ATLANTA - Between meeting the president and getting robbed at gunpoint, Waymon Dabney has managed to avoid getting a traffic ticket in 32 years on the job. <br>
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Now the Taxicab, Limousine and Paratransit Association has named Dabney the national Taxicab Driver of the Year for 2002. <br>
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The 66-year-old father of 12 was chosen mainly because his driving record is ``clean as a whistle,'' said Rick Hewatt, Checker Cab president. ``To be out there that amount of time and never be issued a ticket is to me astounding.'' <br>
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One of Dabney's most memorable experiences on the job was meeting former President Carter, when he delivered a telegram to him at his victory party in the Regency hotel. <br>
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``He asked somebody for a tip,'' Dabney said. ``He didn't have any money on him.'' <br>
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Dabney's worst memory was being robbed at gunpoint. He had picked up two teens in Atlanta's Buckhead district and was driving them to Midtown, he recalled. <br>
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``When I got to 10th Street, I felt something cold on the back of my neck,'' Dabney said. ``I knew then what it was.'' <br>
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The teens told him to stop the car, and he gave them a roll of bills from his shirt pocket. But when the gunman looked away for a moment, Dabney saw his chance and pulled out his own gun. <br>
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``I couldn't shoot that kid,'' he said. ``I just put it back.'' <br>
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Instead, Dabney let them put him in the trunk, he said. <br>
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Back then, cab drivers kept a screwdriver and a quarter in their trunks to pop the lock and call for help in such situations. The teens took him for a bumpy ride, and when they abandoned the car, he freed himself.
