Drink driving is simply stupid, but the festive season has risks for passengers, too. Rebecca Feiner offers advice

A rational alien visiting Britain in December would conclude that the inhabitants of this strange frozen land must be fools. Why else would we consume copious amounts of falling-down water and then, when daylight is in shortest supply, try to find our way home through rain and snow in impractical footwear and party frocks?

  
Hard-hitting: London’s campaign against illegal minicabs

Thankfully we are more complex than your average Vulcan. Ever since Oliver Cromwell banned singing and dancing, and indeed Christmas itself, it seems we've been making up for lost time. The urge to party for a little midwinter relief has been heartily celebrated in one form or another for centuries.

As we are all in the same merry boat, it's not unreasonable to wish safe passage to our friends and colleagues. Alas, for some this is often where the tinsel tale ends and the nightmare begins. Due to the level of mayhem, personal injury and crime they have to deal with, police officers refer to the last Friday before Christmas as Black Friday. The reputation of New Year's Eve is little better.

Every year, lives are shattered not just by a stubborn hard core of drunk drivers, but by another set of criminal motorists trawling the streets. People making a responsible choice after a Christmas or New Year's Eve party, leaving the car keys at home or at the office, too often step unwittingly into an illegal vehicle and find themselves a victim of crime.

Considering that their very nature means that rape and sexual assault are always under-reported, the statistics are sobering. Every month in London, women report an average of 10 such assaults by drivers of illegal, unlicensed minicabs. Men have also been robbed and attacked, and any passenger may be at risk in an unroadworthy vehicle without insurance, which is almost impossible to trace.

Leaving little room for doubt about the risk, in November 2005 the Mayor of London ran a hard-hitting poster that warned: "To find out what an illegal cab could cost you, ask a rape victim." However, informing and empowering the public is one thing, scaremongering is another. Allowing a fear of criminals to rob us of our right to celebrate the season would not make ourselves or our streets safer.

To that end the Greater London Authority (GLA) has used publicity to try to make the city safer for everyone. Launched in 2002, the Safer Travel at Night (STAN) campaign has been alerting the public and women in particular to the risks. In 2004 it recruited acclaimed film director Mike Leigh to underpin the "Know What You're Getting Into" poster message with a characteristically unblinking short film, reminiscent of his 1993 feature Naked. Shown in cinemas, it left viewers in no doubt about the horrific potential consequences of a careless decision.

Essential to the success of the campaign has been the long-term development of safer transport alternatives, and the exposure of the illegal minicab trade as a cloak for criminal activity. It's an example of a local government initiative in which partnership - in this case between the GLA, Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police, Westminster City Council and others - has worked not as a bureaucratic talking shop but as a political process that has made a real difference to citizens. Crucial to this has been the increased frequency of night buses, user-friendly websites allowing you to plan a journey (often almost door-to-door on public transport), organised ranks for licensed taxis and more recently the innovative Cabwise service.

Cabwise couldn't be simpler, delivering one licensed taxi and two licensed minicab numbers to your mobile phone when you text "HOME" to 60835. Programme that number into your phone now, before you forget, then go out and celebrate in safety.

Stay safe

1. Always inform someone when you leave a party to go home.

2. When booking a minicab, ask for the driver's name and the make and colour of the car that will be picking you up.

3. Licensed "black" taxicabs are the only type that may be legally hailed in the street.

4. All minicabs should display a sticker showing that they are licensed.

5. Keep your mobile phone switched on.

6. Trust your instincts. Don't be persuaded to use an illegal vehicle, especially if you will be the only passenger or the last one to be dropped off. Take equal care of your friends.

7. Never be tempted to drive yourself if you have been drinking, or get into a vehicle of any type with a driver who has been drinking.

8. If you feel threatened, ask the driver to stop in a busy area and get out of the vehicle.

9. If the driver refuses to stop as requested, use your phone to call the police.

10. Let us and your fellow readers know what initiatives are happening in your area to make transport safer at night, by leaving a comment under this article
 
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