A woman was filmed screaming abuse in a taxi driver's face after reportedly failing to pay her fare.
The incident was caught on camera at the start of April at the Dawson Street taxi rank in the city centre. In the video, the woman can be seen screaming at the driver, who she calls a "tight b*****d", before her friend pulls her away.
Taxi driver Tony*, 41, said it is one of many incidents that have happened over the last month as he opened up on the daily challenges he and his colleagues face. ECHO readers took to Facebook to share their views after reading Tony's story and watching the mobile phone footage.
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Stewart McElroy said: "Yeah the abuse a taxi driver suffers especially on Saturday nights is a disgrace. The trouble with some idiots is that they feel they have the right to get inside a taxi and abuse the driver because they don’t have the money or they refuse to pay. I was a taxi driver myself and when dealing with drunks I would try and humour them it makes the journey easier
ECHO reader Jennie Mulhearn said: "Feel ashamed for her, just pay your fare."
Tony told the ECHO the driver had said the woman didn't pay for a trip to Vauxhall and the driver had to go back to the house "at least four times" to get his money.
He added: "Then when the woman came back to use the rank again she saw this driver and this was the abuse he received."
He said: "The driver is in his 50s and is only doing his job and trying to make a living. It's worse when people are on the ale, they will be your best friend and then a switch will just go.
"Or when people get into the cab knowing full well they have no money, there's literally nothing we can do except for calling the police about it. People get in the cab knowing they are going to commit a crime and not pay for a service."
Over his six years behind the wheel, Tony said he has learned how to deal with heated situations. He said: "When I was younger I would say things to people and get out of the cab, now I'm older and wiser I know to hold my tongue and not get out of the cab.
"I have a partner and we have a mortgage, and if I get out of the car and get into any kind of incident I could get my licence taken away and lose my living. I would just like to add that we are just like everyone else and we have a job to do we don’t need people coming on to our working and being nasty especially when we’re trying to load other passengers in."
*Name changed upon request
