Taxi drivers are often in a position of great responsiblity - caring for drunk and vulnerable women. Is it no longer safe to send a female friend home in a taxi? The cab companies should take on the greatest responsibility as they are more able to pick up on repeat complaints than police are, but they are unwilling to fire offenders.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Cabbies-making-taxis-unsafe-for-women/2007/11/12/1194766541096.html

Sydney taxi drivers are regularly getting away with sexual assaulting passengers and are making taxis unsafe for women.

A News Limited newspaper reports one in 10 cab drivers who recently faced formal sexual misconduct complaints was taken off the road.

Documents obtained by the paper found 74 complaints between January 2006 and May 2007 show most drivers accused of misbehaviour simply deny it and the matter is dismissed due to "conflicting statements".

NSW Rape crisis centre manager Karen Willis said complaints against drivers should not be dealt with by cab companies desperate to retain staff.

"This is just appalling. This is an issue that bubbles up all the time and cab companies are washing their hands of responsibility," she told the newspaper.

freediver wrote on Nov 12^th, 2007 at 11:46am:


I'll give you a dollar for every driver guilty of offence committed against a passenger, if you give me one hundred for every passenger who commits an offence against a driver.

Where I work, we are taking very particular attention to gathering data.  Indications here are, Cabbies -v- Punter = innocent -v- guilty.

As for the responsibility of 'cab companies,'.....they have none.

'cab companies' receive phone calls for a cab, and send a cab to that caller.  That is their sole mission, and responsibility.

After that, the DRIVER of the cab is solely responsible. 

He is running his own business.

Cab companies do far more than pass on customers.

freediver wrote on Nov 16^th, 2007 at 9:41am:


What?

freediver wrote on Nov 18^th, 2007 at 2:27pm:


Oh I dunno, they let any old idiot be a cabbie.  Don't they Aussie.   

Aussie - the company matches up their customers with their drivers, albeit subcontracted.
They have records of what call goes to what driver when and owe a degree of safety to their customers.

They probably also help to streamline all the paperwork. I can't image most cabbies doing all the paperwork associated with a small business.

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Cab driver accused of rape denied bail

http://news.smh.com.au/cab-driver-accused-of-rape-denied-bail/20071220-1iag.html

A Sydney taxi driver charged with raping his passenger claims the sex was consensual, despite a Sydney court being told the alleged victim is a lesbian.

MD Kowsar Ali, 23, appeared in the NSW Supreme Court to make a fresh application for bail over the November 3 incident that he claims involved consensual sex with an 18-year-old woman who had hired his cab.

"The allegation is the applicant removed the victim from the front seat to the back seat, violently removed her clothing and had sexual intercourse with her without her consent," Justice Ian Harrison said.

Justice Harrison denied bail, saying evidence found in the cab, teamed with the woman's sexuality, formed compelling parts of the prosecution's case.

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on the flip side:

Taskforce aiming to improve taxi safety

http://news.smh.com.au/taskforce-aiming-to-improve-taxi-safety/20080112-1lkh.html

Up to half of NSW taxi drivers feel unsafe working at night, fearing they will be the victim of a physical attack and robbery, new research shows.

Findings of a survey conducted by the Taxi Safety and Security Taskforce, released, reveal fare evasion and intoxicated passengers are among the top concerns for drivers and often went unreported.

The report, prepared by former NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Madden, recommends changes to technical and physical taxi security including the fitting of cameras, improved reporting and policing of incidents, heightened public awareness of taxi security, and a greater link between liquor licensing and public transport.

"The government also supports the recommendations for technology initiatives like driver door locks, two emergency buttons in each vehicle, and mandatory security cameras in every taxi from March 1 in Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong and the central Coast, and other areas from September 1."

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Accused taxi driver rapist on bail

http://news.smh.com.au/accused-taxi-driver-rapist-on-bail/20080124-1nsf.html

A taxi driver granted bail by a Sydney court allegedly drove three female passengers to dark, deserted locations before repeatedly raping them in separate sex attacks.

Police allege taxi driver Hassan Nagi committed the assaults in taxis at Glebe, Kings Cross and Kogarah between July 2003 and June last year.

The alleged victims were women, aged 31, 23 and 27, and two of them were heavily intoxicated as they headed home after nights out.

His lawyer, Clive Steirn SC, told the court the women were all prostitutes and that the sex was consensual.

However, Kate Chater, for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), denied the women were prostitutes and told the court the offences were extremely serious.

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Qld cabbies may include killers: govt

http://news.smh.com.au/qld-cabbies-may-include-killers-govt/20080130-1p16.html

Convicted murderers have been handed taxi licences in Queensland, the state government has admitted.

Queensland Transport figures show 1,140 drivers with criminal or traffic records have been registered to drive taxis in Brisbane since January 2006 - almost half of the 2,400 licences issued during that time.

Only 459 would-be cabbies were rejected after background checks.

Queensland Transport executive director of passenger transport Paul Blake said people who had been convicted of a sex crime or any offence against children were barred from applying for licences.

But he said convicted murderers could be eligible - depending on how long ago the offence occurred.

"Murder is a conviction that you can qualify after a period of time," Mr Blake told ABC radio.

"Obviously we would require that to be a long time in the past."

Anyone who had additional convictions since then would be overlooked.

Premier Anna Bligh defended the checks, saying Queensland was the first state in Australia to introduce laws prohibiting anybody with a conviction for a sexual offence from getting a taxi licence.

"Queenslanders who travel in taxis can feel very confident that Queensland has one of the toughest regimes for licensing in the country," she said.

But opposition transport spokesman Tim Nicholls said most people would be alarmed at the thought that they could be driven around by a convicted murderer.