Fare’s confrontation with angry cabbie on New Year’s Eve sparks investigation

Customer says question over cost led to profanity-laced tirade by driver

I was curious, I was asking about the fare. I was aware that cabs start at a flat rate. I just didn’t know it was that high.

A Vets Cab driver is being investigated by his employer after he was recorded on video losing his temper on a group of young women on New Year’s Eve.

Windsor resident Star Alsalom, 19, said she, her sister and her girlfriend were shocked by the behaviour of the driver, who can be seen in the phone video swearing loudly and angrily at them.

“What kind of f***ing question is that,” the driver shouts in the video. “What do you want me to f ***ing answer you?”

Alsalom said she called for a taxi on New Year’s Eve shortly before 11 p.m. to get to a celebration at the Parks & Rec sports bar in Forest Glade.

The girls wore dresses and high heels for the occasion — and didn’t bother with coats, figuring they would go straight from the cab to the bar.

“We didn’t expect to be outside at all.”

The video only shows the end of the interaction. According to Alsalom, the driver instantly became angry when she asked why the fare meter read $4.50 at the start of the ride.

“I’ve only used a cab two, three, or four times in my life,” Alsalom said. “I was curious, I was asking about the fare.”

“I was aware that cabs start at a flat rate. I just didn’t know it was that high.”

As the argument escalated, Alsalom said the driver demanded that she and her companions get out of the vehicle.

Fearing the cold, they refused to exit and asked him to take them back to their starting address.

“We were freezing. We were in heels,” Alsalom said.

Alsalom said her friend, Abeera Williams, started recording the driver with her phone because they felt threatened and wanted proof of his behaviour.

“I’m really not sure why he acted that way. He had tension to begin with,” Alsalom said. “Nothing was meant to provoke at all. He responded very angry.”

The driver dropped them off a couple houses away from Alsalom’s home. “Waste my f***ing time again,” he snaps in the video before peeling away.

Alsalom said she immediately called Vets Cab to complain, but was brushed off by the call taker. “They didn’t really take it seriously. They just told us to call when management comes in.”

Since then, Alsalom has had better correspondence with Vets Cab management. She said a company representative told her an investigation into the driver is underway.

Vets Cab operations manager Bill Oag confirmed the company is looking into the incident and had a meeting with the driver Thursday.

“We can’t really say much until we figure out what happened,” Oag said. “The video is just one part of it.”

Alsalom thinks the driver’s behaviour was inexcusably unprofessional, and she will be glad if he faces consequences — but she also understands he may have been having a bad night.

“He was pissed off at something .... Maybe he thought we were lunatics or immature people and we don’t know how cabs work or something.”