Sir: The attitude of the General Secretary of the Licensed
Taxi Drivers' Association reveals much of the lamentably arrogant outlook of some taxi drivers. He indirectly condones the assault upon me by a London cabbie by disparaging my driving and implying that I was asking for it. He also implies that since the fine was small the offence was not serious. Mr Feigen, furth- ermore, missed the point of the article. Of course he can be proud of the fact that few complaints are made against cabbies; my case illustrated exactly why that is so.
He may wish to know since The Specta- tor published my story I have heard several stories about other belligerent licensed taxi-drivers. One woman recounted being threatened with an iron bar if she didn't talk to the cabbie, who then locked the doors and said he was taking her some- where else. She escaped by going along with that demented criminal until she could flee. The police also took a report from her, but what happened to that complaint? Precisely nothing. Sexual harassment and
threatening behaviour would probably have exacted a smaller fine in court, in which case Mr Feigen would probably also consider it not serious. He would probably also say that she was asking for it but she, too, is haunted by those particular four digits.
Other people have told of taxi drivers refusing to give receipts for short journeys, ridiculing passengers who give small tips, refusing to make certain journeys. That is not my 'bias', it is other people's experi- ences of London taxis. It does not repre- sent all cabbies but it is not 'insignificant' as Mr Feigen suggests. He may also wish to know that my local police station has just informed me that complaints against cab- bies are not automatically passed to the Public Carriage Office, but 'only in certain circumstances'. As I said in the article the police do nothing about the average com- plaint.
The complacency and self-justification of people like the correspondent unwitting- ly endorse criminal behaviour. Reluctance to accept the fact that something is rotten even when the stench is overpowering leads to one's own ruin. it would be in Mr Feigen's interest to press for a better and more sympathetic complaints procedure.
Marina Salandy-Brown
BBC, Broadcasting House, London W1
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