Winnipeggers calling for reworked system as viral cab incident not isolated

Weeks after an incident that saw her clinging, and thrown, from the side of a Duffy’s cab, a Winnipeg woman says she’s still in pain and saying the company needs a revamp.

“I couldn’t get my arm out fast enough and he took off so fast,” explained Carrie Hill. “He had no respect for me at all.”

“I don’t know how this happens all the time.”

The numbers from the City of Winnipeg show her negative experience with cabs in the city is not an isolated one.

Over the last three years, there have been roughly 300 complaints either filed criminally or under the city’s vehicle for hire bylaw. That’s among more than 2,000 inquiries 3-1-1 received about the city’s taxi industry since 2018, and officials say among those numbers could also be complaints.

For Hill, whose dangerous interaction with a cab driver was caught on film and shared widely, she says the industry in Winnipeg needs a revamp — with those behind the wheel getting more information and training, both professionally and culturally, to ensure what happened to her never happens again.

“I just know that in a cab you’re supposed to get from point A to point B f***ing safely, without any hassle and that’s not what happens.”

The man who shot the video said he was horrified to see what transpired as Hill was trying to get her cell phone back from the cab driver, who reportedly asked her to pay $50 to have the property returned.

“She was scraped, cuts all over her legs,” he explained.

He says dash cams in cabs should be running, both audio and video, the minute the interaction starts between a customer and a driver, and regularly reviewed to ensure the service being offered is suitable, and safe.

“So you could see the passengers, how they conduct themselves with the drivers, and the drivers, how they conduct themselves with the passengers, because a lot of times when you get into a cab, it’s not ‘Hi how are you doing. Where can I take you?’ It’s ‘Give me your money.’ Right then and there, it puts the customer in a sour spot.”

He says a review of the industry to ensure it’s safe is important, as he worries there are many incidents that have not been caught on camera.

“If they’re getting away with this then who knows what else they’re getting away with.”

The driver of the vehicle, a 51-year-old man, has since been charged as a result of the incident and now stands accused of extortion, dangerous operation of a vehicle and failure to exercise due care for a pedestrian.

Rajwant Brar, director of Duffy’s board of directors, did not respond to numerous requests for comment from CityNews, but in a previous interview said the driver involved had been terminated and safety is a priority for the company.

When asked about the hundreds of complaints and thousands of inquiries the city has received through 3-1-1 on its vehicle for hire bylaw, the city’s top elected official said, “Improved passenger and driver safety has been the number 1 priority since taking the service over.”

Mayor Bowman added the city has already required improvements to surveillance equipment in cabs, but notes complaints are taken seriously.

“There is active and ongoing dialogue with community leaders, including community leaders in our Indigenous community and that’s something that I think is really helpful for everyone, and so, I obviously wouldn’t rule out additional safeguards and measures that we can do as a municipal government and I think we should remain open to doing what we can to protect the safety of passengers as well as drivers,” added Bowman.

The efforts the City have been making to try and improve cab safety appear to be working, as the number of criminal and bylaw-specific complaints are dropping, but with other complaints potentially contained in the thousands of inquiries received every year, it’s hard to identify an overall pattern.

Those who have had a negative experience with a vehicle for hire in the city are encouraged to file a complaint with 3-1-1 or to contact police if they feel the incident is criminal in nature.