iHLSThis is the most unique Taxi in the world. If you happen to be in Russia, you can now take a ride in military style. The taxi’s armor protects passengers from bullets and shrapnel and is being called the “safe taxi”.
ICRM – infantry combat reconnaissance machine – have been on patrol in St. Petersburg since the beginning of the year. These ICRMs are real armored vehicles with a spinning tower and an artificial large-caliber machine gun on top. The armor is one-centimeter thick and can protect passengers from bullets or shrapnel. Machine-gun fire wouldn’t stand a chance.
According to Russia beyond the headlines, military taxis have occasionally been available throughout the world as marketing ploys. For example, in 2011 tracked tanks with guns appeared on the streets of London. This was a promotional campaign used by Electronic Arts before launching the Battlefield 3 video game.
There are also other unusual taxis. The Yellow Air Taxi which operates in Florida, U.S., is a Cessna 402C airplane that can carry nine passengers and a pilot. It is painted yellow and is decorated with checkers.
Air taxis are also very popular in Moscow: helicopters from four different companies can transport up to seven passengers each. The most requested routes are from heliports to the airport. A helicopter taxi ride costs significantly more than one in an armored vehicle: about $766 an hour.
The ICRM is painted bright red, with checkers and the company’s trademark. Passengers enter the vehicle by ladder through a hatch on the upper part of its body and take their places on real military vehicle seating.
Yana Nezhintseva, a company representative of this “safe taxi” told RBTH that the new service is more popular than the company had expected. “We launched the project around the New Year and we now have several orders a week, even though we don’t have a marketing campaign,” says Nezhintseva. “We are thinking of buying and launching a second armored vehicle. We will modernize it for better comfort by improving the climate control and making the entrance more accessible.”
Although the ICRM currently traversing the streets of St. Petersburg is breaking no traffic laws and does feature safety and security, it is nevertheless rather ascetic. It doesn’t even have heat, although it’s not too cold inside as the engine and air circulation units provide some warmth. In warmer weather the ICRM can travel through rivers. The amphibious vehicle’s capabilities have not yet been fully tested.
– See more at: http://i-hls.com/2015/02/the-first-ever-armored-taxi-appears-in-russia/#sthash.DcXGo216.dpuf
Better leave a decent tip.
We need several of those things here.
“The taxi’s armor protects passengers from bullets and shrapnel and is being called the “safe taxi”.”
And I can totally see these on our streets in the US as a way for DHS to hand out more MRAPs to police departments. Just picture it. They will help the police donate one or two these to taxi agencies under the guise of “safety” and to acclimate the people with them like everything else. Pretty soon, you’ll have 90% of the vehicles on the road as MRAPs and people will think it is normal. For cryin’ out loud, they are already trying to market them by turning them into armored ambulances in our country, so taxis wouldn’t be too far off.
Absolutely disgusting in my opinion. These are vehicles of war, NOT for civilian daily travel.
I wouldn’t mind having one for personal use, NC. 😉