Councilman Adam Dread sponsored the Metro Council bill that provided enforceable guidelines on taxi driver behaviour when a passenger is in their vehicle.

The move has been designed to boost taxi drivers' roles as ambassadors and to help tourism in "Music City". If a driver violates the code three times, the law requires that his taxi licence be taken away.

Tourism and Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown confirmed yesterday that Mr. Dread would be visiting at a date yet to be confirmed.

"It's been on our books for quite a while to create a bill of rights for passengers and also for taxi drivers," Dr. Brown said yesterday. "We hope Bermuda will be able to learn some things from what Nashville has done and maybe Nashville can learn some things from us.

"This man (Mr. Dread) seems to have a pretty good experience of dealing with taxi owners and operators and we are welcoming anyone who can assist us in the relationship between Government and drivers. He's not coming here as a hatchet man."

Dr. Brown said arrangements on whom Mr. Dread would be speaking with had not yet been finalised. And he stressed the talks did not mean that Bermuda planned to draw up legally-enforced code like Nashville's.

Nashville's new law has attracted the interest of several Caribbean islands as well as Bermuda. Requests for copies of the legislation have come from Turks and Caicos, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and also Barbados.

Speaking with the from Tennessee yesterday, Mr. Dread said the invitation to speak in Bermuda came about by chance.

"One of our taxi industry executives was speaking with Bermuda's Minister of Tourism at a conference in Florida last month," Mr. Dread said. "We are still talking, trying to find a time when I can go to Bermuda. It will probably be in January some time."

The issue of a bill of rights for passengers came up in April during negotiations between Government and taxi drivers over fare increases.

Possible guidelines reported at the time included the right to air-conditioning on demand, a radio-free trip, a driver who uses the horn only when necessary to warn of danger, smoke-free air, and a clean passenger seat.

Bermuda Taxi Operators' Association (BTOA) spokesman Lee Tucker said then that drivers had reservations about a passenger bill of rights as they believed a drivers' bill of rights was necessary, following incidents of passengers attacking drivers.

BTOA president Gordon Flood said yesterday: "We had some meetings when we did draught some proposals for a passenger's bill of rights.

"There was some concern that everything was being done to protect the passengers, but nothing was there to protect the drivers."

He said he did not want to comment on Mr. Dread's planned visit until he knew more about it.

From December 1, all of Nashville's 441 licensed cabs will display the bill of rights on a placard and a phone number for passengers to call if the driver violates the code.

Mr. Dread is the chairman of the Nashville's Conventions and Tourism Committee.

"I'm looking at almost every aspect of tourism in an effort to improve it," Mr. Dread said.

"My efforts to put forward a passenger bill of rights came about after I had a stroke about a year-and-a-half ago. It did not leave me disabled, but state law here says you are not allowed to drive any motor vehicle for six months after having a stroke.

"During that time I took hundreds of cabs, so I got plenty of first-hand experience of what the passenger experience is like.

"A real problem is taxi drivers talking on a cell phone, to friends or family, while they have a passenger. When you are paying someone to drive you, you hold them to a higher standard than that.

"The airport in Nashville is a 20-minute taxi ride away from just about anywhere in the city, so for a visitor, the first and last person they are likely to meet here is a taxi driver. I consider taxi drivers ambassadors of the city and it's important that guests feel welcome when they arrive and that they leave here feeling good about the place."

Mr. Dread said other US cities had introduced a passenger bill of rights, but Nashville's was the first to be enforced by law.

Drivers are obliged not to smoke in the presence of a passenger, to wear a collared shirt rather than a T-shirt and to take the most direct route to the destination, unless the passenger requests otherwise.

Some of Nashville's taxi problems are very different from Bermuda's. Mr. Dread said a considerable number of the city's 500 licensed drivers were from Somalia. So the passengers' rights include having a driver who spoke English, who knew the city and who did not burn incense in the car.

The law had gone down well all round, according to Mr. Dread.

"The Tennessee Taxi Cab Association fully endorses this bill of rights," the councilman said. "It's bad for the industry and the city if there are a few bad apples. And if drivers follow these rules, they are likely to make a lot more money in tips."