I have a bone to pick with the “Transportation On Patrol” initiative that Aboutown entered into with London Police Services last year. I don’t know why I haven’t written about this until now, but I just saw an Aboutown taxi van with a sticker promoting the initiative across the top of the windshield, so it just reminded me of how misguided I feel this initiative is.
The ultimate irony of this program is that, when it comes to road safety, I feel taxi drivers are the biggest offenders. Everyday, during my commute across the city (the entire east-west length of the city), I see cab drivers violate several traffic laws:
- Speed (sometimes more than 20km/h over the limit)
- Run yellow lights
- Run red lights (not everyday, thankfully)
- Make illegal turns
- Make rolling stops
If the program is only intended to get Aboutown drivers to report things like theft, arson, etc. then I suppose it’s a worthy initiative. I’m certainly not accusing them of doing anything but violating many road safety laws we’re all expected of adhering to. On the other hand, if LPS has the audacity to expect Aboutown drivers to report traffic law violations, then I would like to see one massive crackdown on cab drivers across all companies licensed to operate in London.
And, unfortunately, there is very little information currently easily accessible about the program. And I cannot think of one good reason as to why any cab driver would need to violate multiple traffic laws in one day. If anything, since they are so highly visible, they ought to be setting an example for the rest of us, gaining our trust, and inevitably our business.