Taxi-drivers’ ‘complacency’ shattered by recent tragedy

Press, 16 September 1976, Page 3

Taxi-drivers’ ‘complacency’ shattered by recent tragedy

PA Rotorua The recent killing of a taxi-driver in Christchurch had shattered the complacency of owners about driver protection, the president of the Taxi Proprietors Federation (Mr H. J. Broadhurst) told the federation’s annual meeting at Wairakei yesterday. The killing had been a “sharp and bitter reminder” of the difficulties a taxidriver faced, particularly during darkness, he said in this annual report. “Unfortunately too many drivers have become selfsatisfied and blieve that such an incident could not happen to them. “Progress has been made in developing suitable audiovisual alarms, but protective shields, in spue of an under-

taking from the Government to make such shields and fitting exempt from tax, have found no favour at all,” said Mr Broadhurst. “As an industry our problem is to maintain credibility in the eyes of the public. We express great concern about the problems of crimes of violence against taxi-drivers, and we approached the Government with a 12-point manifesto to tackle the problem across a broad front.”

Comparatively few cabs had been fitted with any protection for the driver, and while there was no guarantee that a shield or alarm would have prevented the recent tragedy there was a need for the industry to show publicly that it was doing something and that drivers were prepared to take steps

jto protect themselves, said, Mr Broadhurst. The Government’s attitude towards the taxi industry was inconsistent. "They make no attempt to provide tax concessions to reduce or offset increases in our operating costs.

“We cannot afford to pay cash for new vehicles, and we are denied access to hirepurchase finance with the result that the standard of fleets is gradually declining, and while our fare schedules have moved to recover increased costs, these increases, when coupled with the general state of the economy, have resulted in a downturn in demand.

“Against these difficulties we have a Government who stated in its election manifesto that it was incumbent

on the industry to have a full taxi service on the road at peak times and that there were to be adequate licences available to meet public demand.”

In some areas proprietors said that while a fare increase was warranted any increase would further reduce the demand for taxis and make it even harder to earn a living. “The public and the Government must realise that they can only have a full and efficient taxi service when people owning and operating cabs get an economic return which relates to the hours they work and provides funds for the replacement of relatively expensive assets with a short working life," said Mr Broadhurst