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Advertising will pay for taxi cams
Spycams fitted to taxis in a bid to cut the number of assaults and false allegations against cabbies will be supplied at no cost to taxpayers or passengers.
The death of taxi driver Raymond Quigley at the weekend highlighted the plight of cabbies in the city.
The 72-year-old died after a street attack in Ryhope in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Now passengers travelling in any of the city's 349 hackney carriages are to be filmed by CCTV cameras fitted in cabs with the aim of preventing further attacks.
The cameras will record information on a secure disk which would be used if a crime is committed or a passenger makes an accusation against the driver.
Cabbies have welcomed the scheme, which will be officially launched later this month.
And now iKabs, the North East company supplying the cameras, says the cameras will not cost taxpayers a penny as the costs will be recouped from advertising revenue.
Scott Moran, of iKabs, said the company would sell advertising displayed on a flat-screen monitor inside the taxi, which would pay for the cost of the camera.
He added: "We've already had a lot of interest from businesses around Sunderland. It won't cost the driver or the local authority anything, so no costs are passed on to the passenger or council taxpayer."
The cameras will also be fitted to cabs in Newcastle, Durham, North and South Tyneside and the company hopes to roll the scheme out across the country.
Ian Mills, chairman of the Park Lane Independent Hackney Carriages Association, said the cameras were an excellent idea and he thought they would bring real benefits to drivers.
He added: "We're frontline workers, we work at night and you never know who you're picking up. There's been cases of taxi drivers getting beaten up just for the sake of someone not wanting to pay the fare."
The cameras are fitted to the front of the vehicle and records all in-car activity on to a disc, securely placed under the driver's seat.
The devices activate automatically and can't be dismantled. If an incident does occur, the disc must be taken to the licensing authority to be decoded.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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