Child vomits in taxi, cabby complains on Facebook that passenger refuses to pay $5 compensation
When a child vomits in a cab, does it matter whose fault it is?
A taxi driver took to Facebook to complain about a passenger who refused to pay $5 compensation after her child vomited in his vehicle.
The incident took place on the night of Aug 31 when the cabby drove the passenger from Plaza Singapura to Pasir Ris.
He posted in the Complaint Singapore group on Sept 1: "Let the children vomit in my vehicle asking only for a $5 compensation don't want to give but make noise this is the kind of passengers we always have to stand."
The driver also shared a video of his tense conversation with the passenger in the car, screenshots of the Tada booking and a photo of the passenger.
The post has since been removed.
In the dashcam video, the unseen driver can be heard sighing and grumbling that he had to clean his cab before picking up another passenger.
The passenger, who also cannot be seen, said: "Will we know that he will vomit?"
Raising his voice, the driver responded: "I didn't say... oh, so it's my fault right now you're saying that he vomit?"
The passenger replied: "No, I'm asking you, will we know that he will vomit?"
Driver: "I just said I need to to chuck one side to go and clean up a bit."
Passenger: "It's rare for him to vomit."
Driver: "So it's my fault?"
Passenger: "I never say your fault. I'm just saying we don't know that he will vomit. You're like blaming, because of us, you cannot take passengers."
The driver reiterated that he just needed to clean his cab first but admitted he was "a bit frustrated".
The passenger then said: "Because if you are a taxi driver, you are bound to have babies what."
The driver explained that private-hire vehicle drivers would just send their vehicle for cleaning,
"And then they will charge you with the bill," he said towards the end of the video. "Once the children vomited, they send. But we different."
Stomper Raven, who saw the post, slammed the "improper conduct" of the driver.
"The passenger was not at any fault. The child was innocent," said the Stomper, who sent his complaint to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) as well.
LTA replied: "We note that you have provided the feedback as a third party and have limited information on the persons involved in the incident. In view of this, we will follow up with Tada on this matter."
Stomp has contacted Tada for more info.
According to Tada's driver-partner community guidelines, its cleaning charges policy states: "Riders are subjected to a fee of $70 (payable to drivers) in the event that a permanent / semi-permanent stain / odour is left in the car (e.g. vomiting) that requires professional cleaning to remove."
It adds: "A cleaning receipt must be furnished to the rider after professional cleaning is done."
