There is a clear need for systems to protect taxi drivers and their passengers. Drivers are victims of escalating numbers of physical and verbal attacks. Recording all taxi journeys is an obvious solution to this problem and there is now a range of systems making driver and passenger protection both achievable and affordable.
A local authority recently reported a 90% drop in bad behaviour in taxi cabs when these systems had been installed. Passengers also benefit. Single women travelling at night feel reassured in a vehicle with CCTV fitted. Added peace of mind can also result in increased customer loyalty and higher profits.
The new generation of taxi recorders are compact and easy to install. They record audio as well as video and provide GPS functionality as an option. They support a variety of different sizes of memory cards and types of cameras. There is a wide enough selection to suit any customer requirements.
These systems protect drivers in many ways including disproving false allegations made against them. By having an audio recording of every journey made such allegations are discredited immediately.
Any development that leads to increased driver and passenger safety and contributes to the confidence associated with taking a cab must be good for the industry. Everyone would seem to benefit from the installation these systems, except of course, for those individuals with something to hide.