Taxi Driver Online

Quite a long piece in the Sunday Times (Ireland edition, presumably), but interesting to note the parallels between there and here - mandatory CCTV etc. And the likes of the rank taxi trade claiming to be safer than the apps etc

And usual stuff about endless 'reviews' of the legislation, and buck passing between authorities etc.

But the piece is fairly typical of this genre in many ways. And I wonder if there's one huge factor in it all that isn't mentioned, as is usually the case

(And a reminder that a 'hackney' in Ireland is a PHV here. I think )


How drivers convicted of sex attacks slipped Ireland’s taxi vetting#

https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland- ... -ft5pmvrrt

Licensed cabs are seen as a safe option but 70 passengers reported being raped or sexually assaulted between 2017 and 2023

Late at night, when buses stop and streets empty, taxis are supposed to be the safe way home. But for a growing number of passengers, that promise has been broken. In recent years, several drivers with previous convictions — including for sexual assault — have been licensed to carry passengers, prompting an “urgent” review and renewed calls for reform.

In July last year, the government announced a review into the licensing system for taxi drivers following the conviction of Raymond Shorten, who was sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison for multiple counts of rape and sexual assault.

Shorten, from Clondalkin in Dublin, raped two young women who were passengers in his taxi on separate nights out in 2022.

He had previously raped and sexually assaulted a seven-year-old girl on the day of her mother’s funeral in 2012, which came to light in 2020.

There are almost 28,000 people with small public service vehicle (SPSV) driver licences active in Ireland, which includes taxi, hackneys and limousines.

FreeNow, which has 14,000 drivers registered across the country, said just 2 per cent of those were female, which is in line with the overall taxi profession.

All SPSV drivers must complete a professional development course on safeguarding and disability awareness, keep their tax affairs up to date, and be deemed suitable by gardai after a vetting process.

The National Transport Authority, the regulator for the industry, must be notified each time a driver begins operating a taxi that is used by more than one driver.

It is the responsibility of the driver to know when their licence expires and make arrangements to renew it on time, which must be done every five years.

Holly Cairns, leader of the Social Democrats, who repeatedly raised the safety of taxi passengers in the Dail last year, told The Sunday Times that stricter garda vetting of drivers was an “urgent issue”.

Cairns said: “That was the last update we received on the review and, as far as I am aware, no further details were released publicly.

“These are urgent issues. It’s just not good enough for government ministers to come into the Dail chamber in the face of real public anger around women’s safety, promise to take it seriously, promise to conduct a review within the departments and the gardai, and then we hear nothing for over a year.”

Cairns said taxis were supposed to be “the safe option” for people returning home after a night out.

“Every woman grows up being told time and time again ‘don’t walk home alone at night, take a taxi’,” she said.

“The reality that the driver could be a convicted sex offender is the stuff of nightmares. We need certainty that anyone convicted of sexual offences will automatically lose their taxi licence. We should also be ensuring that licences are suspended where a driver is charged with a sexual offence — while they await trial.”

When contacted this weekend, a spokesman for the Department of Transport said the review was “a matter for the National Transport Authority (NTA)”. The NTA, however, said it was a matter for the gardai.

A garda spokesman in turn said he could not comment on “a review of legislation or proposed legislation”.

He said: “An Garda Siochana takes its responsibility as the current licensing authority to grant licences to drive small public service vehicles very seriously and with the utmost gravity.”

In February 2022, Samir Lakhlef, 53, a taxi driver who had several previous convictions including another for sexual assault, assaulted a passenger who told the court in April this year that she would “have been safer walking home alone in the dark”. Lakhlef pleaded guilty to the offence.

During the same month, former footballer Michael Keane, 43, who had two previous convictions in the UK, was jailed for sexually assaulting a college student in November 2023.

Seventy people have reported being either raped or sexually assaulted in taxis between 2017 and 2023, according to figures provided by the sexual assault treatment unit in the HSE.

In 2023, the most recent year with available data, 243 sexual assault allegations linked to taxis reportedly took place in the perpetrators’ homes. Another 235 involved taxis with “home” listed as the location, while 49 attacks occurred in fields or parks.

According to the NTA, a total of 149 taxi drivers had their licences revoked by gardai between 2017 and last year. In 2024, the NTA took 156 prosecutions against drivers, of which 47 per cent related to the operation of an unlicensed vehicle.

Uber vehicles are equipped with on-trip safety features, including an emergency assistance button and a “RideCheck” tool that uses sensors and GPS data to detect unexpected long stops. When contacted last week, Uber would not provide figures on how often such features were used.

FreeNow’s app allows passengers to share a trip with friends or family so they know where the person is and when they arrive at the destination.

Neither company would provide figures on how often drivers are reported to the service.

Maggie Regan, from Galway, was returning from a night out in the city with her friend Sinead recently when the pair flagged a taxi on a nearby rank.

Regan, 27, said she gave the driver clear instructions of where to go, but said he became agitated and aggressive and began driving the wrong way. He eventually slammed on the brakes and left Regan and her friend on the side of the road at 2am in the rain, forcing them to flag down another taxi.

The content creator said the incident left the pair “feeling very uncomfortable” and that they had decided to avoid using taxis in the future.

“We’ve just opted now to have a designated driver among us when we go out — or find another way home,” she said.

“I was talking about my experience on TikTok and then received DMs [direct messages] in response from people who had been assaulted by a taxi driver or had similar negative experiences to me. A few were even saying that there’s a few ‘known’ taxi drivers you just don’t get into, but that they’re still registered, which is terrifying really.”

Regan said she would be in favour of CCTV being installed in all taxi vehicles to protect both passengers and the drivers. According to the NTA, about 26 per cent of taxi drivers have in-vehicle security cameras, but there are no plans to mandate the use of CCTV in taxis nationwide.

“This would be not just to protect the passenger, but also to protect the driver too,” Regan said.

“The government should look into this because I don’t think we should wait until something really bad happens to do something.”

However, Cairns said installing CCTV cameras in taxis would raise “serious concerns” in regards to up-close surveillance of passengers in a relatively intimate setting, as well as data safety issues with the video.

“We believe the focus of reforms should be on prevention of any safety issues from occurring, through reform to the licensing and vetting systems,” she added.

At present, drivers must have held an Irish driving licence or a driving licence from another EU or other recognised state for at least 12 months, without endorsement.

Jim Waldron, a spokesman for the National Private Hire and Taxi Association, said it was concerning that novice drivers — those who had held their driver’s licences for less than two years, were being granted SPSV licences.

“There are taxi drivers driving around with an ‘N’ sign on their car — they should have a minimum of two years’ experience before being granted a licence and driving the general public on the road at the capacity that a taxi driver would,” he said.

Waldron believes it is safer for both passengers and drivers to get a taxi through a rank.

“People used to think it was safest to book a taxi through an app, but perpetrators tend to work their way around that,” he said.

“A suggestion we made to the NTA was that taxi drivers could have their own app in Ireland. Drivers going to work would login into the app and the passenger they’re picking up would know that they’re a legal driver.

“There would also then be proper traceability of a customer as well, as drivers are getting no feedback whatsoever from the app companies when they have an issue.”

He became 'agitated and aggressive' totally out of the blue, for no apparent reason?

And, as per usual, maybe this female 'content creator' should try a few shifts and see how she gets on with 'negative experiences' with passengers

And usual 'safety-is-paramount' style stuff as well