§ Mr. ELLISasked the Home Secretary whether the meters affixed to taxicabs in the metropolis are subjected to any official inspection as to their accuracy, and, if so, by what authority and at what intervals; and is the driver bound to exhibit on application any certificate of the result of such inspection?
§ Mr. GLADSTONEThe use of taximeters on cabs is controlled by the Metropolitan police, and any found to be defective are at once withdrawn from use. Before they are placed upon a cab they are tested, certified, and sealed by the National Physical Laboratory, and they are re-tested at least once a year. The taximeters being sealed by the National Physical Laboratory, it is unnecessary that the driver should carry a certificate.
§ Mr. CAVEasked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been called to the fact that cab drivers in the neighbourhood of London are suffering from the competition of the London taxicabs; and whether arrangements can be made for granting to such drivers, if duly qualified, suburban licences for driving vehicles drawn by mechanical power under similar conditions to those now regulating the grant of suburban licences for horse-drawn vehicles?
§ Mr. GLADSTONESuch licences would be granted to duly qualified drivers. A necessary qualification would be a knowledge of the localities within the radius of action of a motor cab, which is necessarily larger than that of a horse-drawn vehicle.
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