Comments on: Cab rides in Bucharest: ode to the seatbelt http://www.blogofromania.com/cab-rides-in-bucharest-ode-to-the-seatbelt/ Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:41:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: Alex http://www.blogofromania.com/cab-rides-in-bucharest-ode-to-the-seatbelt/#comment-43 Alex Wed, 08 Aug 2007 06:50:39 +0000 http://www.blogofromania.com/cab-rides-in-bucharest-ode-to-the-seatbelt/#comment-43 Thank you for your excellent post. If I may, I would love to comment about another problem afflicting the taxi culture in Romania. This was highlighted to me at Constanta railway station. There was/is a group of illegal black market taxi drivers who hover around the station and pester anyone who does not look Romanian. To add gravitas to their "$20" offer they might even take your bag and put it into the car (which is not a yellow taxi car). A group of 8 of us turned up at the station and we were literally swarmed by them. They took one of the bags and I forceably had to take it out of their car. We managed to get to the mini bus (we were heading back from Mamaia and needed to get to Bucharest) but the driver refused to take us claiming that there was no space. Strangely, the "drivers" seemed to know about this before the bus was even full. After we watched countless Romanians board the bus AFTER we had been told that there was no room, we saw one of the "drivers" shaking hands with the bus driver and handing him some notes. We quickly found two yellow cabs (who were not pestering us) and asked them how much to Bucharest. We ended up paying 25 euros each which isn't bad considering the fact that we just wanted to get out of there. The next bus could have left 3 hours later and we didn't fancy sharing our evening with those guys. We were told at the hotel later that these drivers can be EXTREMELY dangerous. There are countless horror stories of obscene overcharging, physical intimidation and much worse. They have a few of the official bus drivers in their pockets and I implore anyone who reads this NEVER to get into one of these cars. The blatant lack of infrastructure in Romania, especially along the coast, will only serve as a deterrent to tourists and and visitors. Until someone does something about these people Romania will not be taken seriously as a viable or safe holiday destination. I'll save the gastroenteritis part of my holiday for another post.... Thank you for your excellent post. If I may, I would love to comment about another problem afflicting the taxi culture in Romania. This was highlighted to me at Constanta railway station. There was/is a group of illegal black market taxi drivers who hover around the station and pester anyone who does not look Romanian. To add gravitas to their “$20″ offer they might even take your bag and put it into the car (which is not a yellow taxi car). A group of 8 of us turned up at the station and we were literally swarmed by them. They took one of the bags and I forceably had to take it out of their car. We managed to get to the mini bus (we were heading back from Mamaia and needed to get to Bucharest) but the driver refused to take us claiming that there was no space.

Strangely, the “drivers” seemed to know about this before the bus was even full. After we watched countless Romanians board the bus AFTER we had been told that there was no room, we saw one of the “drivers” shaking hands with the bus driver and handing him some notes. We quickly found two yellow cabs (who were not pestering us) and asked them how much to Bucharest. We ended up paying 25 euros each which isn’t bad considering the fact that we just wanted to get out of there. The next bus could have left 3 hours later and we didn’t fancy sharing our evening with those guys.

We were told at the hotel later that these drivers can be EXTREMELY dangerous. There are countless horror stories of obscene overcharging, physical intimidation and much worse. They have a few of the official bus drivers in their pockets and I implore anyone who reads this NEVER to get into one of these cars. The blatant lack of infrastructure in Romania, especially along the coast, will only serve as a deterrent to tourists and and visitors. Until someone does something about these people Romania will not be taken seriously as a viable or safe holiday destination.

I’ll save the gastroenteritis part of my holiday for another post….

]]> By: nwradu http://www.blogofromania.com/cab-rides-in-bucharest-ode-to-the-seatbelt/#comment-2 nwradu Wed, 15 Nov 2006 19:32:20 +0000 http://www.blogofromania.com/cab-rides-in-bucharest-ode-to-the-seatbelt/#comment-2 By law, taxi drivers are allow NOT to wear the seatbelt. The law, as far as I know, doesn't say anything about the passengers in a taxi. I'm a seatbelt freak myself and i always wear it. Sometimes the drivers tell me I don't have to put it on, but that's just like saying "don't worry, I know how to drive, I won't kill you". I wear it anyway, it's the way I'm used to, when I sit in the front. By law, taxi drivers are allow NOT to wear the seatbelt. The law, as far as I know, doesn’t say anything about the passengers in a taxi. I’m a seatbelt freak myself and i always wear it. Sometimes the drivers tell me I don’t have to put it on, but that’s just like saying “don’t worry, I know how to drive, I won’t kill you”. I wear it anyway, it’s the way I’m used to, when I sit in the front.

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