I was travelling in a cab when the driver took a call on his personal mobile. He removed a hand from the wheel to chat and, when negotiating a roundabout, took his other hand off the wheel to change gear. Should I have asked him to end the call... quietly indicated disapproval... or complained to his firm? In taking no action, was I an accessory to a criminal offence?
It’s understandable to feel slightly anxious about interrupting a taxi driver when he receives an urgent call on his mobile phone. That’s because you feel that you can never rule out the possibility that it might be Tony Blair, or George Bush or Vladimir Putin on the line, seeking advice on how to tackle a crisis that has just arisen — what with most cabbies seeming to have a sixth sense about how to cure most of the world ‘s problems.
You sometimes wonder whether people in MI6 and the Treasury are working under cover as London cabbies, serving as a mobile force of experts ready to resolve any diplomatic or economic crisis (providing, obviously, that the crisis doesn’t erupt south of the river).
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Cabbies also test their passengers’ defiance. For instance, they’ve now increased fares to a level where they know they must be picking up passengers so desperate to avoid using public transport that a cabbie could play Celine Dion CDs and his passenger would still be too cowed to protest.
But yours was driving dangerously. If you were reluctant to risk being turfed out by complaining to his face, you could have complained to his firm. You were not criminally culpable. But if your inaction results in more cabbies fearlessly playing Celine Dion songs, your inertia could have criminal consequences.