Is 500 baizas more really worth a life?
Campaigners, passengers and even taxi drivers have hit out at colleagues risking public safety for a few baizas more
MUSCAT: Passengers’ lives are being put at risk, sometimes for the sake of less than 500 baizas, by taxi van drivers who flout the law and install an extra seat in the front of their vehicles.
Oman Road Safety Association (ORSA) has joined calls by passengers to put an end to the illegal practice, saying it increases the risk of accident and injury and should be strictly banned by the authorities.
Passengers in Muscat have been complaining that some taxi van drivers have added an extra seat next to the main front seat to accommodate more passengers.
The Royal Oman Police (ROP) is clear on the fact that this is illegal, saying, “If they put an extra seat, they will be fined. They have to stick to the allocated number (of seats) specified by the manufacturer.”
Extra money
But commuters report that some drivers even ask an individual sitting in the main seat to pay for two persons if they do not allow another passenger to be seated in the extra seat. “Some drivers even do not care when a female passenger is sitting in the front. Sometimes they ask her to allow a male passenger to sit next to her in the extra seat, and if she does not, the driver would expect her to pay for two persons,” said Muna, a female expatriate who once faced this problem while taking a taxi van from Ruwi to the airport.
It is dangerous for both the passengers and the driver as the extra seat does not have any seat belt and also little room is left for the driver to change gear, she said.
Another expatriate, Irfan, says that he once almost hit his head when the driver applied the brake suddenly as he was sitting in the extra seat which is not safe at all.
Saeed, a taxi driver, said that he does not approve of his colleagues who endanger the lives of the passengers for some extra money, at times even less than 500 baizas.
“If an accident happens, they will be in trouble,” he added.
Call for punishment
Speaking to the Times of Oman, Shaima Murtadha Al Lawati, chief executive officer of Oman Road Safety Association (ORSA), warned about the many consequences of this practice and called for a crackdown on both the drivers and those who assist them in installing these seats.
“Authorities must stop this by educating the taxi drivers and imposing fines upon those who have installed these seats. Also, there should be follow-ups on removing these additional seats from the vans. As an effective measure, vehicle garages providing such a service should be shut down and their owners educated on the matter,” she said, encouraging involvement of the Public Authority for Consumer Protection to stop car garages offering this service.
The CEO of ORSA says that offering additional passenger capacity is ‘very dangerous’ for many reasons.