Taxi driver reads a "book" while driving
"On October 28, a taxi driver was seen reading a book while driving through the underpass from Huaxin Street to Jiangbei. The incident happened during a traffic jam and was captured by a nearby netizen. While many criticized the driver for multitasking, some defended him, arguing that there’s nothing wrong with reading during a traffic jam.
Netizens: Is he using cheats?
On October 28, a post titled "This taxi driver is extraordinary, impressive!" appeared on Dayu Community. The poster, "Tian Tian," wrote that she and her husband were driving back from Daping to Huangniba when they encountered a traffic jam near Huaxin Street. At that moment, she noticed a taxi driver next to her reading a book. In the post, "Tian Tian" also mentioned that there were two female passengers sitting in the backseat of the taxi, chatting away without noticing the driver's behavior.
The post quickly drew attention from numerous netizens. Although it is unclear what the driver was reading or why, the question of whether it is acceptable to read while driving sparked heated debate. Opinions were sharply divided, with one side condemning the driver for disregarding his own and his passengers' safety, and the other side arguing that reading during a traffic jam is harmless.
"Purple Butterfly": Mocking the lives of passengers and himself, does this driver even deserve to drive? Just because no accident has occurred yet doesn't mean it's not serious. Once an accident happens, it will be too late—there’s no regret pill to take.
"Clumsy Bird": Staying in a one-square-meter space for over 10 hours a day, wouldn't you get bored?
"R": It's obvious he's using cheats.
"Innocent Smile": During a traffic jam, if the car isn't moving, it's better to read a book than just sit there waiting.
"Zheng Dong": The driver might have been studying traffic regulations.
"Jazz": I am a driver, and flipping through a newspaper during a traffic jam is common—it helps relieve fatigue.
Driver: It was a phonebook
Yesterday afternoon, according to the taxi's number, its license plate was found to be Yu B3T2xx. Subsequently, the involved driver, Yang Qiang, was located through Ruitor Taxi Company. He told the reporter that he is 27 years old. Around 10:50 AM on October 28, a hotel bellboy stopped his taxi at the Hilton Hotel in Lianglukou. Two foreign women got into the car, and the bellboy instructed him to head towards Jiangbei. When the car reached the fork in the road at Huaxin Street, Yang Qiang asked the passengers, "Which way?" As he doesn’t speak English well, but the two foreigners seemed to understand a little Chinese, one of them took out a notebook similar to a phonebook, flipped to a page written in Chinese, and handed it to Yang Qiang from the back seat. The page said "Hanting Hotel on Songpai Road." Yang Qiang stated that from the time he picked up the notebook until he put it down, it lasted about two minutes. However, he admitted that such behavior could pose certain safety hazards and promised to pay more attention and not repeat it in the future.
Poster: The underpass wasn't completely blocked
Yesterday, the poster, Miss Tian, told the reporter that around 11:00 AM on October 28, due to heavy traffic congestion, the speed of vehicles passing through the underpass from Huaxin Street to Jiangbei was very slow. "It wasn't completely blocked; cars were stop-and-go, taking about 2 minutes to pass through the underpass." During these 2 minutes, the taxi driver kept holding the book in his left hand, reading it while following the flow of traffic. Even though he was reading, he didn't fall behind; when the car in front started moving, the taxi driver followed suit.
Yang Qiang also confirmed that the underpass wasn't completely blocked. Due to accidentally messing up the pages while passing the notebook, he had to hold it in his left hand, steer with his right, and use his peripheral vision to find the page with the Chinese address while keeping an eye on the road conditions and following the vehicle in front.
Response: The taxi driver may undergo off-the-job training
Yesterday, Mr. Wang, the general manager of Ruitor Taxi Company, told the reporter that regardless of the circumstances, looking at something while driving poses a safety hazard, which is irresponsible not only to the passengers' safety but also to the driver's own safety. Yang Qiang has been in the industry for two years, and there hasn't been a single complaint against him before—he is a driver with good professional ethics. After preliminary investigation of the online exposure of Yang Qiang reading a book while driving, if it is true as Yang Qiang claimed that the passengers were foreigners, and language barriers necessitated checking the Chinese address on the notebook, this can be understood. Therefore, the company decided that if Yang Qiang can provide evidence proving that he was looking at the address on the notebook rather than a novel, the company will not impose penalties. However, if he cannot provide evidence, he will undergo off-the-job training and education for 3 to 7 days.
All manuscripts in this group were written by reporter Luoyao Wang.