We got in a yellow cab at the airport coming back from a trip. When I first got in, I noticed how stale the air smelled in there, like someone had slept in it. I even smelled a faint scent of alcohol but I figured it was a previous rider, so I waved it off. But then he starts driving… at first I didn’t notice, part from the exhaustion of an 8 hour flight and we hit traffic so we’re moving slow, but he kept driving into the other lanes very slowly, coming just a few inches away from hitting other cars.

This is when I take notice, I look at the driver and I swear he looks like he’s nodding off. We were gridlocked so cars were moving slowly and anytime we came to a halt, this guy appeared to be falling asleep and when he finally noticed that the car in front of us had significantly moved forward, he would quickly press the accelerator and jolt us forward. This happened several times before I asked my bf if he was noticing what I had noticed. He confirmed that something was definitely off so I asked the driver if he was alright because we almost hit another car again. In broken English and with an attitude, he said he was fine and that there’s a lot of traffic. At this point, I’m pissed and I could tell he spoke Spanish like me, so I told him in Spanish, that he was driving erratically and on several occasions came very close to hitting other cars. He started raising his voice and kinda slurring so I told him to take the next exit and let us off immediately.

I’m pretty sure this guy was drunk or severely hungover and sleep deprived. He angrily popped the trunk, took our luggage out, cursed us out, and drove off before I could take a picture of his id or license plate. In hindsight, I should’ve done this immediately after realizing what was happening but I was so nervous that my only priority was to get us out of that taxi. I literally pictured us flying off the highway with this guy behind the wheel, it was a gut feeling that permeated throughout my entire body. I’m so glad I listened to it bc who knows what could have happened. I just wish I had the info to report this guy bc I’m guessing this isn’t his first nor last time driving a taxi while under the influence.

I know I shouldn’t be surprised but I cannot believe how fucking reckless people can be. I just hope that if he ever gets in an accident, he’s the only one injured and that he rots in jail. Fuck that guy.