Friends pls help me consider if I should continue driving

last SG · 2010-02-25T01:08:51+00:00

When the lions roars , listen !!!!Valuable Words of Wisdom .

Sgcabby SG

Thanks to everyone advice earlier, I managed to start driving just this week. The earning is not great but ok acceptable.

Personally I find this job more draining on the body and the mind than I expected, and I even already make a point to pace myself before I rolled off. but for this I can still give the benefit of doubts to the fact that I might be new, I just started, maybe I havent got into the hang or rhythm of things yet. Fair.

But I face another personal dilemma. I havent been driving for long before this and even as I am driving now, I am constantly beholdened by the phobia that I would eventually get into some accident. I am not that bad a driver (i think), but I cannot help my mind and my heart to drift into thinking that something bad is about to happen, like round the corner, down the road, next overtaking etc.

I am not entirely without basis. Partly becos of the gnawing phobia, the recent times I been driving with extra caution, extra alert. With which when I do encounter even the slightest horn or flashing lights, they compounded the pressure (stress?) on my shoulders (and my mind) that I am already experiencing. Sometimes I even had to take painkillers to ease persistent headaches.

As everyone knows getting involved in accident might not just be bodily injuries, the amount of payout can also be quite substantial. The way my point of view goes is, just to earn that couple hundreds of dollars, the Taxi Driver has not only to risk his/her life and limp, but also a few Thousands of dollars at his/her expense. EVERYDAY! That kind of odds is something like playing dice with Inverted 4D day in day out.. preparing to fork out anything from $500 to strike $1 Big Prize, instead $1 for the $500+ prize. Who is willing to wager like that, except the most ardent, most desperate risk taker?!

I know of cos its only worse to be unable to concentrate fully when driving. But I cannot help it (these nagging thoughts kept haunting me even as i am NOT driving, when i am off).

Thats why finally I decided to post my question up here. I know some experienced drivers might be quick to chaff a new bird is throwing in his/her towel so quickly. Naturally I cannot expect everyone to appreciate what My mental state is going thru each time before and during and after I drived. But please also understand that neither can I comprehend how much (and how far) risk everyone else can go to accept for themselves.

I am only asking, please help me consider. What IF i continue driving. What IF i stop now. Thank you so much.

ALN SG

agree that taxi is not for everyone…

consider your other options available… as well as try taxi for another month…. haven try long enough to know…

RotaryEngine SG

sgcabby, from what i read you don't have enough driving hours. driving private car and taxi is totally different.

If phobia is your main concern, then you should weigh your options carefully. If you are not risk takers- it is also quite difficult. Sometime you need to swerve, sudden acceleration and filter, bend, cornering , e- brake etc......

You may want to try in a driving mode and slowly built up your confidence...if you are not pressuring yourself to make more money.....

Reading this forum you find there are many "gung-ho" taxi drivers saying they make alot and speedster and whatever....Don't follow all these people styles if you are not like them.

Relax mode may help to built up confidence, and if it still doesn't - then over the next 1 or 3 months - you may want to reconsider your options.

RotaryEngine SG

looks like you have weighted more negatively like "beholden to phobia". you go to overcome this or otherwise think too much also doesn't help you.

FT SG

After reading what u write i'm sorry to say that for your own good better stop untill u are mentally prepare. Your non concentration while driving might not only harm yourself, remember pax life also lie on our shoulder. Get yourself fully prepared b4 start driving again.

Tio Call Liao SG

sgcabby , i must say your english grammar is sibeh tekong. im amazed that you would wanna choose taxi driving as an option. why not take a job that uses writing as a career? im sure u will excel more in this field .

As for the phobia , if the risk of getting into accidents bother u , then maybe u should really consider. To be honest , in taxi driving , speed is the key. if u wanna drive slow and relax , very hard to make $.

im a right lane only driver coz i cannot afford to be slow , night drivers got expiry time and that is midnite , midnite we gotta produce a certain amt of $ , otherwise we are gone fark.

take some time to think wad u wanna do . overcome the mental block or seek other options . from the way u write , can tell u are the educated kind haha

Poolman SG

Pls instil some confidence in yourself before thinking about driving a cab .

Full stop .

Poolman SG

I really cannot drive a cab with a heavy heart .

Vee4317l SG

Hi Sgcabby.........1st n formost join in the BBQ party , see all the Tom, Dick n harry Cabbies faces n the way they talk, if U enjoy the party, then no more phobia, bcoz they are worst than the monster. hahaaa........ If U Don enjoy, then my advise U better pack it up.

Poolman SG

A simple story ....

If u kept holding the glass of water in your left hand , ur left hand will be very tired eventually .

Either u changed your hand , to make it less tired . Change .

Or u can let go the glass of water la , u will have less burden .

When u have less burden , u'll feel less tired .

Got it ?

Change or let go .

jgho83 SG

Sgcabby, I think since you choose to be a taxi driver, u should stick to it.

I think the stress that u are feeling is self-inflicted, meaning its not as jialat as u think lah... just relax a bit more.

You can try to limit your destination to places u are more familiar with (your neighbourhood)... so that u know what is around the corner and wont make stunts that endanger other motorists.

Once u are familiar with an area, u can slowly widen your familiarisation of the roads and slowly knw all the roads of sg.

komade SG

Another way is to play some music u like n tat helps u to relax~~~

Of course choose those slow soothing music n not those

fast pace trance/techno/rock etc songs tat i like :P

Dun kan cheong, once u r stressed up u wun knoe wat to

react in an incident cause ur muscules r all tensed up n

unable to react quickly. Where else when u r relaxed, ur muscles

r loose n can move more quickly to ur reactions.

For me driving no stress due to the fact i have been a biker for the

last 10yrs n i drive frm biker's point of view.

likeyou SG

Take more longer rest..like sleeping longer hours...and work shorter hours for a start. Then gradually increase your working hours.

What you need is rest, really rest, sleep without bing distrub.

Hope it works.

2cansam SG

dont't care for your safety, care for others

FirePig SG

bro...not just taxi drivers...anyone who is driving a car must be prepared to pay $1000 over in accident damages.

F-15T SG

It seems like you have a mental block i.e fear. When I started I used to think like you, negatively. The key is to relax and take things easy for the start. Like running 2.4km run, warm up 1st the first two laps then run.

Eveything is hard from the start. Remember when we were recruits during BMT, some of us secretly weep under our blankets.

Endure & Excel.

KCTK SG

my story..

2 weeks after i got retrenched, i collected my sonata from comfort. fortunately, i had a friend who was in the same boat some years ago (in the same company). at the same time, my colleague, who's also my buddy, also collected his sonata on the same day. so we've got a lao gui friend who had driven for about 15 years to give us some tips. i believe this is important as in any new job, your confidence is not high.

the first 2 months as an omo were bad, low earnings, long hours, never see my chabor. due to a lack of road knowledge, the tendency was to chiong back to areas where i was familiar. this really kills the collections. there were days during my first week i earned $5 after deducting overheads. it was all very demoralising and i kept asking myself if it was really so difficult. obviously, my 20+ years in the electronics industry in middle management had not prepared me for this. and then came the accident...

on a sunday, after going to bright hill to pay respect to my deceased dad, got a trip from jurong east to expo. biggest problem, insufficient sleep cos went to bright hill very early to avoid the crowds. car in front of me turned right, i followed, totally forgotten to check oncoming traffic. whacked into an oncoming honda. i was very fortunate, no injuries all round. it was a 2000 dollar lesson which i took to heart. it's been 2 years since my last demerit point. in hindsight, i can say i was glad i had this accident. it really taught me how to drive a taxi, defensively. you see, before that, i was driving a RAV4. and i feel that many suv drivers are quite aggresive on the road.

the point? nobody is born knowing how to run, we have to learn how to crawl, then walk before running. so stick with it. by the 2nd month, you should be A-ok. accident? be careful, but not obsessively so. if you are a careful driver, any accident you're involved in are likely to be minor or non life-threatening. the important thing is to learn from your mistakes and not repeat them. obviously, it is better to learn from the mistakes of others. after all, wise men learn from the mistakes of fools. non?

xbird SG

hi sgcabby. me only in the process for a tvdl. however aft readin thy post, think its d same stuff (which you’d mentioned) i’d got in my head wen 1st started drivin a van for a living…totally pure ‘virgin’ driver!
i’d banged my frd’s vehicle into a wall which is close to gas pipings…compensated $1,500 & learnt: how to engage the proper gear for a manual

xbird SG

i considered myself lucky for not having blown up the vehicle &/ or myself!

xbird SG

then changed to another longer van, went up multi storey at hougang ave 1, reversed into parkin lot (ie. right hand side) & BANG!...scattered my rear screen before fully in position.

paid 400.

lesson: watch your back wen reserving, 2 side mirrors + back’s…you’ll never know say if an ah ma/ peh carrying bags of groceries may jus walk rite into your reversal path while your concentrating on jus your rite-sided mirror! Smile (me experienced this lor)