Unfortunately, in foreign cities incidents with taxi drivers, or people posing as such, happen on a regular basis. What to take into account when hailing a cab? Christiaan Oldenkamp, director of Expat Preventive, provides some do’s and don’ts in his blog and animation video.
“Nerve-wrecking. That is how the aid worker described her taxi drive in Kathmandu afterwards, during one of our safety and security trainings. After a dinner with colleagues, she had taken a taxi. The driver drove fast, extremely fast. She asked him to slow down, but the driver ignored her. Unharmed, she arrived at her hotel. “Should I no longer take taxis?” she wondered.
Incidents with taxi drivers, or people posing as such, unfortunately frequently happen in foreign cities. At the same time, taxis are often essential for transport when there is no company car available. When you are aware of the risks and know how to reduce these, there is no point in limiting your freedom of movement. To keep looking for possibilities, that is what we do in our training.
For instance, the aid worker in this story realized she should not have taken a random taxi. Instead, she should have asked the hotel to send her one.”