Photo cred - dailystar.co.uk

No one likes to be "that guy/gal," the one who doesn't quite make it to the end of the cab ride, and spews all over the back seat of the taxi. The situaiton is embarrassing enough as it is, but cab drivers get the worst of it, having to immediately end the night and clean up the mess, which can cause some real damage the state of the back seat. Well, Montreal cabbies are fed up, and are pushing for a city-wide "vomit tax."

As it stands now, no type of fee or tax exists in Montreal if you spew in a taxi. Other Canadian cities have recently installed a vomit tax (like Toronto and Vancouver) but if a cab driver in Montreal wants some compensation for the hassle and damage caused by some backseat vomit, they'd have make a case in small claims court, which leads to a lot of lost time and money.

La Presse interviewed a bunch of taxi drivers in Montreal, all of whom have had bad backseat puking experiences (do good ones even exist?) and are totally in favour of a vomit tax. With a tax installed and enforced, cabbies will no longer be at the mercy of customers, who can be generous after a vomit-incident, or (as is more often the case) not care at all and offer no extra money for puking up a mess.

Aref Salem, the City of Montreal executive committee member in charge of transportation, told La Presse that the city's administration isn't opposed to a vomit tax, and may install a new policy in coming months. Logistics would need to be worked out, but a vomit tax could be in the very near future for Montreal.

We're not saying we're psychic, but we did pose this idea not too long ago, suggesting that a $100 puking fine in Montreal could be a good thing for cabbies in the city. Ideally, the potential vomit tax will be priced similarly to Toronto's tax, which is $25 instead of $100, because if you're sloppy enough to be puking in cabs, you're probably not making bills on bills.

For more on all things Montreal, follow Michael on Twitter @MDAlimonte

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