The famous Crown Victoria TaxiCabs in New York are icons of that magnificent city that are appriciated by the tourists. They come in a uniform yellow color and all belong to one dominant manufacturer which is “Ford”. London is also best known for it’s large red double-decker buses that roamed the city streets back since 1829!
However when it comes to Beirut city we lebanese should hide our faces in shame. For years the Mercedes-Benz W123 model has been used as an iconic taxi car in an attempt to mimic those two mentioned cities above, but have you used the cabs in beirut lately ? To say it out loud “Our Taxis Suck”! They have no uniform conventional color, but looking at it from a different angle i’d say yes they do and it’s called “Dusty Brown” which dominates the original car color naturaly after leaving your car unwashed for weeks! We are even using Mercedes-Benz car models that are no more fit to the street safty regulations and some of which lack a life-saving Airbag.
Taxi Drivers are careless about their antique rides to an extent that most of the cabs you encounter are never in one piece. There should be something missing in the cabs whether it is the front headlights, the bumper, the door handle or one of the mirrors and in some of the rare cases why not having no mirrors at all. If those iconic Mercedes Taxi rides look flawless on the outside postpone that good impression till you see what’s on the inside. You should consider yourself lucky if the cab you are in contains a functional Air Conditioner, and if you think yourself smart enough to open the car window for some cool breeze, the window might be stuck in place and out of order for years and in some unique cabs the glass window is smartly substituted with a cardboard or a simple sheet of nylon.
What i am saying is that Beirut deserves an appreciated iconic car better than the shitty Mercedes-Benz cabs present today.We have had enough of this! The Taxi Union must agree on a specific type of modern, up to date car models to be used in the city streets, and the Ministry of Tourisim must fund the whole project. If that won’t be applied Lebanese Taxis might take you to a place far away from your expected destination. Our Cabs would give you a pre-paid ride straight to your grave!
Car Confessions in Beirut 
this is sadly true! Plus, you cannot get into a cab without him starting discussing politics with all the passengers and yell for no reason. And the smoking, ohh god!
Exactly!! As if the guy knows you before. And the smoking issue has no solution it’s his car and you can say nothing about it. At some points it becomes so cloudy inside it actually rains :p
Well Rayan okkay all what you’ve said is true, but do you think that the drivers of those sucking taxis are pleased to drive such cars?Why don’t you inspect the high custom rate imposed by the Lebanese government on imported cars and the expensive prices of cars in Lebanon compared to the floored wage which in turn forbids those drivers to substitute their cars?
Isn’t also the price of oil really expensive?
I think the first to be blamed is the shitty Lebanese government and not those pathetic drivers!
You have a point ! The goverment is the one to be blamed and that’s why the goverment is the one responsible of solving this problem by fixing the fuel prices and funding car drivers with enough money to buy decent Taxi cars.
I’m just blaming taxi drivers for their attitude and ignorence. If they can’t afford new cars the least they can do is take care of the ones in hand…is this too much to ask ?
Yes you’re definitely truthful with your point… But brother believe me once you’re piled with poverty and disgust, you won’t have even the spark that leads you towards change!!
God be with them!
Amen ! Poverty is indeed harsh and i can’t imagine what are the life circumstances these drivers are living in .
Good way of telling, and nice post to obtain facts about my presentation focus,
which i am going to deliver in institution of higher education.