Call Sign January 2008 - Page 20 - STRICTLY COME DIAL-A-CABBING?

Meet John West (B07J) and his wife Linda, Dial-a-Cab’s answer to Fred and Ginger! The couple, from Brentwood in Essex, recently won the British National Latin Dance Championships held annually at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, beating all comers by a healthy margin. Call Sign caught up with John to get more details of the couple’s success… "There are two competitions each year," he explained, "in May there’s the UK Open whilst November sees the UK Closed and it’s the Closed that Linda and I clinched," he said with the smile of a champion. "There are 4 sections; the Cha-Cha, Rumba, Samba and Paso doblé. We won all four, which managed to annoy quite a few people who thought they were the bees knees - but weren’t," John said proudly! "We’re ranked 6th in the UK Over 35s ratings and now we’ve just won the Over 50s Dance Championships, we’ve proven we are top of the stack. You could say we’re on point of the rank! We’ve won a monetary prize and hold the Silver Trophy for one year before having to return it, but what is really prestigious is having our names engraved on the Wall in the dancers Hall of Fame," he added with a delighted look on his face.	STRICTLY COME DIAL-A-CABBING? DaC driver and wife become British ballroom dancing champions!
	John and Linda on the dance floor. So how did it all start, Call Sign asked? "15 years ago, I was a golf addict and Brenda suggested we do something together because she was not seeing a great deal of me! We started with social dancing and turned competitive about 12 years back. It has been a hard road to success, but thanks to our Coaches, Alison Fulham from the Starlight Club in Streatham High Road for Latin, and Stephen Hillier and Jennifer Buchanan from Grafton Hall in Village Way, Dulwich for the Modern, we are where we are." John added: "Linda and I take our dancing very seriously, practicing in rehearsal studios three	John back at Dial-a-Cab times a week, lessons on Saturdays and competitions on Sundays. If we need quiet for total concentration to work on complex moves, we hire a hall just for ourselves. Any plans for the future, we probed? "We must defend our title next year and then gain our professional dancers card before being able, hopefully, to set up our own dance school. We have been offered technical support for the project, but have to go through the system to do things correctly," he concluded. Call Sign – along with all fans of Strictly Come Dancing - wishes the couple every success for the future and, given the determination they have shown thus far, have every confidence they will achieve their ambitions. © Call Sign Magazine MM8

TX4 REVERSING CAMERA FROM M&O

Call Sign was recently treated to an exclusive demonstration of an innovative reversing aid for TX4 taxis available from north London LTI dealer, Mann & Overton.
   A tiny camera sits neatly above the rear number plate and sends wireless images to a small monitor, similar to a TV screen, fitted behind the drivers’ sun visor.
   Operating the system couldn’t be easier. Just select reverse gear, flip the sun visor down and as if by magic, you can see pedestrians or other obstacles behind the cab that may have prevented you from reversing safely! The monitor is hidden behind the driver’s sun-visor for security reasons.
   Mark Baker, M&O’s Service Manager, explained the thinking behind this useful gadget.
   "Customers have highlighted to us the difficulty of reversing safely, given the TX4’s restricted rearward vision due to the fitting of head-restraints throughout the vehicle. These are of course a legal requirement and factory fitted. It means that drivers have to rely on the door mirrors, which can only see along the sides and not directly behind the taxi.
   He ended by adding: "The camera lens can be positioned to an owner’s individual preference, looking directly behind the taxi or angled

The camera can be seen just above the number plate

upwards to see impending obstacles further
away from the rear end. Either way, that
expensive rear bumper is protected. We can also retro-fit the camera to TX11 models. When used in combination with the reversing sensors we have been offering for some time now, reversing the cab safely could not be easier."
For further details, contact M&O directly on 020 7700 0888…

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