Cab drivers are quiet heroes

By Steve McNamara, General Secretary at the London Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA)

London cabs and the cabbies who drive them are iconic around the world. Every tourist that comes to London wants to ride in a cab and have their picture taken with one. They are to London what Gondolas are to Venice and Tuk Tuks are to Bangkok.

But our cabs are much more than a tourist attraction. They are an omnipresent feature of London’s hectic city environment. You can’t walk anywhere in central London for more than a couple of minutes without seeing a black cab (other colours are rare, but available!), which makes them the perfect vehicle for circulating RAPAID emergency bandages kits throughout one of the busiest urban environments in the world.

And the professionals that drive black cabs in London are much more than drivers. Known for their knowledge and often hearing passengers tell tales they wouldn’t share with anyone else, cabbies are frequently heroes in disguise, getting people to where they need to be and often pitching in when help is needed. Who better then to carry RAPAID bleed kits?

A great example of why black cabs and London cabbies are a perfect fit for RAPAID is the response of LTDA members when the London Bridge terror attack happened in 2017. As people fled from the scene, black cabs flowed towards the danger, driven by cabbies keen to take people out of harm’s way. They didn’t charge a fare; they simply did what they could to help out in an emergency, protecting people and stepping up as citizens in a city we all love.

And that’s exactly what London cab drivers have done since RAPAID began rolling out the charity’s campaign to equip cabs with potentially life-saving bleed kits. When RAPAID’s co-founder and director, Alex Chivers first approached me about putting the emergency bandages kits in cabs, he wasn’t the first to hit upon the idea of locating a product in a cab. I get contacted on a daily basis with all kinds of products and ideas, usually commercial, and often with no real merit.

But Alex’s approach was different. Not only is RAPAID a charity, but his idea was an inspired solution to a problem: how to achieve maximum coverage for these potentially life-saving emergency bandages throughout a city with potential danger around every corner, day and night. I agreed to meet Alex, and his knowledge and passion were compelling; here was someone who had seen first-hand how vital a bleed kit can be in saving someone’s life. Someone who wanted to make a difference by putting that essential equipment within reach of every Londoner and visitor to the city, whether they’re in need of help, or need to help someone.

After that initial meeting, I was sold on the idea, but I couldn’t agree until I had approval from TfL. It took just two weeks for TfL to respond with a request to see the bleed kits and stickers, and only one afternoon for them to agree once they’d taken a look at an equipped cab.

London cab drivers haven’t taken much persuading either. Cabbies have been eager to have a kit and RAPAID stickers installed in their cabs. They are proud to display that they have bandages on board capable of saving a life if an accident, incident or attack should happen when they are in the vicinity.

It’s amazing to think how quickly 2000 cabs have been kitted out. And even more amazing to know that we could turn that figure into 15,000 tomorrow based on the number of drivers happy to get on board. The only thing slowing down the roll out is funding. RAPAID is a charity, dependent on donations to fund production and distribution of the kits.

With so many companies benefitting from the fast pace of the London economy, here’s hoping a corporate donor comes forward to help build on what’s been achieved so far. Not everyone can run a charity, not everyone can drive a black cab, but anyone can be a hero.