The county taxi cabs are unsafe and dirty

I was writing recently about the difference between Lyft and Uber, the two new car services trying to make their way in Miami-Dade County and our current taxi cab companies. The truth is probably that if the yellow cabs, which are mostly controlled by a handful of medallion holders who don't care about service or safety, were to upgrade their service, there would be no need for Lyft or Uber.

Case in point; I took a taxi cab to the airport this past weekend. As you can see here, the driver is texting while driving. And he was speeding like a mad man and at this actual moment of texting, he was taking that sharp hairpin turn where I-95 turns onto SR826. I suppose I should have been shouting at the guy, but I was taking pictures from the back seat. And he must have been texting for a long time (maybe two, three minutes) because it took me awhile to get the photo, I was hesitant at first, then I had to get the camera out of my pocket, put the app on, I was thinking it would be too late, but no, after all that time, he was still texting away, giving me enough time to do all that maneuvering to get the picture.

When he first picked me up, he start racing through the neighborhood like a bat out of hell. I asked him why he was speeding, practically taking turns on two wheels, his response was, "Well, we have to get to the airport." I told him I had plenty of time, there was no rush, but that didn't stop him, he was in some sort of race.

When he wasn't texting, which was the one time only, he was on the phone for 80% of the rest of the time, not handless, but with one hand on the wheel and one on the phone to his ear, he was lining up future fares, at least he wasn't making personal calls which is the case with most of the other cab drivers I have encountered. 

The car must have smelled, as they usually do, because he said to me, "I'm sorry for the smell," and he proceeded to open the window, which in Miami in summer, isn't pleasant either. I didn't smell anything, but I've been having a stuffed nose lately, probably sinuses. But for him to smell the smell, it must have really been something because they usually don't smell anything or they just ignore it. I imagined it as the original cab smell when hansom cabs were drawn by horses, can you imagine that smell? A cab I took last July smelled like that, I had to jump out and run to another less smelly cab before we left the airport.

Now while I don't have experience (yet) with Lyft or Uber, I am assuming that since people are driving their own vehicles, and not shilling for someone holding a medallion, their cars are clean and decent and they are driving like normal people. Only a guess, but I think the odds are probably better to take a Lyft or Uber on your next trip. The county needs to grow with the times. Yellow cabs stink, literally; they are unsafe and they don't take credit cards, which is a big convenience when traveling.

Question: Does anyone regulate these yellow cabs or does the county just go through the motions and say that they do?