Taxi drivers generally dread going to some southern neighborhoods in Jeddah such as Ghulail, Karantina and Sabeel, especially late at night as they fear being mugged or assaulted besides the difficulty of navigating through the narrow streets, a local daily reported.

Narrating his unhappy experience in the congested districts of Jeddah, taxi driver Yusus Suhail said three Africans boarded his taxi in Bawadi recently and wanted to go to Karantina. The fare was decided at SR25.

They assured him that the roads were excellent and that he wouldn’t problems entering or exiting their neighborhood. When they reached the district, however, the passengers kept ordering him to turn left and right on a narrow road full of potholes.

Unable to suffer anymore, he stopped the car and asked them to get out saying that he could not take them to their destination and that he did not want any fare. But the three men refused and insisted that he should take them to their homes. He argued with them but to no avail.

Finally, when he reached their place he could not go back or turn the car because of the narrow lane. He had to wait for a long time to find his way back to the main road. It was then that he vowed that he would never take a passenger to Karantina regardless of how tempting the fare was.

Another driver, Muhammad Akbar, said he had a painful experience of a different kind in the Sabeel district. His passenger asked him to stop at a gate which appeared to be the entrance to a traditional building and told him to wait for a minute so that he could get the money for the fare from his house.

The driver waited for the passenger’s return for half an hour but there was no sign of him. So he decided to enter the building but when he pushed it, he was shocked to find that the gate opened to a bare field with no buildings or people in sight. So he returned empty handed.

Shaker Mahmoud said he would never forget the time when he was beaten up and his money stolen after he took two passengers to Ghulail in south Jeddah.

"When we reached a remote area in the district, the two passengers asked me to stop and give them all the money I had. When I refused to comply with their demand, one of them struck me with immense force. I did not want any more trouble and quickly took out SR90, the only money I had earned that day,’’ he said, adding that he thanked God for escaping serious injuries.

Abdullah Malki, another taxi driver, said he refuses to go to remote places because people mostly refuse to pay the fare when they reach their destination. They would ask the driver to wait for the money and then vanish.

Another problem he faces is people throwing stones at his car and breaking the windshield. “It is not possible to go after troublemakers in unfamiliar places,” he said.

On the other hand, Muhammad Al-Sharif, a Saudi citizen living in Ghulail said the residents of the neighborhood have to pay the price for the criminal deeds of a few people. "When I tell a taxi driver I want to go to Ghulail, he will politely excuse himself and leave me on the road. Very few drivers are willing to drive me to my place and even when I offer to pay more than the normal fare,’’ he said.

Abdullah Sanaan, a professor of Islamic studies at the King Abdul Aziz University, said a few people may commit crimes, but it is unfair to generalize such conduct and blame an entire neighborhood.