Automobile Drivers
Drive automobiles to transport passengers to destinations, and escort oversized vehicles.
A Saturday night in the taxi
You are a licensed taxi and rideshare driver on a Saturday night in a regional city, with a full tank, a steady stream of fares and a long night ahead. It is 11pm. The pubs are filling up, the roads are busy and your phone has just chimed with a job to the other side of town. You are a few minutes from the pick-up.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
Mate, I am going to be sick. I feel terrible. Please do not stop, I just need to get home. It is only ten minutes. Just keep going, I will be fine.
Find a safe spot to pull over, put the hazard lights on and give him fresh air
He steps out, takes a few breaths and feels better. You continue the trip a few minutes later, safe and in no hurry.
Keep driving as fast as you can, since he is nearly home
You speed up, he leans on the door and the situation becomes more dangerous for both of you. Hurrying a sick passenger home is rarely quicker or safer.
Tell him to open the window and wait, but keep driving until you are close to his street
The fresh air helps a little, but you are still driving with a passenger who is not well. Stopping safely would have been easier for both of you.
We need to get to the beach before midnight and there are five of us. Come on, it is only a short drive. We will squeeze in, and we will pay you extra. Nobody is going to see.
Squash them in, since the extra fare helps and it is only a short trip
A patrol car pulls you over and you are fined. More importantly, one passenger without a seatbelt was at serious risk. Seats and seatbelts are for everyone.
Explain how many you can carry, and offer to book a second car
The group grumbles, then splits. A second car arrives within minutes, and they all get to the beach on time.
Take four and leave one behind, without a word about why
You followed the limit, but the fifth person is left standing on the kerb at night. Letting them know about another car would have been fairer.
I have a flight at six tomorrow and I am anxious about missing it. Can you take the quickest route? The navigation says there is a closure on the main road, but I think the backroad is faster.
Say the backroad is better, and take it since she asked
The backroad is longer and unlit. She arrives slightly later, and a bit more rattled than she needed to be.
Go as fast as possible on the closed main road, to prove to her that you can make it
You are stopped at a barrier and have to turn back. The trip is much longer, and Ms Alvarez is far more worried than before.
Explain the main road is closed, take the safest route and give her a likely time
Ms Alvarez calms down once she knows the plan. You arrive with time to spare and help her with her bag.
How it went
At 3am you parked up with a tired back, a handful of good passengers and one hard decision about a sick one. Driving passengers, or escorting a very large load, means putting safety first when everyone else is in a hurry. Would you be comfortable saying no to a customer when it counts?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The bridge that was too low
A fictional case set in a taxi and rideshare driver's night shift in a fictional regional city, and an oversize load escort on the highway.
The situation
Kerry drove the escort vehicle for an oversize load, a huge piece of mining equipment on a trailer, heading across a regional highway. The route had been planned weeks earlier, but during her check ahead of the convoy she noticed a new sign on a bridge showing a lower clearance than the paperwork said. It might have been a temporary notice or a mistake. The truck driver behind her was impatient and the convoy was already running late.
What they did
Kerry stopped the convoy at a safe place and radioed the truck driver to hold. She photographed the sign and rang the transport authority to confirm the clearance. The answer was that a new bridge rail had reduced the height, and the planned route was no longer suitable. She and the truck driver agreed on a longer route, and she updated the permit with the authority before moving.
How it turned out
The convoy arrived two hours late, and the mine's manager was not pleased. But the equipment was undamaged, the road stayed open and nobody was hurt. The authority later updated the route notes, and the manager asked Kerry to lead the next escort.
What would you do?
- What might have happened if Kerry had trusted the old paperwork?
- How do you stay calm when everyone behind you is in a hurry?
- Would you prefer the quiet focus of a long drive or the steady company of passengers?