Went to Goa for a family vacation; Scary cab ride leaves a sour taste

I have driven extensively in India, USA and Australia. I have matured with time. I understand what driving is like. Whatever this guy was doing is not even close to what I would term as "driving"

BHPian para_7k recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

We are a family of 3 - Myself, Wife and 3 year old Daughter on a vacation to Goa from Pune for 4 days last week. We stayed in a 3 star accommodation in Palolem which was terrible in its own right - but that is a story for another day.

What I want to talk about here is about our taxi ride from Palolem to MOPA airport which is about 100 kms. The post can be a bit long and I appreciate your patience. I will try to break it down as much as I can.

So here goes. I am not taking any names here as it is not my intention to put anyone in the spot or defame them. We booked through a travel agency by name Mr T. Mr T has various vendors and service providers according to regions within Goa and he assigned someone called Mr P. Mr P is not from Palolem as well, so he calls me and says he will arrange someone from Palolem called Mr D. Now, I call up Mr D and he acknowledges he will pick us up on time on 3rd Nov Sunday at 5.30 PM. All this was completed by Saturday 2nd Nov.

Now, I called up Mr D by 2.30 PM on Sunday 3rd Nov to remind him. He said he is not going to come but he is going to send someone else by name Mr A and shared his number. I called up Mr A who confirmed that he will pick us on time. We were ready and Mr A turned up on time and we left Palolem on time.

Mr A now started a conversation asking if we wanted to buy dry fruits. We politely declined. Then he went on to ask why we selected MOPA airport and not Dabolim. I honestly couldn't remember as the tickets were booked a few months back. After that, his tone changed a bit and he was like - "This is the time of peak traffic. Mr D took the money but conveniently sent me instead". After saying this, he started speeding and driving dangerously.

In India, I know this is not something abnormal, but this guy was exceeding all limits. I asked him to relax and slow down. His reply was "I need to drive back home the same distance". I again said, that is ok you can speed up while coming back, we have a kid so slow down. His reply again was "If I slow down, we would reach only by 1 AM". I couldn't talk after that as we were sceptical that he would throw us out in the middle of nowhere.

But our man, continued what he was doing in full glory. Tailgating all vehicles, sudden accelerations and sudden brakings, overtaking on curves, finding non existent gaps, not slowing down if the vehicle in front is braking and whatever stupid move you name it, he was doing it.

I am driving for 22 years and counting - I have driven extensively in India, USA and Australia. I have matured with time. I understand what driving is like. Whatever this guy was doing is not even close to what I would term as "driving".

The journey of about 2 hours and 30 minutes felt like 2 days. I was nearly in a Panic attack. To say that we were terrified and fearing our lives would be an understatement. For God's sakes, please do not consider whatever this guy did as a skill or experience. It's only a matter of pure luck and some good karma that we are safe and I am here at home writing this post.

The fact that he had ZERO consideration for any of our requests and had utter disregard for his life and our lives is inhuman at best and insanity and madness at worst. Whatever was going through in his mind is beyond any human's comprehension.

Oh, and the fare was not cheap. We paid 5600 INR for the trip in a rattling Toyota Etios which is very expensive compared to any other parts of India. What did we get in return ? A very close call with our guardian angels. Did we really deserve this after paying through our hand and mouth ? You be the judge.

Drivers like these ought to be educated and tested thoroughly before they are granted driving licenses. They are thriving only on the basis of luck. They do not know any principles of driving. Zero margin for error and Zero CAS - crash avoidance space. Not everyday will be the same.

If you have read this far, thank you. I am not seeking any sympathy here. I know as a matter of fact that NOTHING is going to change. People like Mr A will continue doing what they do and people like Mr P and Mr D will continue passing the buck and will take no accountability whatsoever.

If there is any of you, who is capable and influential enough to raise a voice, please do. We are are common people and tax payers. We end up bearing the brunt of everyone's selfishness. I really wish that another family does not fall into the hands of drivers like Mr A and go thorough the nightmare ride which we did.

If this Mr A was in this mindset from the beginning, why did he even accept to drive us ? My wife claims that he did all this because we refused to buy dry fruits and he lost some bucks there from the commission. I am not fully convinced. Would you go to the extent of endangering lives just because you don't get a few bucks from selling dry fruits ?

There are questions that remain unanswered and will continue to do so.

Peace

Sharing the details of the agency and the drivers

Agency: Tahaans Eco Travel
Social media link: https://www.instagram.com/taahans.ec...F3bzNoZWc3cWxt

1st Vendor: Prakash Parab, Pernem
2nd Vendor: Damodar Komarpant, Pawandeep Taxi Service, Palolem
https://southgoalife.in/blog/listing...p-cab-service/

3rd driver of the actual cab- Name Alex, Toyota Etios, GA 10T 0462, No idea of the agency or employer

I have not shared the mobile phone numbers just for the sake of privacy.

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