Taxi Driver Online

CCTV Bid For Cardiff Taxis

July 11, 2009

They have been home to everything from first kisses to midnight fumbles and marital strife – but will the back seat of a taxi keep its romance when recorded on CCTV?

A Cardiff surveillance firm is applying for permission to install security cameras to record passengers in city taxis.

The plans being proposed by Visual Integrated Systems would see small cameras installed in the rear of a cab with the image beamed through to a screen the driver’s dashboard.

A record of the images captured would be stored on a hard drive and could be studied by police or council officers for up to 28 days afterwards.

Tony Carroll, the company’s director, said that the cameras would help provide security not just for drivers but also for passengers.

He said: “For the public, it gives them security. There would be stickers on the window saying that the cab was fitted with CCTV.

“It has been used in cabs in London and Bristol where it has been very successful.”

Mr Carroll’s is the second firm in the city to apply for his equipment to be approved by Cardiff council and has already been tested in Rhondda Cynon Taff.

Crime has been a problem in city taxis for several years and was one of the reasons why the restriction on the number of licensed cabbies was dropped.

There have been reports of taxi drivers being assaulted and complaints from passengers about bogus drivers.

Cab firms in the city are interested in testing out the cameras but concerned that some customers might be put off.

Naz Nourizadeh, of Delta Cabs, said: “Taxi drivers are continually subject to abuse. Having a CCTV in the car could be beneficial.

“There is the aspect to it we have been discussing about whether customers will feel comfortable but if they are responsible, I don’t think they will mind.

“You are filmed everywhere these days, even in the bus. Why not in a cab?”

Mr Carroll’s application was put before Cardiff council’s public protection committee but was not approved as no-one from the manufacturer was present at the hearing.

Council officers have indicated that the equipment and recording system should be secure and not record any passengers below their waste.

In council papers, chief officer Sean Hannaby said: “The passenger of a Hackney carriage is hiring the vehicle as a whole and is paying a fare for transport in safety, comfort and privacy.

“It is important that the passenger, as the hirer of the vehicle is not subjected to excessive or intrusive surveillance.”

Source; WalesOnline.co.uk

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Brummie Cabbie.

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I totally agree; this idea is well over the top.

It's like those few pervert drivers that have lap mirrors ..... they should be banned too.

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

Makes you smile does it not! no one from the manufacturer was on hand, as if they would come all the way from Timbuktu. The other thing is that they do not want too much intrusion into the privacy of the passengers but I suppose that it is alright to have a cam on every corner

As ever it is down to cost, and one of the companies on their approval list wants over £700 so unless they are going to be very competitive ( the council will not subsidise the product) then most of the drivers will not be able to afford them.

Privacy will be moaned about only because they cannot misbehave, once they have had their moan they will accept it just as they have accepted every other intrusion into our lives.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

Some people would find this quite exciting having cameras on them

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Lap mirrors, or pussy mirrors as it was once said to me, what a laugh the whole thing is that one person would seek to see the genitals of another by way of a tilted mirror, it always screamed to me that one the driver was desperate to see the grail again, and two what sort of a person are you to employ that tactic on others, being as I'm a very handsome looking chap I've never felt the need for one to get nearer someones turkish delight

Well I've never heard it called turkish delight before An self praise is no recommendation where's the proof

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Doomman....there is no substitute

They have no shame

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Put it this way, I can still fit inside the righthand side of your avatar without making you feel like a chicken leg at a banquet.

How the f*** are they going to ensure that, and why the f*** does it matter.

We are dealing with people's lives here, and it's only the police or council officials that are going to see it anyway.

Do the council ensure their own CCTV doesn't record below the waist, course they don't.

Brain dead councillors led by brain dead licensing officers.

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IDFIMH

now let's See... if I was a licensing officer would my main concern be for the privacy of passengers or for the safety of the drivers considering that once you are dead you are dead................ licensing officers Fu**ing need to be trained.....

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Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!