Cab drivers in Baghdad driving under the influence
In Baghdad, some taxi drivers drink alcohol while driving at night, with security officers often turning a blind eye.
Mohamad Zaalan, 24, is a cab driver in Baghdad who very carefully chooses his clients from the street. He prefers to pick up young people wearing modern clothes, because they are not the kind of passenger who bothers him when he drinks his daily beer. He is even delighted if a client shares a cold beer with him.
Zaalan only works during the evenings. “Traffic during the day is annoying. Baghdad is more spacious at night,” he told Al-Monitor.
Since curfew in Baghdad starts at midnight and ends at 4 a.m., Zaalan does not have time to go to a bar after work to drink the three bottles of beer he has grown accustomed to drinking daily.
At around 10 p.m., it’s not uncommon to see cab drivers in central Baghdad turn up the volume of their radios, which play sad or happy songs, nor is it strange to see someone swaying to the music at traffic lights. You might even spot a person urinating on the side of the road because beer had filled him up. Those who walk around Baghdad at night are accustomed to these scenes.
