01 5 / 2012

Taxi question

Anybody who takes taxis in New York knows that every so often, you get unlucky, and wind up with one of those drivers who is constantly either accelerating or braking. It makes for a very uncomfortable, lurching, stop-go ride.

Now here’s my question: these are professional drivers. They drive way more than just about anybody you know. And you don’t know anybody who drives like that. Most people, when they drive a lot, become better drivers.

So: what’s going on here? Is this a function of worn-out cabs, where the gas pedal becomes broken in some way and ends up with just two positions, on and off? Are the drivers making some kind of weird passive-aggressive attempt to spend as much money on gas as they can? Or is there some other rational explanation for why they drive like this?

Permalink 12 notes

  1. blanchomme said: I can’t speak for NYC cabs, but I know that Australian cabbies do the same thing, I *think* it is so the meter gets off the “waiting” tariff quicker and on to the *moving* tariff, I think they make more money on the moving tariff.
  2. brianvan said: Dude. System of perverse incentives + human cognitive error (a car’s efficiency/durability isn’t on the same curve as the driver’s attention span)
  3. danielberumen reblogged this from felixsalmon
  4. elle-oh-elle said: They’re being lazy because they do it all day and they’re sick of trying.
  5. usernameninetynine said: I’ve wondered about this for years. I think you are overestimating the tenure of the average driver and how often someone lends a shit or cab to a friend/relative. And perhaps driving styles/conventions for recent immigrants.
  6. titivil reblogged this from felixsalmon and added:
    I usually find it’s because the driver is driving with two feet, one on the brakes and one on the accelerator.
  7. felixsalmon posted this