Fury over cabbie's refusal to give way

Local News in Reading
Fury over cabbie’s refusal to give way

PEOPLE living in a West Reading road came out to remonstrate with a taxi driver who refused to give way in a traffic snarl-up.

Not until one of the locals took out a camera and photographed the scene did the black cab driver back down.

David Williams, a caretaker who lives in Shaftesbury Road, said the cabbie should be given the Inconsiderate Taxi Driver Award of the Week.


He said: “We went outside when we heard the commotion.

“There was a taxi driver facing up Shaftesbury Road and six vehicles including two vans coming down.”

He said the taxi driver “proceeded to harass the woman” in the lead car by shining his lights on full beam and refusing to reverse.

Mr Williams, 50, said: “He even got out of his cab to say that she and all the other vehicles would have to reverse back up the road because he wouldn’t move.”

Finally the weight of public opinion – drivers and locals alike – bore down on the stubborn taxi driver especially when Mr Williams started to take pictures and he got back into his cab and reversed down the road to let the traffic through.

Mr Williams said: “We regularly hear this kind of thing in the road, about twice a week. People are generally reasonable but occasionally you get someone being awkward and refusing to give way.”

Haji Banaras, who chairs Reading Taxi Drivers’ Association, said: “You were not there, I was not there so it is not possible to say who was in the right to begin with.

“I know everyone thinks that taxi drivers are inconsiderate and drive badly but we meet a great deal of bad driving on the roads every day too.

“If this driver was wrong then one rotten apple in the barrel does not mean they are all rotten.

“There are many roads like Shaftesbury Road with cars parked on either side where it can be confusing who has the right of way. It could be that this taxi driver had the right of way in the first place. Who knows?”

I know Reading is a long way from here but this siyuation can happen anywhere. How is it that both cars face each other in the middle with residents cars parked on either side and it's the taxi driver to blame? The m**** taking the photos shouldn't have double parked to avoid this situation.

People just get exited when there's a taxi involved particularly driven by a foreign looking bloke.