I was stuck in traffic behind a taxi earlier today, and spotted – or rather, couldn’t miss – a huge LCD screen sitting behind the driver’s head. It was showing a medley of ads, news snippets and so on, in a package that I assume is similar to the really annoying stuff you get on some trains now. Although it’s for the entertainment of passengers, it’s crystal-clear when you’re in a car behind it – and it’s nearly impossible to take your eyes off.

The downsides of in-car videos have been apparent for some time – amusingly, in the US there have been cases of “drive-by porning” where unsuspecting commuters are subjected to porn clips courtesy of the car next to them – but a giant, back-facing screen in a taxi is downright dangerous, even when its content is perfectly innocuous.