Cameras in the cabs in Huddersfield

http://www.examiner.co.uk/views-and-blogs/comment/2008/05/16/cameras-in-the-cabs-86081-20918811/

May 16 2008 by Andrew Baldwin, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

IT’S not often that we stop to think about the dangers cabbies face everyday as they go about their job.

All the talk is of the safety of passengers, with the vulnerable position of drivers routinely overlooked.

The brutal murder of driver Mohammad Parvaiz by a gang of yobs in Golcar two years ago brought home the stark reality of working in the taxi trade.

Today the Examiner reports on a drunken group of six passengers who tore up the inside of a taxi they had hailed.

Driver Manjit Singh’s ordeal was worsened when the police failed to respond to his call for help, leaving the culprits to get away.

The risks for drivers are heightened because they work alone, late at night and frequently have to pick up or drop off fares in isolated spots.

Coupled with that their passengers are often very drunk and act in a very uncivilised way because of the state they are in.

The answer seems obvious – install spy in the cab cameras.

Security equipment on these lines would record images of passengers as they enter and ride in the vehicle and would prove to be an extremely effective deterrent as the images could be used as evidence in court.

If drivers had a camera in the car their passengers would notice it and know they couldn’t get away with trouble – and might not even try it on in the first place.

Cameras should be made a licensing condition for all cabs before they are allowed to operate. Not only that, there should be a camera at every taxi rank.