PARIS TAXI-CABS

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 19, 23 January 1926, Page 16

PARIS TAXI-CABS

MOSTLY OWNED AND DRIVEN

BY FOREIGNERS,

A recent census of Paris taxicab drivers reveals that nearly one-third of the cabs are driven by foreigners, mostly Russians, says the "New York Times." Native drivers, it is said, may soon be outnumbered.

The percentage of serious accidents in which foreign drivers are involved is reported as being far higher than that in which French chauffeurs figure. Some authorities put the ratio as high as two to one. /Th» Russians are said to be the. worst offenders. It was, for instance, a Russian Chauffeur who recently drove his vehicle into a fountain in the centre of Paris.

Applicants for cab licenses are required to pass nominal tests, but the examination is of so simple a nature that any one having a superficial knowledge of the main thoroughfares can hardly fail to pass. Complaints of ignorance have become so numerous that the Prefecture de Police has decided to take action. Licenses are to be revoked in the casejif drivers against whom a certain number of complaints are registered, and a more comprehensive test for applicants has been devised.

Henceforth oach candidate will draw by lottery several numbers, corresponding to atreets in the city and representing possible journeys the driver might have to make. The candidate will not only have to indicate the proper Toute to bo taken from one point to the other but also will be asked to describe the adjoining thoroughfares.