Winnipeg taxi driver killed in crash remembered as exemplary driver

People at Duffy's taxi are supporting each other after a tragedy. Police say a sedan crashed into cab number 303 Wednesday morning. Duffy's taxi general manager, Ram Balaroo, says it belonged to an exemplary driver who's deeply missed. And he was so polite and a professional. He's an educated person, looks like that. He was really good. I never had any single complaint on him. His file is clean. The taxi was heading south on Salter Street when a sedan heading west on Aberdeen Avenue collided Police say both speed and manner of driving were factors in the crash. Volaroo says records show the cab picked up three passengers after the ride was requested at 6.19 that morning. Within two minutes, as I told you, he's a really good driver. Within two minutes, he reached the passenger. He picked up the customer at 6.21 and it looks like 6:23 that incident happened. Police say the driver of the cab, a man in his 40s and a passenger in his 50s, were taken to hospital in critical condition but later died. The teenage driver of the sedan and her adult passenger had minor injuries. Volaroo says he knew the driver well. Everybody is devastated, including from dispatch team, drivers, owners, shareholders, every person who knows that. As I mentioned, this is shocking. Working in the industry for more than a decade, Volaroo says driving a cab has become more dangerous. In recent weeks alone, a cab driver has been stabbed, another seriously assaulted, and another robbed. So many incidents are happening. Nothing. Drivers got stabbed and hammered. and every time the pepper spraying or the threatening, the abusing. These kind of things are increasing a lot on taxi drivers. But Volaroo says this collision was a shock, especially because Aberdeen is not a high-speed road. He says the driver had come from India to build a life here. He had worked at Duffy's for around eight years, eventually purchasing his own cab, and he's survived by his wife and two teenage children. Matt Humphrey, CBC News, Winnipeg.