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The World's Safest Taxi

The World's Safest Taxi

The World's Safest Taxi
Danielle de Wolfe
05 January 2015

London's cab drivers are well known for ruling the roost on its busy streets; but if this bad boy ever turned up, they'd be forced to stand aside.

The newest taxi in Russia is a former armoured reconnaissance vehicle. Its owner has been attempting to procure a licence to use it as a taxi on the streets of St. Petersburg, and city authorities have finally given in, after requesting that it be painted to a 'civilian' colour - the owner chose red, to set it apart from the standard yellow taxis in the city.

The BRDM-2 Combat Command and Reconnaissance Vehicle was made in the Soviet Union and operational between 1963 and 1989. It's armed with a 14.5mm Vladimirov heavy machine gun, a 7.62mm Kalashnikov tank machine gun and has the added bonus of being amphibious, enabling it to cross the Neva River without needing to bother with the nuisance of a bridge.

A ride will cost you 5,000 rubles (£56) and, unlike any other taxi, we'd have thought traffic jams wouldn't be too much of an issue.

Watch it in action in the video below.

[via Oddity Central]