Caught on camera: Cabbie appears drunk behind wheel in Surrey

Suspended cab driver may not lose licence A cab driver has been charged after video surfaced that appeared to show him drunk behind the wheel.

A taxi driver has been charged after video surfaced that appeared to show him drunk behind the wheel, but he might not be off the road for long.

The unidentified cabbie was arrested Friday night after allegedly taking a group of young women on a short but startling ride through residential Surrey.

The passengers told CTV News they were shocked by the driver's state when they first entered the car, and decided to start recording him.

“He was very friendly to us but it was a little bit creepy,” a passenger named Jessi told CTV News. “You could tell he just wasn’t there, nothing was registering in his brain.”

The cabbie started driving, allegedly running a stop sign and nearly sideswiping a car before finally coming to a stop on the front lawn of a home at 183 Street and 68A Avenue.

Surrey RCMP said the cabbie failed a roadside test and was charged. He was handed a 90-day driving prohibition and his car was seized for 30 days.

His employer, Pacific Cabs, also confirmed he has been fired.

But Mounties would not confirm whether the driver’s chauffer’s permit has been revoked. Even if it is, the RCMP said it’s possible the cabbie’s charge won’t prevent him from applying for and receiving another.

“An impaired charge on its own won’t necessarily prevent that from happening, but certainly if it was something that happened recently it could affect your application process,” Cpl. Scotty Schumann said.

The incident is the second case involving an apparently drunk cab driver in recent months. A driver for Vancouver Taxi was suspended after a passenger shot video of him seeming impaired in March.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Scott Roberts