from Hong Kong
WORLDWIDE TAXI FOCUS from Sudan
HONG KONG TO REVIEW DRIVER FITNESS CHECKS AFTER COLLISIONS
Hong Kong’s Transport Dep- artment is set to review the requirements for taxi driver health and fitness checks, the depart- ment chief has said. The comment came after an 84-year-old taxi driver was recently arrested for alleged dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm. The taxi he was driving crashed into pedestrians injuring five of them. It became the latest in a series of collisions involving elderly drivers. Last month, a taxi driven by a 71-year- old man crashed into an escalator outside a building in Central, injuring at least two. Under Hong Kong’s
driving regulations, those
applying for or wishing to renew their licence must declare any illness or disability that could make them a “source of danger” to the public when driving. Driving licences for those aged under 60 are valid for ten years. Those aged 70 or above must renew their licence every one to three years, and they are required to present a physical fitness certification signed by a doctor when renewing their permit. Commissioner for Transport, Rosanna Law, said that the administration was reviewing the physical fitness requirement for drivers. However, the government will not set an age limit on professional drivers, and globally it is rare to see an age limit imposed on such drivers, Law said. “Older people are not necessarily unhealthy, you can still be very healthy,” Law said. “Another thing is that driving is a profession, some people have to drive to earn a living.” A group of medical experts, including geriatricians and physicians, had been formed to review if it would be possible to require more tests, such as vision and muscle reaction tests, the transport commissioner said.
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KHARTOUM’S YELLOW TAXIS STAND IDLE AS TECH TRUMPS TRADITION
The yellow taxis of Khartoum were once an enduring part of its colonial legacy. Now the vehicles, introduced in Sudan’s capital under British rule in 1937 and last renewed as a fleet in 1978, bear the signs of numerous repairs, their paintwork chipped - and their often elderly drivers wait in vain for customers. They say they’ve been left behind by competitors who advertise using unregulated ridehailing apps, and who drive newer cars. “We’ve raised generations of children off the back of this taxi. But our taxis are old now,” driver Alrasheed Ahmed, who has had his since 1980, told Reuters at one city cab rank with around two dozen vehicles. “And now these app drivers have appeared and they just stick on a TAXI sign. That belongs to us and they’re exploiting it,” he added, gesturing towards a row of newer cars across the street.
The drivers’ struggles mirror Sudan’s wider economic decline, they say, with the government unable to finance new cars as fuel costs soar. Some yellow cab customers remain out of loyalty. “There’s no work at all. Some of them come here with a bunch of passengers and could wait until the sun goes down to leave with another... That is why I always ride with them,” said one, Abbas Alamin. But his gesture is a rare one, and even the ridehailing sector’s future is far from guaranteed, with many Sudanese now choosing to forgo public transport altogether and rely on hitchhiking instead.
APRIL 2023 PHTM
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