Returning late on Saturday night from a day trip to Malaysia, she boarded a red Trans-Cab taxi at Chinese Garden MRT station to go home.
Madam P. Tay told the taxi driver to head for Teban Gardens, a 10-minute drive away.
But midway through the journey, Madam Tay, who is in her 60s, heard the cabby grumble.
He then stopped, opened her passenger door, dragged her out, then dumped her by the side of the road, injuring her.
At around 11pm last Saturday, Madam Tay and her friends got off their coach at Chinese Garden MRT station after a one-day trip to Johor Baru for a durian tour.
A few minutes later, she flagged down a Trans-Cab taxi at the MRT station’s taxi stand. She entered the taxi alone, carrying her backpack and two small bags.
At Yung Ho Road, off Corporation Road in Boon Lay, things started to go wrong.
Speaking to The New Paper on Monday, Madam Tay said: “(He) was very aggressive… He told me ‘I have the right not to fetch you’.
“I told him that he did not indicate this to me from the start. I’m a Singaporean, so I told him that I know the law.”
Madam Tay said the driver showed no sign of reluctance when she boarded and told him her destination, but only grew agitated, for no apparent reason, as he started driving.
When asked if she had been carrying durian in her luggage when she boarded the taxi, Madam Tay said no.
According to the Land Transport Authority, a taxi driver is not allowed to terminate the hiring of a taxi or require passengers to leave the taxi, without a valid reason.
PHONE CALL
During the journey, Madam Tay received a phone call from her daughter.
Her daughter, who declined to be named, said: “I called her to find out where she was and whether she needed a lift home.”
She could hear her mother shouting: “Quick, help me, I’m in trouble!”
Madam Tay said of the taxi driver: “He kept asking me to alight. He kept saying ‘Get out! Get out! Uncle doesn’t want to fetch you’.”
Madam Tay read the driver’s licence plate number to her daughter. As she was doing so, the taxi suddenly stopped.
Madam Tay claimed the driver dragged her out of her seat by her arm, causing her to fall at the kerb next to Block 152, Yung Ho Road.
She injured her left arm as she used it to break her fall.
She said: “I was in shock. It happened so fast. He dragged me and threw (all my belongings) out.”
She said the taxi driver was in his 50s and of medium build.
Madam Tay’s daughter, who lives with her, called her two brothers, who rushed down to help their mother. Her children called the police.
The police arrived soon after and called the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) for an ambulance.
On Monday, a police spokesman told TNP their officers arrived at about 11.30pm.
They have classified the case as one of voluntarily causing hurt and investigations are ongoing.
An SCDF spokesman said Madam Tay was in a conscious and stable condition when taken to the nearby Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.
She was given a tetanus injection and had an X-ray taken.
Madam Tay’s left arm was not fractured, but is bruised and sore from the fall. She also had cuts on the same arm.
Her son, Shaun, 36, contacted Trans-Cab to file a complaint.
He said he was told he could not speak to the supervisor or get any help because the police had already been informed.
A Trans-Cab spokesman told TNP the driver in question has been contacted.
They are awaiting his response to lodge a formal report and take the matter up with their insurance company.
LTA rules for taxi drivers
According to the Land Transport Authority’s website, drivers are not allowed to terminate the hiring of a taxi or ask passengers to leave the taxi, without a valid reason.
They are also not allowed to reject a passenger’s request without a valid reason, when the taxi rooftop is displaying the “Taxi” sign.
They have to display the appropriate sign, such as “Busy” or “Changing Shift”, if they can’t pick up passengers.
The LTA implemented the Vocational Licence Points System (VLPS) in June 2003 for the investigation of complaints and to discipline taxi drivers who breach the rules.
Under the VLPS, a penalty of six demerit points and a fine of $300 is given for refusing passengers.
This article was first published on July 13, 2016.
Get The New Paper for more stories.
