cabdrivers

6 Stories

Twist in Tale of Taxi Driver Abducted by Prison Escapees

One convict, whom driver Long Ma today calls 'son,' had a change of heart

(Newser) - Taxi driver Long Ma still remembers the words that changed a cab ride around Santa Ana, Calif., from uneasy to terrifying: "We need your help." What made that phrase, spoken to the 71-year-old Ma in his native Vietnamese, so frightening, as Paul Kix explains in his tale for...

Man Passes Out in Cab— Carrying Tons of Meth

Note to would-be criminals: Stay conscious when running your drugs

(Newser) - Today's dumb criminals lesson: If you're going to take a cab ride while loaded down with almost half a million in drugs, stay conscious. A 25-year-old Chicago man found himself in hot water after flagging down a cab on Christmas, chatting on his phone for a while, then passing out....

UK Cabbie Moonlights as ... Taliban Fighter

British citizens with Afghan roots head over for months at a time

(Newser) - Talk about deflating the mystique of the Taliban: "I work as a minicab driver," one fighter in northern Afghanistan tells the Guardian . He spends most of the year in East London but travels to Afghanistan for a few months to join the fight—and he's apparently not alone....

New York Cabs Accused of Jacking Tourists' Fares

Fifty-nine drivers arrested

(Newser) - Dozens of New York City taxi drivers have been arrested on charges of quietly doubling the rates that thousands of passengers should have paid. Officials say tourists and residents unsuspectingly overpaid hundreds of thousands of dollars in all. City officials said today that the 59 drivers were among far more...

Sherpas Navigate Big Apple Canyons
Sherpas Navigate Big Apple Canyons

Sherpas Navigate Big Apple Canyons

As tourism fades, expat Nepalese guides turn to driving NYC cabs

(Newser) - When a 10-year civil war drove tourists and climbers out of Nepal, the Sherpas who catered to them also left in droves, and many wound up in New York driving cabs. The taxis offer not only a livelihood but also fewer risks. "I stopped extreme climbing for my own...

NYC Cabbies Begin Strike
NYC Cabbies Begin Strike

NYC Cabbies Begin Strike

Level of participation unclear; new technology at issue in labor dispute

(Newser) - A 2-day strike by New York taxi drivers protesting an order to install new technology began today, with the union claiming up to 95% participation by the city's estimated 20,000 cabbies, to the mayor's prestrike estimate of 30%. The city instituted an emergency fare structure to encourage cab sharing...

6 Stories