Taxi Nearly Drives Off With Door Open & Child On Board At 313@Somerset
UPDATE (9.48am, 19 Dec): A ComfortDelGro spokesperson said in a statement that they are currently investigating the situation.
“In the meantime, we have reached out to the passengers to offer our assistance,” they added, “and reminded our cabbies to be aware of their surroundings before moving off.”
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When alighting from a vehicle, the one thing people may fear is the vehicle driving off before they can alight and retrieve their things. That fear unfortunately happened at a mall in Somerset recently, when a taxi moved off with a child still in the back seat and the adjacent door open.
Perhaps hoping to get the child in case the taxi really drove away, a man hurriedly reached out but fell to the ground with the child in his arms.
Surprisingly, the driver did not alight to check on them, only waiting till the coast was clear before driving off.
Taxi nearly drives off with child on board
According to Facebook page SG Road Vigilante – SGRV which shared footage of the incident, the scene took place at the drop-off point at 313@somerset in Orchard Road, at about 11.47am yesterday (17 Dec).
A blue ComfortDelGro taxi had just ferried a group of passengers there, as they were seen alighting from the vehicle.
One of the passengers, a young woman in white, retrieved some belongings from the trunk, while an uncle who sat in front moved towards the open back door on the left to pick up a child in the backseat.
Over on the right, an older woman who alighted from the vehicle took her time to pick up some items before closing the back door.
Source: SG Road Vigilante – SGRV on Facebook
As soon as she did so and the younger woman likewise closed the trunk, the taxi driver immediately began to pull away. He did not seem to notice one of the side doors of his taxi still open and a child passenger still on board.
Source: SG Road Vigilante – SGRV on Facebook
Upon seeing the taxi moving, the uncle who was standing near the open door quickly reached in to grab the child before the vehicle drove off. Due to the effort, both he and the child ended up tumbling to the ground.
Source: SG Road Vigilante – SGRV on Facebook
Perhaps noticing that something wasn’t right, the driver hit the brakes right at this moment. The two other passengers then quickly rushed in to help.
Surprisingly, the driver didn’t even alight to help check on them. Instead, he seemed to just watch as the younger woman picked up the child and walked off.
Meanwhile, the uncle pointed a finger at the taxi driver as he followed suit.
Source: SG Road Vigilante – SGRV on Facebook
Driver criticised for not getting out
The shocking incident understandably went viral on SGRV, with many viewers sharing their thoughts.
Most of them criticised the driver for simply watching everything unfold from his seat, which one commenter said showed “total zero remorse”.
They pointed out that people would have been more forgiving if the driver had rushed out to check on his passengers.
Source: Facebook
Another commenter felt that the family was forgiving for such an error on the taxi driver’s part as they simply walked off afterwards without confronting him.
Source: Facebook
A Facebook user pointed out that if this occurred at a roadside or carpark, the consequences could have been worse for the passengers.
Source: Facebook
Hopefully, the affected passengers did not suffer injuries from the tumble.
MS News has reached out to ComfortDelGro for comments and will update the article if they reply.
Another serious incident involving a taxi resulted in a traffic policeman being dragged several metres and fracturing his arm.
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Featured image adapted from SG Road Vigilante – SGRV on Facebook.
