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Strict monitoring of Sharjah taxis urged

The harassed road users demand that the authorities strictly monitor taxis and ensure that they stop at designated places only to reduce the possibility of accidents.

“They stop anywhere, at any time,” said Mohammed Amin, while complaining about the driving etiquettes of the taxi drivers. “The taxi drivers do not put on the indicators before suddenly stopping in the middle of the road,” added Amin.

Commuters also demanded that more bays be constructed for taxis so that people could wait there.

“Driving in the emirate is becoming haphazard and this is partly due to errant taxi drivers,” noted another resident.

“I suggest that the authorities construct more bays for taxis since the emirate does not have bus-stops where the taxis can stop to pick up passengers,” said Omar Khan, adding that the authorities should also launch an awareness campaign among people to stop taxis only in the designated areas. Taxi drivers accept the charge but add that if they look for a proper place to park, they would lose out on prospective passengers. “We also realise that the practice is dangerous, but this is only because of the shortage of bays on most roads in the emirate,” said a taxi driver.

The drivers also stressed that there was a need to increase the number of bays in the emirate.

“If we wait for a proper parking space, then it might be far away from where the passenger is standing, and he might not want to walk the distance. This way we might lose the passenger,” he added.

“Several times, I have had to apply sudden brakes because a taxi stopped in the middle of the road,” said Farheen Mohammed. “And because of the sudden brakes, my children have also fallen from the seats and hurt themselves,” she said, adding that this practice adopted by taxi drivers should be stopped immediately.

Farheen also said that she had seen major accidents happening on the roads because cars would be racing on full throttle on the fast lane when suddenly a taxi driver would stop in the middle of the road and cause a crash.

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