Final Word from Wednesday, June 25, 2003
The Visa airport taxis, operated by Fix s.r.o., are easily the worst drivers in Prague. They're capable of violating 3-4 traffic rules within a few hundred meters. Their only competition in terms of really bad collective driving is from hotel taxis and airport vans. The impunity with which the Visa taxis speed through Prague's streets, run stop signs, create their own traffic lanes and fail to blink suggests that they enjoy divine protection. Their ubiquity is a mixed blessing for Visa. They dart around town flashing the Visa logo, but they're also the frequent target of nasty comments from other drivers who might switch to MasterCard in retaliation. The airport taxis are a key element in Visa's battle for dominance in the payment-card field. Visa could serve its own interests, and those of Prague drivers and pedestrians, by using its formidable media-buying strength to force Fix s.r.o. to send its cabbies back to driving school.