is someone is going to vomit....

[max_boost]

How often does this happen?

[Mixalot27]

What if the puking occurs as a direct or indirect result of being confined in an enclosed space with a cab driver that has bad BO (estimated & 80%)?

[FixedGear]

Gimme a break. Can you imagine if construction workers cried and billed the city every time their boots got dirty?

[JAYMEZ]

Fuck that shit lol

[FraserB]

And they wonder why people still drive drunk.

Retarded cab rates, drivers who try to scam you the second you get in and now this. I'll pay out the ass for parking before I give them a penny.

[Tik-Tok]

I don't get why cabbies never have seat covers, and proper floor mats for this kind of thing.

[epp01]

Originally posted by FraserB
And they wonder why people still drive drunk.

Retarded cab rates, drivers who try to scam you the second you get in and now this. I'll pay out the ass for parking before I give them a penny.

It's ridiculous, I've never puked in a cab. Seems like almost every time I get picked up at a bar from a cab a "new Canadian" tries to rip you off one way or another. I actually had a cab driver call me an asshole and throw my visa card out the window of his cab when we got to my house once because I refused to pay with cash. The worst part? I was hammered and still polite to the guy.

[J-D]

Never puked in a cab so I'm not worried about it.

However, I've been ripped off by cabbies so many times that I don't like the sound of this. I could see a cabbie tacking this onto the bill of someone who is clearly too intoxicated to remember but didn't actually puke.

I know that whenever I've taken a cab after a few too many drinks, they always take a longer route and rack up the meter more.

[Modelexis]

Some of their driving 'skillz' makes me want to vomit.

If you have to slam on your brakes more than 3 times in a 10 minute trip you need to really seriously rethink the distance you follow and the pressure you apply to the pedal.

[Cooked Rice]

[epp01]

^^^ Gold, problem solved.

[Env-Consultant]

Chicago has this. Last year when we were down there for hockey, my buddy puked in the cab after the bar - not only did he get it all over hell in the back seat, it also sprayed between the window and the driver/passenger partition, and went all over the cab driver. We didn't even argue, just paid up. It's posted in their cabs - $50 vomit fee.

I don't disagree with it. You're paying to be driven from point A to point B for a fee - the regular work involved for the driver doesn't include scrubbing their cab down for 20 minutes because some child couldn't handle their liquor...

I get it if it's a sick kid or something like that, but a drunk person puking in your vehicle is a little unreasonable. Take responsibility and pay up.

Edit: added this link http://pagesix.com/2013/12/16/taxi-h...mit-fee-shock/ - a pianist recently noted what the cab fee card states and thought it was a joke.

[FraserB]

Just watching the video, it seems that they want $200+, which is ridiculous. Part of the job of a cabbie IS to keep that vehicle cleaned for their next are. Can easily see this being abused in Calgary. First fare is drunk and "pukes", cabbie charges him $200+ and takes the rest of the night off.

Can only see this making the taxi situation in town much worse.

[snowcat]

I've had cabs try to outright steal my phone by asking to borrow it because theirs ran out of power, and then try to confuse me by offering me a cigarette, and hiding the phone under his leg.

I was plastered but still had my wits about me. Told him to give it back an drop me off. He peeled away as I "called" the police.

Another occasion they ask for money upfront that it is way more than it would be, in cash. I called 311 and that's against the law. All trips must be metered.

I. Hate. Cabs. They can't drive and they always try to scam you.

[ZenOps]

This is why public transit isn't really so bad.

At least its designed to be hosed down and sanitized. A cab has fabric that just absorbs years worth of puke.

[Env-Consultant]

Just to clarify, I think it's complete BS that a lot of cabbies try to rip people off. I don 't condone it and definitely agree it's a huge problem.

With that said, I absolutely think they have every right to charge you for puking in their vehicle. If you're old enough to go out and get pissed up, you're old enough to be responsible enough to not puke in a cab; if you're not responsible enough to handle that, man up and pay for your immaturity.

If you ignore the fact that cabbies rip people of a lot of the time and focus just on the act of puking in somebody else's car, you can't honestly try and say that's okay, can you?

I'm guessing 20-30 years ago in places like NY, Boston, Chicago, Philly - if you puked in a cab, you/your friends either cleaned it up ASAP, you paid the cabbie a pissload of money, or you got your teeth knocked out and dumped on the side of the road. I see nothing wrong with any of those responses.

[Type_S1]

I can see it now! Cabbies swerving and hitting every bump in the road to try to make passengers puke for the fine. Hey will easily clean out a cab for $250 cash and then not report someone puked.

Calgarys can system is fked, can't believe they haven't tried to fix it. What do you expect when East Indians are running the business though, of course they are going to try and scam you. I am a complete asshole to cab drivers who try to scam me...and rightfully so. When cab drivers say they don't have change or the credit card machine doesn't work I just leave. Then they change there time and say the credit card machine is now working. I usually say something along the line of "don't try to scam people and you will be treated fairly." And walk away without paying. Nobody scams me, ill scam you first dickhead.