'Out and bad' to order - Taxi drivers offer dangerous driving at a price

Chad Bryan, Sunday Gleaner Writer

Gerald Levy, otherwise known as Bogle or Mr Wacky, popularised the dance craze known as the 'Out and Bad'. RDX then did a song of the same name as a tribute to the deceased dancer.

Elephant Man's Willie Bounce makes specific reference to this dance. One of the lines in the song says, " … all right bring yuh hand dem gwaan like yuh mad/then you double, the double, double the out and bad".

However, some taxi operators plying the Red Hills Road corridor in St Andrew have read deeply into the phrase. They are now using it to refer to the dangerous practice of driving in the middle of the road, between other vehicles, and are charging passengers a premium for the faster ride.

Recently, Automotives hit the streets and boarded a taxi which plies the Manning Hills Road to Half-Way Tree route. The driver said several taxi drivers do the 'out and bad'. It is mainly done in the mornings, and passengers who request this service normally pay $100, a $20 increase on the normal fare. The taxis carry four persons in the back and two in the front passenger's seat, which should only accommodate one.

PASSENGER UPSET

Another taxi driver, known as Blacks, told Automotives that he was aware of this practice. He recounted that one morning, he had picked up a passenger on Chancery Street, and when he was in heavy traffic with her, she became annoyed, telling him that in other taxis she got to work in 15 minutes or less.

In May 2011, The Gleaner printed a letter in which Baron Marshall outlined his encounter with a taxi on Red Hills Road. He wrote: "I am appealing to the authorities to do something about the reckless driving by taxi operators along the Red Hills Road corridor, particularly in front of Calabar High School and Calabar Mews. On the morning of May 19, I experienced a near miss when two speeding taxicabs, one barreling down the wrong side of the road, almost collided with my vehicle as I exited Calabar Mews with two young children aboard.

"This sort of behaviour by public-transport operators plying the Chancery Street to Half-Way Tree route has been going on for years. At times, police personnel patrol the route, but clearly not enough, or the penalties for driving recklessly and operating outside Transport Authority regulations are not harsh enough to discourage the behaviour."

Head of the Police Traffic Division, Senior Superintendent Radcliffe Lewis, said while he did not know the practice as 'out and bad', he heard it being referred to as 'brush', and he is aware that more than the stipulaed number of passengers are carried on these rogue trips.

"I never heard it being called that before. They call it 'brush', and it is usually done in the peak hours of the morning and in the evening when the police are not there," Lewis said.

He noted that the police have seized taxis engaging in the practice from time to time. However, at peak hours, there are other streets which need police attention, and, in addition, the law-breaking taxi drivers normally drive into volatile areas along Red Hills Road when accosted.

"The robot cars are taken away. Sometimes the taxis drive into Black Ants Lane or 100 Lane to hide, and when the police go in there, they are normally blocked in if it is one police officer on bike. But we do go in there," the traffic boss said.

He also mentioned that taxi operators, like any other motorist, found to be in breach of the Road Traffic Act would be charged with carless and dangerous driving.