Increased attacks on cabbies in Preston

Preston taxi drivers are calling for more safety measures in place after a large number of attacks in recent months.

Attacks on drivers is nothing new and in the past year, there have been a total of 300 reported attacks on cabbies in Preston, not including what many drivers refer to as ‘just incidents’ which don’t get reported to the police.

Increase in crime

One of the main causes of such attacks is from passengers who have had too much to drink, a problem taxi firms cannot escape from as their peak hours run at times when people are out drinking and don’t have any other form of transport.

Since the 24 hour drinking law was brought about in November 2005, there has been a marked increase in crime at antisocial hours of the day, and cabbies are amongst those to notice the impact it has made.

Private hire cabs suffer the most as they don’t use purpose built vehicles with CCTV cameras fitted and a ‘cage’ which keeps the driver safe behind a glass screen, features commonly used in hackney carriages (black cabs).

Online forums of such as taxiforums.co.uk are screaming complaints of the lack of safety for taxi drivers and the recent attacks that have took place. Attacks range from robbery, knife attacks, beating and threats with guns.

In the last 15 years there have been 49 murders of taxi drivers and 120 serious assaults, not to mention all the attacks that weren’t reported.

“Low priority”

Chairman of the National Taxi Association, Paul Brent, says “The safety of taxi drivers is a low priority to the government and not enough is done to recognise the danger these working men are in.
I would say the taxi service is the most neglected piece of public transport in terms of safety regulations set out.
As far as threats from members of the public who are under the influence, Mr Brent called it a “never ending struggle that seems to be getting worse.”

One member on another forum said “I would reckon that taxi driving anywhere in the world holds many dangers.”

Only in November this year was an Asian taxi driver punched in the face and left with a bloody nose in an incident involving 3 men in Burnley, just days before a New City Taxis cabbie was attacked with a knife in Walton-le-Dale.

At the minute, there doesn’t appear to be a lot of help or strong laws in place to protect the safety of these drivers. The GMB (general worker’s union), however, is setting about a campaign for the government to recognise the danger drivers are in and are calling for –
• government incentives for safety measures through local licensing authorities
• CCTV in vehicles
• proper training for drivers, such as nationally recognised portable NVQs
• for a more sensible sentencing regime
• for the police to record attacks on licensed drivers as a separate category.

Picture source preston city council http://www.preston.gov.uk/Category.asp?cat=746