A TAXI driver was attacked in the early hours by a knife-wielding passenger on Barton (June 3). Only recently, some cabbies were against an Oxford council plan to install CCTV in taxis and mini-cabs operating within Oxford.
Now as I understand it, the cabbies were unhappy because conversations along with passenger images were to be recorded.
Why not compromise: allow the council to install image-only cameras. The recent knife wielder may well have been known to the police.
If not, his picture could have been circulated around Barton (one assumes he resided there as he came back with a knife as opposed to the fare). His image may have been known to a local resident or could have been shown in local media. This incident could have reached a far worse conclusion. The cabbie could have been seriously injured or even worse, murdered.
If a camera had been installed the passenger may well have had second thoughts about threatening the driver with a knife. The drivers are the guys in the firing line and yet they shun the very thing that may in the future just save their lives. It beggars belief as to why the cabbies are against CCTV.
JAMES DAVIDSON, Trafford Road, Oxford
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