The Olympic flag goes to Beijing ready for 2008

Now the Chinese bureaucrats are looking at ways to lighten the capital’s roads and hopefully ease the appalling smog.
   So they are going to try the former Greek method with even-number licence plate cars going out every other day and odd numbers hitting the roads on in-between days.
   Taxis and the many military cars have been made exempt, but the experiment did let the usually gridlocked traffic run far better than it had for years. There were still hold-ups, but official readings put the smog levels down, although still classified as a choking smog!
   It was expected that some car owners would try to come out when it wasn’t their turn, but an estimated 6,500 traffic police went on patrol along the Beijing city streets setting up road blocks to pull aside any wrong-numbered vehicles. Offenders faced a fine of 100 yuan (£6.50). However, very few broke their curfew.
   Many more buses and trains were put on and used with many of their users saying they were happy at the experiment and hoped it would continue.
   Will something similar happen to London in 5 years? It can’t be ruled out but so long as taxis get priority, then we’ll have to go along with it…

DaC driver faces
attack at gunpoint!

Mike McCaffey smiling now, but not when a hoodie aimed a handgun at him

Jim McCaffrey (M93) had a narrow escape recently while setting down a passenger near Paddington. He told Call Sign of his awful experience...
   "It was around ten to one in the morning on 19 July and I was about to set down my TaxiCard passenger in Bourne Terrace W2. I noticed some hooded youths hovering a few yards away from the cab. They saw me watching them and one gestured by raising his arms with open palms as if to ask ‘what are you looking at?’ They were about 14-19 years old and standing aimlessly about. I had stopped the cab momentarily while the passenger fumbled for her money, but decided to keep half an eye on the youths as they looked a bit suspicious. Suddenly, the tallest hoodie, apparently the ring-leader, passed out of my line of sight and moved swiftly around the front of the cab to my drivers’ window and aimed a hand gun at me! I then immediately floored the throttle and took