Dangerous Ruling From LTA

Why not? That’s my question when I heard that the LTA (Land Transport Authority) do not allow taxis to have cameras installed inside them.

I know a taxi-driver who had been robbed sometime earlier this year. After the incident, the taxi-driver was understandably worried as he drives at night and decided to install a camera in his taxi. He paid for it out of his own pocket and his taxi company has no problem with it.

LTA however do.

Why? It seems some passengers are “uncomfortable” about the camera being inside the taxi so they complain to the LTA. Being the cover-your-own-ass agency that they are, the LTA is now ordering the taxi-driver to take out the camera. Why?

Recently, we had newspaper reports of taxi-drivers being robbed, being attacked, or simple being taken for a ride (passengers running off without paying). Yet when a taxi-driver decides to be pro-active and install a simple camera inside his taxi, it is not allowed?

I don’t understand why? Would LTA take care of the taxi-driver’s medical bills if he landed in hospital after an attack from a passenger? Would LTA offer compensation to the driver if he got robbed again? No chance of that happening, but when the taxi-driver try to protect himself, he can’t do so?

What nonsense is that? What’s the big deal about a camera anyway? Every MRT station in Singapore has cameras. To my knowledge, most bus interchanges in Singapore has cameras also. Cameras in public transport vehicles are hardly a new phenomenon, so why can’t a taxi-driver put one in his taxi?

This is a stupid ruling by the LTA. Taxi-drivers are trying to protect themselves after the spate of bad news and are willing to pay out of their own pockets to do so. If LTA is not willing to pay for the cameras to protect taxi-drivers, fine but to prevent protection?

That’s not just stupid, it's dangerous!