In addition, their demands softened from a call to ban Uber outright to the insistence on equal regulations for taxi drivers and their Uber rivals.

Traffic proceeded slowly, as the protesters kept only one lane open in each direction, watched by numerous police officers.

Some taxi drivers were outraged that three professional organisations did not express support for them yesterday.

Instead, the Budapest Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Haulier Entrepreneurs and the National Taxi Drivers Federation said at a press briefing that they share a common goal but favour a negotiated settlement over protests.

They warned that drivers demonstrating on the streets could destroy the image of the profession.

Several websites posted video recordings of taxi drivers insulting the passengers and drivers of vehicles they believed to be Uber cars, as well as kicking and spitting on the vehicles, while police did not intervene.

The protest is expected to continue today.

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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MTI photo: Balogh Zoltán