A Leeds Uber driver has revealed what the day in the life of a taxi driver is actually like.
From the “no-go” areas, the best petrol stations for a toilet break, cleaning up vomit from drunk passengers, educating racists and revealing where drivers meet-up during the quiet times of a shift. Taxi driver Yasar Aziz, affectionately known as Disco Dave, has left no stone unturned in divulging the tumultuous life of a hard-working cabbie.
The 46-year-old Yasar, who’s a father-of-three, decided to call himself Dave on the Uber app, as he says the Anglicised name is “more memorable” for customers. He also loved the ongoing joke in Only Fools and Horses, where Trigger incorrectly calls Rodney 'Dave'.
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During his trips, he loves to put on 80s and 90s hits for his passengers and sing-a-long with them, that’s how he got his popular nickname. At first customers, students, were calling him ‘Dave the Rave’ but Dave “didn’t like that” as he’s a fully qualified social worker and didn’t want to bear the load of connotations of being a raver which came with that nickname.
So, he came up with his own moniker ‘Disco Dave’, and that’s how he’s been known across West Yorkshire ever since. He’s been an Uber driver since 2014 and revealed all the secrets behind the job, specifically how a busy Saturday night in Leeds transpires.
Dave’s day begins at about noon, when he wakes up at his home in Shipley, Bradford. He likes to have a nice breakfast and spend time with his wife and three children, nine, ten and 22.
5pm - beginning of the shift
He generally sets off in his car at about 5pm to travel to Leeds. He’ll set off about an hour earlier if there’s been a Leeds United match occurring as it will be a lot busier.
He loves picking up football fans as they’re guaranteed to be up for singing songs with him. Dave lives for the banter, the jokes and the laughs.
Generally, his first destination will be Leeds Train Station where there are “guaranteed jobs” and it’s non-stop. Whereas, he says in the suburbs, a driver can be waiting 15 minutes to half an hour to get a fare.
It’s by about 11pm that his shift starts ramping up. He said: “After 11pm when it starts surging, it just goes crazy. You’re like ‘go-go-go’ making-the-money-mode. That’s how you make your money, when the prices surge.
“I love drunk people, that’s when Dave comes out! I wind them up. I just have a laugh with them.”
He’s fond of picking up drunk people, people who are having a good time, but he’s said there have unfortunately been a few occasions where racism has reared its ugly and malicious head from the shadows of his passenger seats.
Educating racists
Dave said: “You get a few racists. They tell you to ‘go back’, I’ve had a few call me a terrorist. Some do it about your religion, some do it about grooming gangs, they come out with all that stuff. It winds me up but I answer them back. A lot of drivers don’t, they’re nervous.”
Dave says he attempts to educate the racists on how wrong they are by outlining the virtues of his background and the work he personally does for his community.
In one instance, Dave said he managed to talk around an ardent racist who had been shouting vile abuse at him. Dave says at the end of the trip, the customer, a man in his late 30s, was hugging him and bringing his girlfriend out to meet him.
He recounts how the man said to his sleepy girlfriend, “this is my friend Disco Dave, he’s one of the good ones!” Dave felt conflicted by that double-edged compliment but decided to embrace the passenger who he’d dropped off in Colton.
There’s one area in Leeds which he actively avoids, where “kids throw stones” at taxis. Dave has said Halton Moor, a council estate in East Leeds, is a no-go area.
Dave likes working for Uber because there’s no argument when it comes to fares and customers are guaranteed to pay, however there is one major issue which comes with working for the online-app based service. There’s no centre or base for a toilet break or where drivers can relax and socialise in.
Favourite toilet spot
He’s got to rely on petrol stations for a toilet break and sometimes it can be a hassle. Dave says every Uber driver has a favourite toilet spot they go to, where they know the staff and know there’s a clean washroom.
He favours the BP petrol station in Kirkstall Road. Dave said: “I know them. I go there a lot so I can just go in and out.
“With a lot of petrol stations, you have to ask them if you can use the toilet. Sometimes at petrol stations, they can be in a bit of a mood as well and I can’t be arsed with them.
“Plus at the BP in Kirkstall Road, they’ve got a good selection of sandwiches and drinks, like at proper shop prices which aren’t a rip off.”
From about 3am to 5am, the night settles down and his intake of passengers decreases. It’s around this time that Dave feels like having a break. With no base to rest up in, he says Uber drivers tend to congregate in late night takeaway shops.
“Heating, somewhere to sit and a toilet,” are the most determining factors in picking a regular spot. He says Mahmoods in Woodhouse Lane is a favourite spot to relax and chat with other drivers.
5am - cleaning up vomit
By 5am, it gets busy again when people are leaving all-night rave venues. Dave has mentioned Beaver Works and Mint Warehouse as prime locations to pick up partied-out customers in need of a lift home.
As much as Dave enjoys picking up drunk customers, who’ll be up for a sing-a-long – “the worst” issue is when he has passengers throwing up. But Dave is prepared, if someone spews up all over his cab as it can result in missing a whole day or two of work.
He said: “People throwing up is the worst thing. Sometimes in the summer, as soon as you start at 7pm, they’ve drunk so much that I’ve had them be sick on the first job and it messes your whole day up.
“I carry Asda bags in my car. If I see they’re about to be sick, I say ‘Put your head in there!’
“When it’s really busy, you just want to work and make money. When that happens, you’ve got to wait for the next day when the valeting place opens. You’ve just got to go home after it happens. If you try and do it yourself, the smell doesn’t go away.”
After he’s finished picking people up from late night raves, Dave is ready to head home – but he’ll make sure to get a fare which is going in his direction. Once he’s home, it’s bed and a nice long sleep for our weary traveller.
Dave will wake up again at about noon, hang out with the kids, and then have a mini-shift from about 5pm until 9pm. He times it so he can get home when the kids are in bed, so he can curl up on the sofa with a takeaway and a comfy movie.
Dave has his own TikTok channel where he reviews food, places, makes comedy videos and shows off his adventures as a taxi driver, which can be viewed here.
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