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Have you ever done the taxi shake?

You know, it's the gesture that resembles the negative head movement that usually connotes a 'no' that you do every time a taxi driver transgresses some or other traffic rule and you, in your car, have seen the same type of driving hundreds of times over from hundreds of other taxi drivers that all you can do is shake your head in dismay.

Is the memory of the last time a taxi swerved in front of you out of the blue without indicating coming to mind? Or how about the time, you were stuck in traffic only to find a taxi traversing the yellow lines in their all-too-familiar 'I'm not governed by road signs' approach to getting commuters to their destination.

It would seem that the majority of drivers have had similar experiences with the all-too-familiar sight on our roads and, like me, are basically at our wits end and can?t continue to: shout some sort of profanity out the window; show various forms of hand signals to convey a particular thought; hoot till your hand hurts from the pressure applied to your hooter; or try, as far as possible, not to give taxis a space to proceed thereby risking the integrity of your vehicle.

So, what else can we do but the taxi shake?

The government had tried to remedy the situation by implementing?

A rollout that has made taxis somewhat aesthetically pleasing (as aesthetically pleasing as a gas-sucking, smoke-emanating, vibrating-from-the-bass of the latest club tune menace of an automobile can be). The problem now is that, as 'civilised' as a lot of taxis look these days, the style of driving still leaves a lot to be desired and can only be described as 'uncivilised'.

No qualms to those taxi drivers who do abide by the rules and are considerate to other drivers and their vehicles.

And, understandably, if you do something all day, everyday, some complacency and a sense of being downright jaded does creep in, but, if everyone used that excuse for things that fill their daily lives then what state would the world or indeed our roads be in.

How would I, a journalist, keep my word in trying to inform you about your community if I thought 'Oh well, yet another interview, yet another story, yet another photo'?

And we won't even touch on the recent spate of violence attached to the past taxi protest because, as the history books suggest, only Neanderthals threw stones, set things alight and ran rampant without thinking further than their own primal instincts.

So, remember these words when you are undoubtedly trying to shove in between two other unsuspecting vehicles in an attempt to reach that ever-beckoning destination.

My message to all taxi drivers, commuters and general road users is the same as my answer to bring about world peace, "Spare a thought for the next person" and, for heavens sake, "Think!"

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