Taxicab Confessions

By Matt Wood in News on Nov 13, 2006 4:48PM

The Sun-Times is running a story today sure to inspire horror stories from all of Chicagoist's readers. City officials say five cab drivers have lost their cab licenses in the last two years as a result of driving offenses and other misbehavior. Three of them were for moving violations, including one going 85 m.p.h. in a 45 m.p.h. zone, one was for drunk driving, and one driver was accused of fondling a female passenger sitting in the front seat. And you never sit up there because you don't want to catch his B.O.

Seriously though, only five? Cab drivers are uniformly the most aggressive, reckless, and dangerous drivers on the road, bar none. Any time Chicagoist drives around town, we can count on getting cut off, tailgated, passed in a turn lane, and otherwise menaced by a cab driver at least half a dozen times. The danger is even worse for cyclists and pedestrians, who can almost guarantee getting a medallion embossed on their ass if they dare to dawdle in a crosswalk in front of a turning cab.

Fortunately for Chicagoist, our experiences of riding in a cab haven't been that bad, though we repeatedly ask drivers to slow down when we ride. We'd rather get there in one piece than to arrive two minutes quicker via the windshield. What are some of your worst cab experiences, either riding in one or playing demolition derby on the mean streets?