Cab drivers across the world are routinely accused of driving harshly or using foul language. However, San Diego Regional Airport Authority goes a step ahead and ensures that they maintain good hygiene too. Body odor is part of 52 prerequisites that officials at San Diego International Airport use to judge taxi drivers. Cabbies have long fought this regulation as they say it reeks of prejudice and discrimination.
For a long time now, inspectors with the San Diego Regional Airport Authority run down their checklist for each cabbie. Among the laundry list of prerequisites are routine items like proof of insurance, functioning windshield wipers, adequate tire treads, good brakes, etc. Taxi drivers receive one of the three grades, depending on which they are allowed to ply their trade. They either “Pass” or they “Fail.” But they also get a chance to remedy any non-compliance if they get a “Needs Fixing” grade.
Interestingly, in case the on-duty inspector decides the cab driver stinks, they are asked to go home and change before they are allowed to pick-up another customer, reported USA Today .
Why are the cab drivers upset? Maintaining good personal hygiene should be a virtue that needn’t be imposed upon taxi drivers who interact with hundreds of customers and essentially represent the ground transport of one of the busiest cities in America. But cabbies allege that the test perpetuates a stereotype that predominantly foreign-born taxi drivers smell bad, reported ABC News .
Unsurprisingly, a 2013 survey of 331 drivers by San Diego State University and Center on Policy Initiatives found an overwhelming 94 percent were immigrants and 65 percent were from East Africa.
Apart from the test being perceived as discriminatory, drivers are still clueless as to how the inspector decides who reeks of foul body odor. Driver Abel Seifu, 36, from Ethiopia, suspects they sniff inconspicuously during friendly conversations in the staging area. Mudding the waters further, airport authority spokeswoman Rebecca Bloomfield said there is “no standard process” to testing.
Other sets of cabbies wonder how the inspectors can distinguish between them and their cars. The checklist has a spate item marked “foul interior odors,” which Bloomfield says may include gasoline, vomit, or mildew.
Taxi drivers are pushing for a more streamlined regulation and standardized test procedures which involve a “smell detector.”
Arguing his case, driver Negus Gebrenarian, 39, from Ethiopia said, “If they want to bring their smell detector, they can use it to test the customers and the drivers. The stench is just as likely to come from the back seat as it is from the front.”
Interestingly, San Diego hasn’t had an official complaint filed by any customer. However, authorities aren’t willing to take any chances.
[Image Credit | VICE]
