Taxi Rider Wisdom: 7 Things Women Should Do When Getting a Cab
Sure, you could hike up your skirt and show a little leg, but there are other ways to hail a cab and make sure you safely arrive.
Blagica S. Bottigliero’s Gals’ Guide website recently included an interesting post about tips for catching a cab. The tech maven knows her stuff. I’ve combined some of the Gals’ Guide tips with a few of my own.
1. Send a text message to book a cab.
This helps track where you are and who is driving you. Try TaxiMagic which will book you a cab with 303 Taxi, Flash Cab or Chicago Carriage Cab. Text your address and or location to 571-232-1430 (Example: 201 North State Street 60601 or Starbucks 60625) You can order and pay for the cab via the RideCharge Mobile App which works with an iPhone and BlackBerry. (To download click here.) You can pay by calling 877-417-4337. Once the payment has been processed you will receive a confirmation text message and
Another option is using GoFastCab. Text your address to 777222.
Text HELP to either GoFastCab or TaxiMagic to get additional assistance or text CANCEL to void an unneeded taxi.
GoFastCab also allows you to text STATUS to receive current updates on the cab’s location.
2. Get the Cab’s number.
Don’t wait until the cabbie pulls away. Get it first. And try to get the last name of the driver. If the cab driver refuses, get out of the cab. Also check to see if the license photo even remotely matches the actual driver of the vehicle. Many times it won’t.
3. Text the cab’s number to a friend.
This gives you a timestamp of your whereabouts and the ID of the cab. You can also use your camera phone and send a photo of the cabbie’s number.
4. Tell the cabbie if you are paying with a credit card, first.
Make sure you tell your driver at the start, not at the end. Some still don’t have credit card machines. If you don’t tell your driver at the start the cabbie could easily become irate and lock the doors on you if he thinks you’ve taken him for a free ride and have no way to pay.
5. Know where you are going.
Always, always, always keep track of the route in which your cab driver is going. Many of us may think that being a bit tipsy allows for not keeping track of the road. Wrong.
6. Have your cash/credit card ready before the cab comes to a stop.
This way, you can hand over your payment and not give the cabbie a chance to do something inappropriate. Keep in mind your life isn’t worth fighting over a cab fare.
7. Complain if something does happen.
Too many times women stay silent if something happens. If you do need to file a cab driver complaint click here on the City of Chicago’s website. You will need the address of where you started. You can also call 311 the City of Chicago’s non-emergency line or 312-744-5000 for anyone outside of the city limits.
WHEEL WISDOM
Hopefully you won’t have to ever worry about filing a complaint. Like any sector of the population a few cabbies are jerks, but most aren’t. Taxi drivers are an interesting mix; like shrinks on wheels. They listen and they know. Most won’t get angry as long as you’re not ridiculously loud, obnoxious or puke in their cab.
One of my favorite books is Taxi Driver Wisdom. It is filled with pithy cabbie sayings like:
“You say what you like to hear.”
“If you choose a new life, you must have not wanted the old one anymore.”
”When there is something you want, it seems it is everywhere.”
“I see more of what is going on around me because I am not concerned with finding a parking place.”
“When your man is mad, wait, wait until he’s in the right mood. Never approach fire with gas.”
“If someone gets rich, I do not cheer for them. I weep for myself.”
“How dirty you can talk depends on which summer job you have.”
“The things you love are as stupid as the things you hate and are easily interchangeable.”
“It’s always better to be behind a police car.”
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I like the shrieking, ear-splitting two-finger whistle myself, a skill I picked up at 8 in boarding school. It gets cabs — and could make plenty of noise if I needed it to.
While it’s wise to be safe, this all seems a little paranoid to me. I’ve taken cabs all over the world and nothing bad has ever happened in one.
Well, I’m all for taking risks, but I beg to differ with you. I don’t think these suggestions are being a bit paranoid. It’s about being smart, safe and more importantly to prepare for the worst, hope for the best. I’m glad nothing has happened to you, but there are quite a few women in Chicago who have had problems.
Please read Chicagoan Hope Bertram’s account of cab problems on her blog. A taxi driver took her down the wrong street and then locked her in his cab. She was smart enough to Tweet about it and post the cab number on Facebook after calling 911.
http://theyearofhope.com/?p=102
Another example: A $1 million bail was set for a Chicago cabdriver who sexually assaulted a female passanger in July 2009.
See this Huffington Post piece here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/06/cabdriver-charged-with-se_n_226167.html
In response to another comment. See in context »Thanks for the great article Dawn and for linking to my blog post.
Caitlin
This is not being paranoid, it’s being smart!! You are very lucky that nothing has ever happened to you while in a cab. Until this happened to me, I may have thought the same way. Now I tell everyone I can my story and tips on being safe.
Please take a look at my FB post about my cab situation. There are several women (and one man) who shared similar stories with me both publicly and privately that ranged from harassment to rape at the hands of cab drivers.
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&&suggest¬e_id=244012148928
I wouldn’t call these suggestions paranoid, because obviously, women are sometimes victimized by cab drivers. I had a frightening experience myself once. (It was in India, and the cab was an autorickshaw, but whatever.) I do not mean to belittle anyone’s terrifying experience, or to disparage advice that I know was well-intentioned.
However, as someone who volunteers with sexual assault survivors, I find suggestions on how to “be safe” problematic. Two reasons.
First, most sexual assaults happen between people who know each other, whether the perpetrator is a neighbor, a relative or a co-worker. Only a quarter of rapists are the “stranger assailants” of public nightmare.
Yet we continue to fear the wrong thing, and that’s why I get girls showing up at the ER who were forced into sexual intercourse but are confused about what happened because they knew the guy and they were both drinking. When we focus on how to stay safe from strangers, we distort what sexual assault actually looks like.
Second, I dislike safety tips because they place the onus on women to protect themselves from attackers. Call me crazy, but the only way for women — or men — to be safe from rape is FOR MEN TO NOT RAPE THEM. The essence of rape is that the victim has no control.
When we pretend that women can be safe if only they don’t drink too much, if only they stay home, if only they follow the rules, we set up a damaging counter assumption: That women who fail to protect themselves are to blame for the crimes committed against them.
Sorry, I disagree. Safety tips are important. Yes, ideally men shouldn’t rape women, but we don’t live an ideal world. Men do rape women. On a smaller percentage. Women rape women. Women rape men. Men rape men.
Several of my friends have been raped. I’ve seen what has happened. It’s not their fault, but there are certain things people should protect themselves. It’s like locking your doors to your home, to your car. It’s a safety tip most people heed. It doesn’t always stop an intruder but it does help.
In response to another comment. See in context »Thank you for this valuable article.
To “dislike” safety tips seems as idiotic as throwing around a word like “schizophrenia” when not talking about the actual tragic disease: http://trueslant.com/clairebushey/2010/02/10/the-schizophrenic-minds-of-chicagos-restauranteurs/
Another Taxi Driver Wisdom quote: If someone steals your cab then it wasn’t your cab.
In response to another comment. See in context »Holly, thanks for your comments.
In response to another comment. See in context »