VIDEO: You think NYC cabbies are crazy? Try Baghdad
During the 2008 New York Auto Show we took a short cab ride from the Javits Center to the hotel, and our driver straddled lanes, blew lights, and narrowly missed around three dozen cars. That's nothing compared to this video of a Baghdad cab ride from hell. Photographer Steve Bent of The Sunday Times was traveling to a shoot in an old Nissan 4x4 with a driver and a man he only refers to as the "boss" in the front seat. Bent needed to get to his shoot during morning traffic, and the driver went so far as to pull a Ronin, driving the wrong way down one-way streets while leaning on the horn. That's kind of nuts, but then the boss man pulls out a 9mm pistol and starts waving it around so other drivers could get the hint that they really needed to move. The "boss" even fires to drive the message home just seconds before arriving at an army checkpoint, where his carries on a completely normal conversation with the soldiers, who seem not at all surprised at the gunplay. When asked why he fired his pistol, the "boss" explained the driver in front of them wouldn't get out of the way. That was enough for the soldiers, who then waved them through the checkpoint, according to Bent. In New York, a move like this would get your name in the paper and your butt in a jail cell. In Iraq, it gets you to your destination on time. Follow the jump to watch for yourselves. The good stuff starts about a minute in, so be patient. Thanks for the tip, catgirlshyla!
[Source: The Sunday Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Raghu 6:34PM (4/06/2008)
Save the gun I have seen pretty similar things in India and Tanzania...
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Andrew 10:31AM (4/07/2008)
Are you sure? Driving *against* traffic?
Robby 8:06PM (4/06/2008)
I hope they were both tipped very generously. Passionate service like that isn't common these days.
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brn 9:33PM (4/06/2008)
My cell phone takes better video.
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cathode 11:02PM (4/06/2008)
That's cast-iron crazy.
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MKIV 10:43AM (4/07/2008)
This is common in most developing countries. This is not as bad as some of the cab rides I have had in far east. Good stuff regardless.
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Evets 6:22PM (4/07/2008)
I've a feeling they are probably private security and are 'allowed' to drive like this to prevent the photographer from being kidnapped/killed.
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