Tinted taxi windows up for debate
Taxi driver Lance Fraser with his ad-covered taxi, which shows the limit for wrap-around advertising.
Safety fears for passengers travelling in the back of taxis with tinted windows were raised as Dundee City Council considers changes allow more advertising.
The local authority is examining the case for allowing taxis to have tinted back windows to allow ‘full-wrap’ advertising.
Currently taxis cannot display advertising on their windows for public safety reasons, but at Thursday’s licensing committee, councillors were discussing the possibility of changing the rules.
It was suggested CCTV would have to be installed in taxis before tinting would be allowed. However, there was concern from councillors as to how this would work and be enforced.
Councillor Lesley Brennan asked what would happen if the CCTV in taxis was not working.
A council officer said: “The driver should know because a light will come on in the cab, but in terms of enforcement it is nigh on impossible.”
Councillor Jimmy Black added: “The point is to be able to see in to ensure nothing untoward is going on in the taxi.
“Does the CCTV work when the engine is turned off? Is it possible to block the view of the CCTV? Can it be corrupted easily?”
The council officer explained the driver would have access to the memory card which they would have to hand over to the council and police if there was an incident in the taxi.
He said only the council would have access to the footage.
Under the proposal, taxi drivers would have to apply for a variation before having advertising on the window, and have CCTV installed beforehand.
Taxis would not be permitted to have advertising on the rear window any higher than the back headrests, to ensure visibility.
Councillor Tom Fergusson said the proposal lacked adequate technical knowledge and councillors decided to defer the decision until the issues were clarified.
source: http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/ ... e-1.347877
