Relative of Passenger Who Alighted from Taxi After Driver Blacked Out Explained What Happened

Picture this: you’re quietly minding your own business on the road when the taxi in front of you starts behaving like the local madman in town, sideswiping ala Need for Speed and letting its passenger alight in the middle of the expressway.

Crude? Well, it certainly happened.

As it turns out, the taxi driver had “blacked out momentarily”, which explains the game-style manoeuvring. When he came to, his passenger has alighted, and in a bid to secure medical help he continued driving despite his insufficiency.

Afterwards, ComfortDelGro announced that it will be sending a hamper and vouchers to the affected passenger as a gesture of goodwill. They also apologised to all affected motorists, and thanked the red car driver for picking up the stranded passenger.

A police report has been lodged, and investigations are ongoing.

Now, one would normally expect the story to be just that, with no other twists to the story that insinuate a possible movie in the making. But to our realisation…

It’s really just that. With perhaps only the other side of the story to be told.

Editor: Please tell me you’re not disappointed.

Of course not! Who do you take me for, *** ***?

Shaken

According to STOMP, the passenger who had alighted in the middle of the expressway did so because he thought the cabby had stopped the vehicle after hitting the centre divider.

Speaking to The New Paper yesterday, the passenger’s brother-in-law, Mr Jameel Mohamed, expressed that the accident had shaken up the 57-year-old.

“My brother-in-law was in shock and the taxi driver appeared dazed. When the driver slowed to a stop, my brother-in-law got out, thinking the driver stopped because of the accident,” Mr Jameel said.

“No one would want to get out because it was right in the middle of the East Coast Parkway (ECP), but he was more afraid of being in the cab,” added Mr Jameel, a money changer.

A full recount

Mr Jameel, 44, said his brother-in-law had hailed the taxi around 1:00 p.m. from Marine Terrace to go to the Masjid Jamae mosque in South Beach Road for prayers.

According to him, the cabby, who seemed to be an elderly man, started driving recklessly on the expressway, weaving in and out of traffic and driving dangerously close to the centre divider.

“My brother-in-law asked the driver to stop if he was not fit to drive, but the driver only turned to look at him, and did not respond,” Mr Jameel said.

Just seconds later, the taxi struck the concrete railing.

At that point, you know the story: the passenger alighted from the taxi, and was left stranded on the ECP when the taxi drove off.

Thankfully, however, it was not to be a case of ‘Man Stranded On The Expressway For 48 Hours Because He Was Jilted By A Taxi Driver”, as seconds later a woman in a red car driving behind the taxi stopped and gave him a ride.

“The lady asked him if he was hurt and if he needed medical attention. He was very shaken up and said he wanted to go home,” Mr Jameel said.

Good job, lady. And nice car.

Should he have just… alighted?

After the news first broke out, some netizens had questioned the passenger’s actions, wondering whether he could have done something to help the driver instead of walking away.

And in his brother-in-law’s defence, Mr Jameel said: “My brother-in-law is not a driver, so it’s unfair for people to think that he could have done anything in that situation. He didn’t call for help because he thought since the driver drove off, he had recovered and was fine.”

Well that’s certainly fair enough, and it’s probably something I would’ve done in the situation too. Consider this: you’re at the back, you don’t know that your driver had blacked out and he’s driving like he’s in a video game?

Shook.

And so, with that in mind, we wish the driver a speedy recovery, and that the passenger will get over the incident soon.