The other week, I saw about 30 taxi drivers outside Oxford Town Hall, protesting against new regulations requiring all taxis and minicabs to install council-approved CCTV cameras into all licensed vehicles.
These CCTV systems are designed to protect the driver and customer alike and are only accessible by police and council enforcement officers.
It would seem that Oxford City Council limits the number of Hackney Carriage licences issued to about 110 and these licences reputedly change hands for sums in excess of £100,000.
Therefore one can only hazard a guess as to why, in a mostly cash-generated trade, these drivers are reluctant to install safety measures which could, one day, save their lives.
Perhaps our councillors might withdraw the licences from those who object and reissue them to those on the waiting list who would, I’m sure, be only too happy to comply.
JAMES DAVIDSON, Trafford Road, Oxford
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