- http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,100354,00.html Passengers scolded, taunted, left stranded on PIE shoulder Cabby tells couple: If car hits us now, You'll be crushed to death January 15, 2006 YOU get in the cab, settle back and expect to reach your destination without hassle. You would not expect to be: Told off. Stranded on the road shoulder of an expressway. Made to feel trapped in the dark and in the rain. Told about your impending death at the hands of the cabby. This is allegedly what happened to a couple in their 50s. And to make matters worse, when the cabby pulled over on the shoulder of the Pan Island Expressway (PIE), he told them: 'If you are not happy, I'll drop you here. You're free to find another taxi.' But then he would not let them leave. According to the couple, he used the auto-close door system to close the door on them when they tried opening it. This happened four times. The couple claimed he then said: 'If I step on the pedal, all three of us will die together.' The taxi ride from hell began when Madam S L Lee, 53, and her husband, Mr C C Mok, 54, boarded the cab at Cuppage Road intending to head to their home in Bukit Panjang on 2 Jan. Madam Lee believes the driver was upset because her husband, an accounts executive, had given him instructions on which route to take. They said the driver had ticked them off, saying they should not tell him how to drive his taxi. He also accused them of ordering him around just because they had money, they alleged. And after he had stopped the taxi, he 'lost it', they said. WE DID NOTHING Speaking to The New Paper at their five-room Bukit Panjang flat, the couple insisted that they had done nothing to aggravate the driver, whom Madam Lee described as 'a tall, gentlemanly- looking man with short hair'. They had just finished dinner at Cuppage Terrace when they flagged the taxi down at about 7.45pm. Loading the back seat with four shopping bags of pillows and comforters, they settled in. What should have been a 20-minute ride became a bizarre 45-minute experience. Said Mr Mok, who sat in the front passenger seat: 'I advised him to go by Bukit Timah Road and later Whitley Road into PIE. I thought it was the shortest route to our home.' Mr Mok claimed he gave the instructions immediately to the driver. The taxi driver left Cuppage Road and turned left before the Istana. From Cavenagh Road, he made another left turn into Bukit Timah Road. (See map at left.) When it didn't seem the driver was going into Whitley Road, Mr Mok said he spoke up. Said Mr Mok: 'He wanted to go straight by Bukit Timah Road. But I thought the route was longer. So I told him to exit Bukit Timah Road and to go by Whitley Road. I thought he was a new driver.' The driver took Whitley Road on Mr Mok's request. When the taxi was on the PIE, Mr Mok claimed that the driver tailgated a lorry on the extreme left lane. So he suggested the driver overtake the lorry. The driver complied. But then he abruptly changed lanes and returned to the extreme left lane, said Mr Mok. STRANDED ON PIE About 300m before the exit to Bukit Timah Expressway, the driver suddenly pulled over onto the road shoulder, stopped the taxi and put his hazard lights on. Claimed Madam Lee: 'He said in Mandarin that we shouldn't pressure him and he doesn't like people telling him how to drive his taxi. 'He accused my husband of ordering him around. He said we can't do that just because we have money.' Mr Mok also claimed the driver said he 'had plenty of time to play with us till midnight'. 'He said he doesn't mind sleeping in the cab for the night,' he added. Madam Lee claimed that she asked the driver if he was feeling unwell, but he didn't reply. It then began to rain heavily. Mr Mok said he did not want to aggravate the situation and decided not to confront the driver. ROADSIDE DINNER Suddenly, the driver said that he was hungry and reached for his packet of rice and began eating it, said the couple. He allegedly also boasted: 'My food tastes very fresh. Too bad you can't eat it.' As the driver was eating his meal of fish, rice and vegetables, Madam Lee hinted to her husband that they should call another taxi. Said Madam Lee: 'I didn't want to make the driver more angry so we whispered all the time. I was afraid. 'I felt that the driver wanted to taunt us because he knew we wouldn't be able to do anything. My husband is a non-confrontational type of person.' Mr Mok claimed he called the Comfort Hotline for another cab, but was told that taxis are not allowed to pick passengers up on the expressway. ComfortDelgro, which operates the Comfort fleet, later confirmed this, but said the couple could have called the police for help. It added that they have investigated the incident and terminated the driver's service. The taxi driver then allegedly spouted 'a lot of nonsense', said Madam Lee. 'He asked us things like 'What do you think will happen if on-coming vehicles come crashing onto the back of the vehicle? 'The back passengers will surely die first and will be crushed to death',' said Madam Lee. He also said all he had to do was to step on the pedal and all three of them would die. His statements unsettled the couple, who were worried that other vehicles might not see their taxi parked on the shoulder of the expressway because of the heavy rain. Madam Lee said she asked the driver to open the door, as she was feeling breathless. Continued on next page 'Cabby kept closing door on us' She added: 'I should have asked him to lower the window, but I was afraid and was not thinking right. 'When I asked him to turn on the aircon, he just ignored my request.' And whenever she tried opening the door, the driver would auto-close it, claimed Mr Mok. The couple said the driver never locked them in. But Madam Lee said he closed the door whenever she tried to open it. This happened four times, she alleged. Two taxi drivers from different companies said that some newer taxis are equipped with the auto-close door features. After his dinner, the driver announced that he wanted to sleep. He tilted the driver's seat back and began to rest, claimed Madam Lee. They were not sure if the driver fell asleep as it was dark. SON TO THE RESCUE Said Madam Lee: 'I didn't feel trapped by the driver, but I felt I was trapped by the situation. Where could I go? It was dark and raining heavily.' Desperate, Madam Lee rang her son using her handphone. Her son, Mr Kenny Mok, 20, was at West Mall in Bukit Batok when he got his mother's call. Said the NSman: 'At first, I thought the whole thing was a joke. But sensing the fear in my mother's voice, I thought I had better get to them fast.' He and his girlfriend took a taxi to where his parents were. Said Kenny: 'It was quite dark. The driver was still seated in the reclined position. I didn't confront him. My main concern was to get my parents out.' When he got there, he helped his parents take the shopping bags out of their taxi. The couple didn't pay the driver, who did not ask for any money. He was still in his seat when they left in a second taxi, arriving home at 9.15pm. NOW, TAXI FEAR Madam Lee claimed she was so scared and angry over the incident, she couldn't sleep till 4am that night. And when she and her husband went to Chinatown on 7 Jan for the Chinese New Year light-up, she insisted they return home by bus. Said Madam Lee: 'I was afraid I might bump into the same taxi driver. 'I also gave my relatives the taxi's licence plate number and told them to avoid it.' Driver fired by Comfort THE taxi driver's alleged behaviour has got him the sack. ComfortDelGro said it conducted a thorough investigation before giving him the boot. Spokesman Tammy Tan said Comfort received Mr Mok's complaint on 4 Jan. On the taxi driver asking the couple to hail another cab if they wanted to, Ms Tan said that vehicles are not allowed to stop and pick up passengers along expressways. CALL FOR HELP However, in cases where the taxi has broken down or is involved in an accident, passengers can call customer contact centres at 6552-1111 (Comfort) or 6552-2222 (CityCab) and ask for another taxi. Such passengers can also contact Comfort's customer service officers or the police for assistance. As a gesture of goodwill, the couple will be given taxi vouchers, Ms Tan said. POSSIBLE CRIME Lawyer S Balamurugan thinks that the cab driver's acts may be criminal in nature. He cited two instances. If Madam Lee had been threatened with injuries ('put his foot on the accelerator pedal, the three would die') intending to alarm them, then it may result in criminal intimidation, he said. And if Madam Lee was prevented from opening the door on four occasions, it may - depending on her evidence - result in wrongful confinement, he added. Mr Balamurugan advised them to make a police report. The police said that since the couple have not made a police report, they are unable to investigate the matter. The couple said they have also written to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to complain, but were told that it would not be investigating as Madam Lee 'was not prepared to testify in court'.