You talking to me? Taxi drivers face phone ban

Taxi drivers should be banned from having more than two mobile phones on their dashboards, according to a cabbies' union.

The Urban Taxi Drivers Association Joint Committee said the handsets limited the view of the road, and answering phones and sending text messages distracted drivers. Its chairman Kwan Yuk-wah said he had seen one taxi driver with 12 phones strapped to his dashboard.

Using a handheld mobile phone while driving is against the law, and a police spokesman said that drivers who endanger others by handling a phone or touch-screen device may be committing an offence.

Kwan said: "Being distracted while driving and blocked windscreens could lead to traffic accidents. It poses a danger not only to the drivers themselves, but also to their passengers and other road users."

He believed 90 per cent of cabbies with multiple phones strapped to the dashboard were from "unofficial discount gangs" which accept fares below the meter rate.

Kwan estimates these drivers make up about 30 per cent of the 18,000 licensed taxi drivers.

"Their phones are for business - its their customer hotlines," he said. "But they have to answer phones or read texts, write down bookings and then communicate with their team members while driving.