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| Passenger 'grabbed wheel' of taxi http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=26960 |
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| Author: | captain cab [ Fri May 22, 2015 7:49 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Passenger 'grabbed wheel' of taxi |
Passenger 'grabbed wheel' of taxi CCTV in taxis could have prevented an incident where a passenger “grabbed the wheel” and forced a car off the road. John Aitchison, chair of the West Fife Taxi Owners Association, was speaking after a successful pilot scheme in Dunfermline where cameras were placed in cabs. They helped put the brakes on crimes such as fare-dodging and assaults on drivers and Fife Council now want to roll out the scheme across the Kingdom. Mr Aitchison said, “I’ve got a couple of them as part of the trial and the one car we didn’t have a camera in highlighted just how useful they are. “One of my drivers got attacked recently and it’s still in the hands of the police. “The guy grabbed the wheel and pulled the car off the road. It was very fortunate no-one was hurt. “He’s been charged but cameras would certainly have helped, as a deterrent or on the evidence side if nothing else.” Mr Aitchison added, “It was unusual and had it been somewhere else it could have cost lives. “The driver got a fright but luckily he was on holiday just after that so had time to get over it. “CCTV is not going to protect you in the sense it’s not a shield but it will deter people from doing some of the things they do. “So there is protection, just in a different way, and I can only say it’s a good idea.” Cameras were put in 35 vehicles as part of a pilot project launched in May 2014 aimed at protecting drivers and their passengers. A review has just taken place and a report said, “During the period of the pilot within the west area of Fife there were 41 taxi frauds with 25 of these detected. Only one of these involved a taxi that was fitted with CCTV and this was detected. “There were only two other crimes reported associated with taxis fitted with CCTV. These were an incidence of vandalism and a report of sectarian singing. The persons responsible were not identified.” The council report concluded, “The deployment of the CCTV can therefore be shown to have a measurable deterrent effect, improving safety and reducing crime and the fear of crime.” Chair of the regulation and licensing committee, Bob Young, said, “The pilot scheme here has been a great success and we’ll get the whole of Fife covered with a bit of luck. “The number of offences dropped markedly and it didn’t even cost a lot of money. “The Kingsgate Shopping Centre came in with us so it didn’t cost the drivers anything really. “We gave out 35 cameras but a number of the taxi drivers bought their own as it’s not that expensive, they’re about £20.” He continued, “It’s worth the outlay. One of the guys without CCTV took someone to Stirling University and they then did a runner on a £47 fare – that’s double what the cameras would have cost. “The procurator fiscal has told me they will use the evidence from these cameras in court so that’s good news too. We used to have about 500 fare-dodgers a year and the last count it was down to one so it’s having an impact and is paying off.” Mr Aitchison said, “It’s certainly had a beneficial effect. It hasn’t wiped the problem out but there’s no downside to CCTV and if the scheme is universally applied, so much the better.” He added that he hoped the council could help with the cost of CCTV for taxis as although systems started at about £20, he said the cheaper models tended to have shorter recording times and poorer-quality images. - See more at: http://www.dunfermlinepress.com/news/ne ... Rk1At.dpuf |
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