A Taxi in Grand Theft Auto IV.
Taxi Driver are one of pedestrians found in the GTA series. As the name implies, they drive taxi cabs around the cities, and can have foul tempers.
The Taxi Drivers
Over the years of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, the taxi and cabbie drivers have evolved considerably.
GTA III era
The Taxi drivers in GTA III and GTA Vice City are mostly immigrants and usually run away if you steal their Taxi. However, you may encounter a driver who will fight for his cab. He then tries running after the player driving the cab (usually wielding baseball bats or shovels), then if they manage to catch the player. the driver will engage in a one on one brawl with the player for stealing their taxi. However, if the player points a gun at the driver, but does not shoot, the driver will throw his hands up, usually saying good things to the player to prevent the player from shooting, then walk away and forget about the taxi. You can usually hear the cab driver saying "Hey my cab!" or "Give me my taxi, bitch!" in a Middle Eastern accent. Throughout GTA San Andreas, the taxi drivers have not really evolved, and are still immigrants. If the player hits the taxi vehicle in GTA San Andreas, the driver will most likely exit the vehicle and either stand there or come after the player and attack them. For unknown reasons, the taxis and cabbies are usually one of the most common vehicles that are chased by the police. In GTA Liberty City Stories, the drivers are also immigrants but most are probably Indians, as evidenced when the player enters a taxi and Radio Del Mundo will play. Most taxi drivers in GTA San Andreas may like talk shows as when the player enter their taxi, WCTR will play.
GTA IV era
The taxi drivers in GTA IV are even ruder and more ill-tempered. Most of the cabbies are Greek ( in Chinatown, they will be Chinese ), as indicated by the "Malaka!" or "Stupid Malaka!" insult they shout when you crash into them (Greek term for "wanker"). Occasionally, following a traffic accident, they will exit their cab and attempt to pull you out of your car and start a fight. If this occurs when a police officer is nearby, or if they are near a Police Cruiser, they will take immediate action, arresting the driver and taking them away. The same taxi driver can have many different voices like it was another character, it can be easily noted when hopping in and out of a taxi as a passenger.
In the GTA IV Era, you are able to use taxis to get to your pre-determined location, and not having to drive there themselves, for, of course, a fee. Whereareas, in the GTA III Era, you could only steal taxis and drive yourself, or do the "taxi driver" side mission, for some money on the side.
The Taxi drivers in GTA IV don't care if you pull out a passenger and get in yourself, but run away if you shoot out the window.
If you call 911 and choose the police after you have fought with him, He will act like you have shot him and crawl away and not fight you anymore.
Taxi Drivers in the GTA IV era are exceptionally reckless drivers, when hailing a cab they often swerve violentley onto the sidewalk, hitting parked cars, knocking over things on the sidewalk, downing streetlights and even hitting pedestrians. They will also completely ignore you hailing them if another passenger is already inside.
Trivia
- When hitting the car, the driver will come out and attack you, the same is done if you squirt the taxi with a Fire Truck, or ramming into them with a car.
- It is possible to get a free taxi ride by shooting out the window when your near your destination, though this requires waiting through the whole drive.
- After becoming more friendly with Roman Bellic, he will offer you a job driving taxis, or you can get a free ride from one of Romans employees, Mohammed earning you the "Driving Mr. Bellic" achievement. Though Mohammed is short tempered and constantly hurls insults at Niko calling him a free loader. He can be killed for money and will resurrect.
- The player can ask the taxi driver to change the radio station. The player can also change the destination but this might cost you more.
- Getting a lift from one island to another without skipping gets you the "It'll Cost Ya" achievement.
- On rare occourance there will be a female taxi driver who says nothing at all. Female taxi drivers usually spawns in Hove Beach. Since taxis are rare in Hove Beach, the player must already drive a taxi in order to have taxis spawning.
- If you have a wanted level and are being chased by a cop on foot and you get a vehicle and a cop gets into a cab if you then put the wanted down cheat in, the cop will still be driving the cab you will be able to get a ride from that cab but it will be a cop driving