Hamilton taxi driver found drunk in his car

Photo / Thinkstock

A Hamilton taxi driver was allegedly found so drunk, slumped over his steering wheel covered in vomit, that he couldn't hold himself up.

Court documents obtained by the Herald reveal that Hamilton City Council safety team members reported seeing Ali Ubed, 33, drive his Dial-A-Cab taxi from Ward St, in the central city, around the corner into Worsley Place late on February 6.

He remained there for more than two hours before police were called to find him slumped over the steering wheel of his taxi, which was still idling.

Officers reached inside and turned the ignition off and discovered vomit down his arm and on the road.

When pulled out of the car, he was unable to support himself and began to vomit again. Officers described the smell of alcohol as "overpowering" and "extremely strong".

Ubed was arrested and appeared in the Hamilton District Court recently charged with driving while incapable. He was remanded at large without plea to reappear next month.

Ubed told the Herald yesterday that he had made a "bad judgment call" by getting behind the wheel of his taxi that night.

He had been working earlier in the day but, because it was a public holiday and the beginning of a long weekend, he decided to log off as he knew it would be a quiet night in the city.

So he went into a local bar and had about three beers and several shots.

"I had a lot of shots, four to six shots, and three beers."

As he was a Muslim, he didn't normally drink and didn't think that the alcohol had affected him until he got into his car and tried to move it.

"I just made up my mind that I'm not going to do taxis any more [for the night] and realised it was a long weekend so I'd go and have a few [beers] and unfortunately I let my judgment get the better of me and I thought I was okay ... I realised I had made a mistake but it was too late."

When asked about vomit in his taxi, Ubed said he didn't want to embarrass the security officers, so he decided to spew on himself in the car.

"When the security got me out [of the car] I was feeling like puking but I didn't want to puke in front of them so I did it in the car."

He had accepted that he wouldn't be driving a taxi again and had applied for other jobs.

"When I was drinking I thought I'm not getting drunk and later on it just hit me all of a sudden."

Dial-A-Cab director Ravi Singh said Ubed was fired immediately after the incident and said his actions were not acceptable.

"I got a call from the cops to secure his car at 1.45am. I had to go because his car was all open and it was a bit of a shock for me as well as I have never experienced any of the drivers doing such a stupid thing.

"What he has done, to be honest in this industry, it's quite shocking for all of the drivers and even for the cops ... for a driver they're not even allowed one single drop of alcohol if they're on duty, so someone doing that was not acceptable."