Cabbie learns over time to deal with confrontational passeng

Cabbie learns over time to deal with confrontational passengers
Tue, January 1, 2008
By PATRICK MALONEY, SUN MEDIA




Most people walking by probably wouldn't notice the young man standing at a downtown street corner, swaying in that way drunk people do.

But looking out through the windshield of a taxi, the perspective is different.

The snow has stopped falling on this frigid December Friday night and as the man slides into the cab and out of the cold, driver Hasan Savehilaghi knows one thing for sure: Things could heat up quickly.

"I absolutely have worries, but I'm not fearful," the veteran cab driver explained earlier in the night. "But I'm definitely worried, always."

The man, who looks about 25, slumps in the backseat, slurs directions to a friend's house and starts fiddling with his cellphone. Then he pulls out a pack of cigarettes.

He asks for permission, but doesn't seem concerned about getting it.

"Can I smoke in here? I'll give you more money," he says before repeating himself in a slow condescending tone.

"I'll . . . give . . . you . . . more . . . muh . . . ney."

Savehilaghi, stern but calm, says it's not allowed. The man sits up, leans forward and starts a rambling lecture at his driver.

"Can I just smoke? I'll put on my damn seat-belt. I know for a damn fact," he slurs. "I work construction and I smoke my ass off all the damn time. I know that for a fact, man."

With that, he lights up. Savehilaghi pulls over, twists around and orders the passenger to put out the cigarette.

Surprisingly, he does. The smoke, and the tension, suddenly clear from the cab.

"Five, six years ago, there was absolutely no way I would pick up a person like that," Savehilaghi says later that night, noting he's learned how to handle such situations.

"I am very sure many cab drivers passed him by and did not pick him up."

After dropping the man off, the former teacher in Iran who is the founder of London's taxi drivers' union reflects on the confrontation and how quickly he defused it.

These, he says, are the "red hours" -- the period between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. when cabbies have to be on high alert for trouble.

Most situations end peacefully. More and more, however, drivers are facing violence on the job.

"Once in a while you have a terrible experience and you will be (affected) for a couple of months," Savehilaghi says. "You don't feel confident about anybody."

The trouble facing London cab drivers has been underscored by several attacks over the past year and tackled by Stephen Orser, a city councillor.

A one-time cabbie, Orser proposed a bylaw that would make security cameras mandatory in cabs.

The idea was accepted by the environment and transportation committee, and city staff were asked to properly word the proposed bylaw.

"It's a good day for cabbies in London," Orser said at the time. "It's a bad day for the criminals that want to rob cabs."

Until the cameras are installed -- they could be in by Halloween -- cab drivers will continue handling the threat of violence their own way, some keeping a can of pepper spray on hand.

Through the London Taxi Association, Savehilaghi has held several workshops teaching drivers how to avoid confrontations with combative passengers.

Taking a good look at any person in the cab is the first step, he says.

"Take a picture with your mind. You do it right away," he says. "Even if it's a marketing smile (you give them), you must take the initiative. It puts them in a defensive position."

It's just about 3 a.m. and the snow has started to fall again. The calls, however, keep coming in and Savehilaghi is still on the road, displaying the people skills that keep the job safe, even fun.

He smiles and laughs, making conversation with everyone he picks up.

With a few hours left in his usual 12-hour shift, he pulls up to a townhouse and three women leaving a party get into the back seat.

"Tonight felt like a long night," one of them says to her friends. "It felt like it went on forever."

CABBIE ATTACKS

Though the overwhelming majority of attacks on cab drivers result in arrests, there was a flurry of such incidents over the past few months:

- May 18: Driver William Gill suffers a broken leg in a vicious beating by a fare.

- Oct. 11: A driver is robbed at knifepoint.

- Oct. 21: A man and woman rob a driver, leaving him with non-life threatening injuries.

- Nov. 18: Two drivers are attacked within minutes, one punched repeatedly in the head, the other head-butted and left with a broken nose.

- Nov. 28: A driver is punched in the head; the man arrested is also charged with robbing another driver earlier that month.