Safety is everybody's duty. That's duty, not business. Safety is a part of that cost of doing business.
Safety should not thrown around in this kind of blame game.
We must put "drivers versus owners versus regulators" aside for our common good -- staying alive, working, prospering -- you know like in the Constitution of the United States of America with its guarantees of life, liberty, pursuit of happiness and other inalienable rights.
Most community governments are the first to claim that they must regulate every aspect of the taxicab industry for "public safety."
But you can't find a politician or regulator or law enforcement official anywhere that gives a bowel movement about the health and safety of a taxicab driver. If I'm wrong about this prove it!
If an owner installs a camera, then the government should "kick in" a portion.
This is the community's joint financial effort in saying "We care about your health and safety, even if you are just a taxicab driver fulfilling our transportation needs, because we are good and honorable Americans."
The owner gets his money back from the driver through lease payments anyway, so the drivers will automatically "kick in" a chunk of the cost.
The "monster" may be our fearless reliance on technology instead of our own personal Fearlessness of cab driving -- the first and most basic ingredient of a good taxicab driver.
Cameras are great -- if you can afford the technology and control its use.
No taxicab owner should have to shoulder that cost alone. And we certainly do not want the government involved.
Why next thing you know your local government will want GPS tracking so they can dispense with "due process of law" and issue speeding tickets on the fly....
There are some insurance carriers such as American Country that offer savings on both insurance and the cost of the camera system (such as DriveCam) may not be much of a savings but every little bit helps.
In Louisiana you can have your agent contact BISYS Commercial Insurance Services. Below is a link to their contact information.
