Narrow escape for four as taxi cab falls into subway

Miraculously, four passengers of the vehicle - Reftheria (59), her sons Abdul, Azrak and daughter-in-law Nazria, all natives of Sri Lanka, and the driver Matheshwaran (36), escaped with minor injuries.

Sources said, while negotiating a curve on bridge road, the car’s front tyre burst causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle. The car then hit the side wall and fell into the subway, around 4 pm. 

Traffic police sources said that there were no vehicles coming on the subway when the mishap occurred. The traffic control room received an alert regarding the accident and the officials rushed to the spot to check on the passengers. 

“The passengers, who were staying at Eastern Palace lodge in Mannadi, had gone to T Nagar for shopping and had booked the Uber car to get back to the lodge. They were proceeding towards Mannadi when the accident occurred,” traffic investigation inspector, Kasi Viswanathan, told DTNext.

Police said they are yet to interrogate the driver as he is undergoing treatment. They are also investigating to find out whether the driver was involved in rash driving. 

The drivers working with Uber told DTNext that the company does not insist on a minimum experience for drivers while employing them. “They do not insist on experience but the Uber partner app has a feature that continuously monitors wrong driving habits,” Aquib Aziz, who has been working for Uber for the past eight months, said. 

“The app monitors the breaking skills of the the driver and if more than 10 percent of it was rash, they would provide safe driving tips to the driver,” Aquib Aziz said and added “If more than 90 percent of the braking is sudden or rash, they will block the account of the driver and would not allow him to continue. They also check for over-speeding and take corrective steps.” 

When contacted, an Uber spokesperson, said, “Safety of riders and drivers is our top priority and we are committed to ensuring the same. We are conscious about recruiting driver partners with valid documents, after a comprehensive background check and a mandatory soft skill training that enables them to offer riders a great experience.”