Vandals

Last weekend involved some wilful vandalism on the cab. Thankfully this is not a common occurrence but when it happens it’s really annoying.

Four English fellas hopped in on Cleveland Street, Chippendale for Scruffy Murphys. They had been boozing and were really lively, most likely off to watch the FA Cup Final.

Within seconds I was shouting that blown stereo speakers weren't worth the ten dollar fare as the front passenger continued cranking the volume to maximum levels.

During the racket the rear passengers pinched the two front headrests, which I didn’t notice until an hour later when stopped for a coffee.

I reasoned they wouldn’t gain entry to the hotel carrying bulky headrests and would dump them around the drop-off point on crowded George Street. So with faint hope I headed back there.

After checking some rubbish bins I found one intact headrest down the footpath and the other around the corner near Sussex Street. It had been placed under my rear wheel-I recalled a bump on departure-and afer being hit and dragged by other vehicles was pretty mangled.

Consequently the shift was completed without a passenger headrest which an irate drunk insisted was highly illegal. Can anyone confirm this?

Here’s a similar question relating to a friend’s vehicle which needed a registration check. The mechanic identified a busted horn plus an active warning light on the airbag. Instead of fixing the horn, a requirement for rego, he only replaced the airbag, charging some $800.

Later she was told the airbag, which she couldn’t afford to replace and didn’t request such, is not a mandatory function for rego purposes. True or false?

Comments

[Savvas Tzionis]

I drove cabs back in 1990 & 1991 and never had any real trouble (then again, I was only part time).

In Greece (land of my forebears), the job of a cabbie is so much easier in regard to drunken behaviour.

Greeks do not get (violently or belligerently) drunk.

[Rainer the cabbie]

Only on credit and that hangover is borne by someone else, I suppose.

Bloody English Lager louts. Sorry this hap pend, Adrian, I lost my floor mats out the window recently, due to some Navy fellows having a great time.
But again, I knew it was a gamble picking them up, I wonder if you spotted this before you pulled over for them ?

[Aurelius]

Headrests I not sure on.
But since airbags are optional, then it's unlikely they're rego requirement.
I once had a mechanic try to tell me a sun visor was a rego requirement though.

[Peter Deane]

Depends on the ADRs on the compliance plate, Adrian. Check your compliance plate out, and see which ADRs the vehicle complies with (check the RTA site out for a list of them). If it says on the compliance plate that the vehicle is manufactured to comply with a particular ADR, then it has to comply with it in order to pass rego. What this essentially means is that anything originally fitted by the manufacturer should actually be working.