Gardai probe girl's taxi ordeal over 50 cent

Fuinseog · 24-01-2011 9:07am #1

By Brian McDonald
Monday January 24 2011

GARDAI are investigating a complaint by an 18-year-old student that she was subjected to a terrifying ordeal by a taxi driver over an alleged debt of 50 cent.
The Limerick woman, who is a first-year student at NUI Galway, was recovering at her family home over the weekend after being driven away in the back of a taxi, without knowing where she was being taken.
Liz (not her real name) and three friends had taken a taxi on the five-minute journey from their accommodation to Eyre Square, in the centre of Galway city, last Thursday.
Shout
The trip always costs €8 and the women had each paid €2 and were getting out of the taxi when the driver started to shout at them, said Liz.
She was the only passenger remaining when the driver, who is a foreign national, drove off.
"He was shouting. He seemed to be saying that I owed him 50 cent. My friends got a terrible fright and contacted gardai who were at Eyre Square.
"The driver drove around for 10 minutes, shouting," said the shaken student.
Liz got a call on her mobile from one of her anxious friends and she put it on speaker phone to let the driver know gardai had been alerted.
Liz said she did not have any change and only had a €50 note, which she threw at the driver. When he halted the car to pick it up she fled from the vehicle.
- Brian McDonald
Irish Independent

whitelightrider · 24-01-2011 9:30am

Fuinseog wrote: »

By Brian McDonald
Monday January 24 2011

GARDAI are investigating a complaint by an 18-year-old student that she was subjected to a terrifying ordeal by a taxi driver over an alleged debt of 50 cent.
The Limerick woman, who is a first-year student at NUI Galway, was recovering at her family home over the weekend after being driven away in the back of a taxi, without knowing where she was being taken.
Liz (not her real name) and three friends had taken a taxi on the five-minute journey from their accommodation to Eyre Square, in the centre of Galway city, last Thursday.
Shout
The trip always costs €8 and the women had each paid €2 and were getting out of the taxi when the driver started to shout at them, said Liz.
She was the only passenger remaining when the driver, who is a foreign national, drove off.
"He was shouting. He seemed to be saying that I owed him 50 cent. My friends got a terrible fright and contacted gardai who were at Eyre Square.
"The driver drove around for 10 minutes, shouting," said the shaken student.
Liz got a call on her mobile from one of her anxious friends and she put it on speaker phone to let the driver know gardai had been alerted.
Liz said she did not have any change and only had a €50 note, which she threw at the driver. When he halted the car to pick it up she fled from the vehicle.
- Brian McDonald
Irish Independent

I really hope they find this guy and throw the book at him. What gives him the right to scream at a young girl and then drive off with her in the car?

Mits · 24-01-2011 9:37am

Is this for real.

I thought taxi drivers were needed to be garda vetted. The law should run its course and if found guilty he should never be allowed to drive a taxi again.

Fuinseog · 24-01-2011 10:14am

whitelightrider wrote: »

I really hope they find this guy and throw the book at him. What gives him the right to scream at a young girl and then drive off with her in the car?

he is a foreign national. nobody is going to say boo to him for fear of being labelled a racist.

Fuinseog · 24-01-2011 10:16am

Mits wrote: »

Is this for real.

I thought taxi drivers were needed to be garda vetted. The law should run its course and if found guilty he should never be allowed to drive a taxi again.

garda vetting is a joke. it only applies to the life of the person since they moved to Ireland. they could have been a serial killer in their home country and it would not be researched.

maybe the human rights centre in Gaway will come out and condemn the racist tone of the article.

PCPhoto · 24-01-2011 10:23am

first of all .... (I really REALLY don't want to defend taxi drivers)

how do we know this version of events is true - she could have been extremely rude to him , the fare on the meter might have shown €8.50 - just because its usually €8 does not mean it will always be - so he might have told her she owed another 50cent and she could have freaked out claiming she wasn't going to pay.

Stuff like this happens all the time - a person gets into a taxi with the exact amount that they usually pay but they are left short because traffic was heavy or they had a bag which was added onto the fare or some sh1t like that ...in general a taxi driver would say, fair enough (no pun intended) ....but times are tough and even taxi drivers have to claw as much money out of people.

I don't want to come across as racist but in my experience when in an argument happens with a black guy or woman ... they shout and get louder and louder ... then play the race card....I do agree with the sentiment above that people will be afraid to say anything bad to the driver if he is black because they will be labelled a racist - the country is too PC.

irishgrover · 24-01-2011 10:24am

Fuinseog wrote: »

he is a foreign national. nobody is going to say boo to him for fear of being labelled a racist.

I would have no problem saying boo to him, reporting him, calling the gardai, physically intervening (if necessary) etc etc, if an as is necessary. I wouldn't give a ****e that people might think I was a racist or anything else.
However, in reality, I don't know anyone who would claim that such actions were racially motivated.
IMHO the whole, "ya can't touch them cause they're foreign" is a load of ****e...

Re Taxi vetting: it' a joke, there are no shortage of criminals, and perves driving taxi's, more than willing to 'drop the hand' or whatever else. For the vast, vast majority of taxi men and women having to share their industry with so many unknowns must be very demoralizing

biko · 24-01-2011 10:32am

Fuinseog wrote: »

maybe the human rights centre in Gaway will come out and condemn the racist tone of the article.

What's the racist tone? That the article mentions a foreign driver?

PCPhoto wrote: »

I don't want to come across as racist but in my experience when in an argument happens with a black guy or woman

Article just states the driver was foreign, he could have been Czech for all we know.

snubbleste · 24-01-2011 10:38am

biko wrote: »

What's the racist tone? That the article mentions a foreign driver?
Article just states the driver was foreign, he could have been Czech for all we know.

The article does mention a foreign driver.
It would'nt have mentioned that it was an Irish driver.

The Orb · 24-01-2011 10:41am

This is very serious...I'm no lawyer but what that guy did is false imprisonment, this thug should be caught, charged, tried and have his permission to stay in the country (if he has any) revoked before deportation/removal.

heavyballs · 24-01-2011 10:42am

Fuinseog wrote: »

he is a foreign national. nobody is going to say boo to him for fear of being labelled a racist.

a few years ago i would agree but not anymore,the race card has pretty much been used to death and judges seem to be taking note of this aswell

TAR AND FEATHER the c*** (even if he happens to be white)

p.s. i'm not a racist

eagle10 · 24-01-2011 11:09am

Whatever did happen and he drove off with her against her will I reckon he could be charged with false inprisonment which is a criminal offence.

She could make a substancial claim and he could end up in jail it is a serious offence.

Wompa1 · 24-01-2011 11:19am

eagle10 wrote: »

Whatever did happen and he drove off with her against her will I reckon he could be charged with false inprisonment which is a criminal offence.

She could make a substancial claim and he could end up in jail it is a serious offence.

Hopefully deportation. It's a pretty serious crime like you said

biko · 24-01-2011 11:34am

Well he didn't drive off with her maliciously. It's seems he just got really really really really really really really pissed off which scared her.

Wompa1 · 24-01-2011 11:35am

biko wrote: »

Well he didn't drive off with her maliciously. It's seems he just got really really really really really really really pissed off which scared her.

For 10 minutes? He must have been extremely pissed to not think within those 10 minutes what he was doing was criminal

HardyEustace · 24-01-2011 11:38am

I never get a taxi from the rank as you never know who you're getting in with. As mentioned before, the vetting and continual assessment of taxi licences is desultory at best.

I'll always get a cab from a taxi office. I find pro cabs really, really good.

sesna · 24-01-2011 11:38am

Seems to be more to this than meets the eye.

The driver may have been bringing her to the garda station, which is what they do in such circumstances.

The thing about the fare always costing a certain amount is bs. Taxi meter depends on time, which is variable as well as distance.

snubbleste · 24-01-2011 11:39am

The headline says she is a girl. Further on in the piece, she is a woman. Why is that?

24-01-2011 11:39am

snubbleste wrote: »

The article does mention a foreign driver.
It would'nt have mentioned that it was an Irish driver.

Maybe it was to back up the "he seemed to be saying" breakdown in communication bit

PopeBuckfastXVI · 24-01-2011 11:40am

The Orb wrote: »

charged, tried and have his permission to stay in the country (if he has any) revoked before deportation/removal.

I've bolded the important part, AFAIK we still live in a democracy with presumption of innocence.

Let's not go down the road of trial by internet just yet please.

fenris · 24-01-2011 11:43am

snubbleste wrote: »

The headline says she is a girl. Further on in the piece, she is a woman. Why is that?

Long 10 minutes?

gbee · 24-01-2011 11:44am

snubbleste wrote: »

It would'nt have mentioned that it was an Irish driver.

No but the driver would have been interviewed and released with a file going to DPP.

sesna · 24-01-2011 11:44am

snubbleste wrote: »

The article does mention a foreign driver.
It would'nt have mentioned that it was an Irish driver.

I also wish to put an objection to the PC brigade for the misandric tone of the article - it suggests he was male through use of gender specific pronouns. Why couldn't they just refer to him as the human ?

gbee · 24-01-2011 11:46am

sesna wrote: »

Why couldn't they just refer to him as a human ?

Because his behaviour was not? Just a thought.

snubbleste · 24-01-2011 11:48am

sesna wrote: »

I also wish to put an objection to the PC brigade for the misandric tone of the article - it suggests he was male through use of gender specific pronouns. Why couldn't they just refer to him as the human ?

Maybe a complaint to the Press Council of Ireland is in order

Mitch Connor · 24-01-2011 11:50am

snubbleste wrote: »

The article does mention a foreign driver.
It would'nt have mentioned that it was an Irish driver.

Well, obviously.

Joey the lips · 24-01-2011 11:51am

I dont think this is all its cracked out to be.

A student with 50 euro.

Each friend gave 2 euro.

I would like to hear more

and yes i agree there is people out there now telling taxi drivers they will only pay amoUNT

Having said that. I hope its not true.

yeehaw · 24-01-2011 12:21pm

I don't like the guy's music either but I don't think I would describe having to listen to it in a taxi as an 'ordeal'. Maybe if it was a long journey, but that was not the case here.

Fuinseog · 24-01-2011 12:51pm

biko wrote: »

What's the racist tone? That the article mentions a foreign driver?

.

some would view that alone as racist.

its a lot of effort to go to over 50 cents.
i am not sure if an Irish driver would get that worked up over such a paltry sum.

maybe he was bringing her to mill street, although there is usually a garda presence on the Square, which was apparently the destination.

there could be cultural differences as well. while we would view an 18 year old as vunerable in some countries women are treated like dirt and maybe he did not appreciate being shortchanged.

it will be interesting to see what take the advertiser has on it.

Wompa1 · 24-01-2011 12:53pm

Fuinseog wrote: »

there could be cultural differences as well. while we would view an 18 year old as vunerable in some countries women are treated like dirt and maybe he did not appreciate being shortchanged.

When in Rome..plus if he did it to a guy it would be just as wrong. He just most likely would have got popped in the jaw

Fuinseog · 24-01-2011 12:56pm

Joey the lips wrote: »

I dont think this is all its cracked out to be.

A student with 50 euro.

Each friend gave 2 euro.

I would like to hear more

and yes i agree there is people out there now telling taxi drivers they will only pay amoUNT

Having said that. I hope its not true.

apparently, haggling may become the norm. there are too many taxi drivers.
if the fare came to something like 8.40 the driver usually says 8. its handier all round.
so the balance of power is with the customer.
I remember a taxi driver who would not take my 50 euro note for a 10 euro fare, but usually they have a bit of change.

Gardai probe girl's taxi ordeal over 50 cent

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