Confessions of a Taxi Rider

I rode in a cab today that used the emergency brake instead of the normal brakes for braking.  Am I saying brake too much?  Anyways, I know the normal brakes worked because he used them sometimes in heavy traffic, when he needed them quickly, but he used the emergency break for every other time he needed to slow down.  The only reason I can think why he would do that would be to save gas?  When I first got here in Manila, Hope had told me about a time she rode in a taxi with her mom, and the driver also used the emergency brake then.  It was hard to imagine what that would be like.  Now I know.  And it was scary.