Women taxi-drivers at risk at night

Press, 15 August 1984, Page 9

Women taxi-drivers at risk at night

Increasing violence has made the streets unsafe for women taxi-drivers at night, according to the president of the Taxi Proprietors’ Federation, Mr Kevin Murphy. Mr Murphy said yesterday that he believed women should not drive taxis after 11 “We cannot stop them at all. If they want to work at night they will and it is their prerogative, but all I can say is that it is not safe for them out there,” he said. Mr Murphy’s comments came after a Wellington woman taxi-driver at Wainuiomata was attacked on Sunday evening, tied up, and locked in the boot of her cab. He said that 99 per cent of women were not strong enough to handle an at-

tacker. “A man has a better show,” he said. “Rape is a much more common thing now, in all New Zealand cities, and there is a higher risk for women taxi-drivers.” Mr Murphy said that increasing drug abuse in New Zealand was also a problem for taxi-drivers. “Some people on drugs go so out of their minds they don’t know what they are doing. You can usually cope with a man full of grog, but you can never tell what will happen with drugs.” There are more than 40 women taxi-drivers in Christchurch, several working at night on the or all-night shift. The ' law prohibiting women taxi-drivers from working at night was

repealed by the third Labour Government during its term of office between 1972 and 1975.

Mr Murphy said Blue Star Taxis was considering installing a sophisticated alarm system. However, it was expensive and all the drivers had to agree before the system was introduced.

The federation’s conference, which would be held later this month, would have a panel discussion about assaults on taxidrivers, he said. The chairman of the board of directors of Gold Band Taxis, Mr Terry Mather, said yesterday that he thought women were unwise to drive taxis at night. “It is over to them. They know the risks, and they take them. We cannot do

anything about it,” he said. He said the problem was one which was not easily solved. “I really don’t know the best way to protect them and it is a problem for us,” he said. Mr Mather said that the money was definitely better for taxi-drivers at night, which was an incentive for women to drive then. However, the clientele was very different Safety systems were being used in some Gold Band taxis, he said. The most common system cost about $lOO to install. Gold Band Taxis was at a disadvantage when it came to installing a general safety system because there were only about 80 cars in the fleet, which was about one-third the size of Blue Star Taxis.