Violence Against Taxi Drivers
This issue of Call Sign contains some rather disturbing items. Not least,
I have decided to publish a photo of one of our drivers - aged 70 years -
taken after being set upon by a gang of five "brave" young men.
The photo, while certainly not horrific by today's standards, is certainly
disturbing because this is someone on Dial-a-Cab and not someone whose
story you may just have glanced at in the trade press. It shows him after
having had stitches put in just a fraction of an inch above his eye,
following the attack in which he was robbed and continually kicked while
lying on the ground.
But that isn't all - far from it. This issue also contains
the even-more worrying stories concerning two Dial-a-Cab drivers who were
held up and robbed at gunpoint. Call Sign is telling the stories behind
just these two gun attacks because they involved our drivers, however, the
total number of recent attacks using a gun or knife has risen to well over
twenty - including at least one against a young female driver. At the time
of going to print, Call Sign understands that several people are currently
helping the police with their enquiries.
Can anything be more disturbing than reports on one savage
beating and two gun hold-ups on DaC drivers in just one issue? Well
almost...
This magazine was very disturbed to hear from one of the drivers held up
at gunpoint that he had to go to FOUR police stations before he found one
open during the early evening to report an armed hold-up against him.
FOUR! Is that the new Britain where millions more are spent on law and
order?
Most of the gun attacks happened around The Highway E1, yet
when I went into Limehouse Police Station to enquire on any progress, they
knew nothing about it. When I telephoned the New Scotland Yard Press
Office, they knew nothing about any armed robbery attempts on licensed
London taxi drivers. Is this how important we are?
I have also spoken in this issue to James L.Szekely, the head
of the International Safety Council for Taxi Drivers, based in Huntingdon,
USA. His answer is
was the same as that which he gives to anyone asking for his advice on
the subject - cameras in the driver's compartment. Nowadays the lenses are
no bigger than pinheads and they would be neither bulky nor intrusive.
As the photos are digital, they would only need to be used in
the event of an attempted robbery to identify the passenger as they
automatically come on when the passenger doors are opened. At the time of
going to press, two reasonably priced cameras are available. One that is
being fitted to TX1's in Liverpool is a CCTV and you can also read about
that inside this issue. The other is a straightforward camera providing
digital 'stills'. My information is that the PCO have refused to pass
either, as they would infringe passenger's privacy. Ask the two DaC
drivers held at gunpoint or Stan Carter who was the DaC driver beaten up
about how concerned they are about "infringing passengers
privacy." I wouldn't like my grandchildren to hear the answers...
If you consider that Call Sign isn't the place for some of
the disturbing contents inside relating to violence, then I apologise, but
I'm afraid these events are far too important to bottle up. If you have a
view, then I'd like to hear it.
Unity in the Trade...
It seems as though the T&G's departure from the London Taxi
Board is likely to be permanent. As I don't know the details on why or how
that trade body was left off the list for a meeting with Dave Wetzel, then
I will make no comment on it. What I have been told is that there was no
other reason for their departure, so those who say that the T&G have
"seen the light" are not correct - had the incident not occurred
they would still have been on the LTB.
But my view still has not changed, the LTB were far from perfect but they
were still the best of a bad bunch and the only organisation that has come
out of what was
once the LTB with any credit, is the T&G who have acted in a
diplomatic fashion throughout.
But now they're out and we are hearing how there are now "no driver
organisations left" in the LTB as though the T&G left because they
suddenly agreed to join the others. However, that is all irrelevant, because
now that the majority of trade organisations are outside the LTB, we can
have trade unity, can't we? Like hell we can...
I've heard all about how trade bodies are "working
together behind the scenes." Well I'm sure that the odd people from
different organisations meet occasionally and plan something or other, but
the T&G headline story in the LTDA's TAXI newspaper said more about
"trade unity" than I can ever say here. In large bold red type,
the heading said: Union Dumps Taxi Board - At Last. Did it then go on to
welcome the T&G in the first display of unity? Well, if you call the
comment describing the Union's LTB departure as "...this embarrassing
about turn." It tells about how they had stayed with the LTB while the
LTDA "...had been applauded by most working cab drivers (for
leaving)" The article also explains how it had been "...very
obvious to all except the T&G that the business interests on the LTB
were solely concerned with lining their own pockets promoting a quickie
Knowledge system designed to churn out thousands of extra cab drivers."
Are they the remarks of a leading light on the LTDA passing the hand of
friendship to the Union? Well, if those comments are of a unifying nature,
then I'm a two-headed nun...
The Mortgage Jungle
Word on the street has it that the housing market is flat, yet
prices do not always reflect that situation. So many drivers' children are
now looking for their 'first time' house that Call Sign has invited John
Ling, a Branch Manager with the Lambeth Building Society, to try and clarify
the current complicated situation regarding mortgages over the next few
months. If you have any questions regarding a mortgage, send them to Call
Sign and hopefully John will try to answer them in the magazine...
