Should I eat in a taxi? Absolutely NOT according to most taxi drivers asked
Updated: Mar 8, 2022
If you’re a passenger travelling in a taxi and about to tuck into a tasty snack, think again because the majority of taxi drivers DISLIKE their punters eating in their cabs.
According to a question on the topic put to cab drivers by TaxiPoint, cabbies see their vehicles as a ‘licensed taxi, not a licensed restaurant’.
Some drivers can however be swayed depending on the length of the journey and if customers are polite enough to ask first.
Big warning signs for drivers are drunk party revellers equipped with kebabs and burgers.
One Perth cabbie took extreme actions on one journey by confiscating the passengers' food until they got to their destination. He said: “Two girls started eating a pizza within seconds of me driving off. Should have seen their faces when I put the pizza in the boot until they got home!”
Taxi driver Jim McMillan also refused to allow food, saying ‘90% can't find their own mouths’.
Jan Screeton said: “It’s a respect thing. If someone offers you a lift in their car, to be respectful, you wouldn’t eat in your friend’s car. Just because you re paying for a ride home, doesn’t mean anything different!”
Cabbie John Bruce doesn’t even bother stopping for customers when he sees food involved. Bruce said: “Customers ask why taxis don’t stop for them. I ask if they were eating at the time if yes that’s why they get left standing.”
After fast food munchers, the next on the list of messy food eater are kids with rice cakes. A favourite snack for parents to give to their little ones, but a crumbly mess is always the outcome. Tony Barker said: “School run rugrats eating rice cakes, absolutely not!”
The very few that were okay with passengers eating in the back seats of a cab only allowed it if they agreed to take their rubbish. For cabbie Phil Elliot it all comes down to whether they share a chip or not!