TAXI DRIVING FOR WOMEN.
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By One Who Has Done It.
AFIRM in Washington is employing women to drive taxicabs for women passengers only.
, Unless this idea is taken up in London, and we also have taxis marked "For Women Only," it is unlikely that girl drivers will be seen on the ranks.
1 drove a taxi for eighteen months, and I can honestly.sayit is not a suitable job for any woman.
i The rule, n London, that a cab hired from a rank is legally bound to drive anyone who hails it to a distance not exceeding six miles from Charing Cross has involved drivers in unpleasant situations before now, especially at night. if the passenger had dined 'well rather than wisely.
Some experience of this kind of thing led me to choose my work in a country town where the Title of " first cab on the rank" did not prevail, and it was always possible to avoid taking an unpleasant fare by saying one had a "booked" order to do, but competition was keen, and one could not always afford to choose.
The London taxis are of a standard type, with no seat beside the driver, but in the provinces any type.
may be used, including open touring cars, and since most of the closed cabs have a seat beside the driver, a girl chauffeur may, and almost certainly will, sooner or later, have unpleasant experiences.
I chose my hours-8 a.m. to 8 p.m.—with a view to evading night driving, but if a fare came along at 7.45 and wanted to go some distance out, it war, from a monetary point of view, impossible to refuse.
The severe mechanical test imposed on taxis by Scotland Yard is not enforced by the cotintry police, and breakdowns are not uncommon. These may take place at night, or by day on a lonely road, with no prospect of help for some hours. I found also that the fare who hires a car and intends to depart without paying for it, almost invariably chooses a girl, driver as his victim.
From the paint of view of health, the outlook is no better. A taxi driver has to be out in all weathers; long hours in wet clothing and a cramped position, driving in a fog, getting meals irregularly, are not good for a man, and they are extremely bad for a woman.