London Taxi Drivers Anger over Olympic Lanes

London taxi drivers have been angered by the introduction of the Olympic Lanes across London, which only allows Olympic traffic through. If any other vehicle should stray into the Olympic lanes then they will face a fine of £130, which is definitely not a pleasant thought.

So the taxi drivers of London had finally had enough and decided to protest; but not just on old day, the day of the Olympic opening ceremony. The protest was scheduled to be at 5:00pm on Friday the 27th of July and take place on Hyde Park Corner; but the police had banned the cabbies from having it at this time, as it could cause serious disruption to the opening event.

The taxi drivers formed a convoy and blocked traffic for over half an hour before they got moved along. The main use for the Olympic lanes is official buses and special Olympic BMW fleets to transport athletes and officials around London.

We have to ask ourselves if this is fair, we understand that this is a special time in London and that the athletes need to get to and from their events, but the rest of the capital also needs to get where they are going. Why should people have to put their lives on hold while this event takes place?

The London black taxi is a real British icon and a symbol of our capital, so why is something that we are proud of being excluded? We suspect that a lot of guests to the Olympics may use the taxis to get around the city, so why should they not have their place in the lanes?

It has been said that some taxi drivers have had a 50% drop in income since the Olympic lanes came into force. With this and the £130 fine if they should accidently end up in one of the games lanes, it is not looking like a good time for the London cabbies.