CANCUN — One man is dead and another injured after another altercation between local taxi and Cancun Uber drivers, riviera-maya-news reports.
On Thursday Oct. 26, a group of taxi drivers surrounded a car they believed was being driven by an Uber driver. Located along Colosio Boulevard in Cancun, the driver of the white car fled the men, apparently hitting two of them as he tried to escape the incident.
The driver of the white Uber car drove about 200 meters before crashing into a wall, allegedly after being chased by a second taxi car. The Cancun Uber driver was arrested by Municipal Police.
An ambulance arrived to transport the two injured taxi drivers to the hospital, however one was pronounced dead at the scene.
David Velázquez, a driver of the platform, said that although the taxi driver’s death is unfortunate, “we felt it was not Uber’s fault, it was because of harassment, because of this hunt for us,” he said.
“They are not the ones to be stopping us, or to be chasing us,” he added.
Taxi drivers on scene retaliated saying, “They leave Cancun or we’re going to burn them.”
A video that has been presented to local authorities shows an unseen oncoming truck that could be the vehicle that actually hit and killed the taxi driver.
PHOTO: riviera-maya-news.com
A press release by the Public Prosecutor’s Office says, “According to the preliminary information provided by the first responder, elements of the Municipal Traffic Police are aware, according to versions that are yet to be corroborated, that the vehicular misfortune arose because a unit apparently was stopped and later, a group of taxi drivers intercepted it, which generated a discussion between both parties.”
Without giving further explanation, the FGE endorsed “their commitment to act and provide sufficient evidence in accordance with the law to find the person or persons responsible for this unfortunate event.”
Disputes between the local taxi union and Cancun Uber drivers have been ongoing since the company entered the Cancun market in September of 2016. This incident is only one in a long list of taxi driver attacks against Uber drivers.
Earlier this year, a young Uber driver lost his life near Punta Sam after hitting a tree while being chased by taxi drivers from Isla Mujeres.
In May, two taxi drivers from the Andrés Quintana Roo union in Cancun were arrested after attacking an Uber vehicle. The two Cancun taxis blocked the roadway, forcing the car to stop. They then proceeded to attack the car with baseball bats while the driver was inside.
Police arrested the two taxi drivers.
In a press release Thursday, MPs affirmed that it is the responsibility of the competent authority to apply the Law on the Transit, Transport and Exploitation of Roads in the State of Quintana Roo” adding “only they have the power to stop and punish the violators.”
“No one should apply the law by their own hand much less expose their lives, the lives of others, nor the physical integrity of innocent people like passersby or drivers outside of this situation.”
Source: riviera-maya-news.com
