ComfortDelGro apologises to man abused by cabby
Netizens slam man who filmed the spat.
By Ian Lim
COMFORTDELGRO has apologised to the man, who filmed a road rage incident with a Comfort taxi driver and later put it up to YouTube and sent it to STOMP.
The company said disciplinary action has been taken against the cabby, who let off a string of expletives at the man in front of MediaCorp complex on Caldecott Hill.
The man claimed that he had politely asked the taxi driver to move his cab which was parked on the wrong side of the road.
Instead of moving, the cabby swore at him with expletives and this escalated into a shouting match. Cisco officers later came to the scene to try and stop the argument.
The three-and-a-half minute video has since been uploaded by three different users on YouTube and has attracted some 9,000 hits since it was first posted on April 14.
One of the YouTube posts claimed that the original video was uploaded by andrewteo777, who is said to be the man in the video.
Ms Tammy Tan, ComfortDelGro Group Corporate Communications Officer told straitstimes.com on Thursday morning: 'Firstly, we would like to extend our apologies to Mr Teo with regards to the actions of our taxi driver.
'ComfortDelGro cabbies have been told to wait for booking customers at pick-up points that do not obstruct traffic. In this instance, the cabby should not have parked against the flow of traffic, and he certainly should not have behaved the way he did when confronted.
'Cabbies have been advised to stay calm even under difficult and unpleasant situations so as not to escalate the situation. Where necessary, they are advised to alert the police to assist.'
But Netizens on straitstimes.com, which has received over 50 comments on this story, and YouTube have strongly criticised the man's actions, saying he was the real bully and that the taxi driver should not be punished.
williampcwong said 'the taxi driver was wrong to park or wait on the other side of the road' but the real rude bully was the man who filmed the video clip.
tuiniasin agreed: 'The driver had self-disciplined himself by not stepping out of his taxi and challenge the bully. He made ComfortDelGro proud.'
Some posts also called for action to be taken against the video maker, instead of the taxi driver.
'I want action to be taken against this person making the video. He clearly thinks he is above the law, and was heard instructing the officers on what to do. His boorish behaviour cannot be condoned and is worse than the taxi driver's,' said yeusmarn.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2...ry_228151.html
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