NCJ Number
189376
Date Published
November 2000
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses the patterns of violence against taxi drivers in Australia and identifies risk factors.
Abstract
Chappell and Di Martino (1998) estimated that taxi drivers had up to 15 times the average exposure to occupational violence. The high incidence of assaults on taxi drivers compared with other workers was consistent over time. In Australia, one taxi driver was murdered on the job each year. The incidence of assaults was unknown due to flaws and gaps in official data collection. Only occasionally did an assault event on a taxi driver appear in any database. The severity of injury following assaults was better known, since grievous bodily harm was more likely to be reported. In one early study, 61 percent of robberies of taxi drivers resulted in no physical injury or a negligible one, 31 percent had minor injuries, and 8 percent had serious injuries. Based on three substantive empirical Australian studies, the severity of incidents appeared to be increasing over time and to vary marginally from one Australian region to another. Previously identified risk factors for violence against taxi drivers included evening and night work, intoxicated young male passengers, a driver's inability to speak fluent English, working alone, inadequate driver knowledge of an area, standard sedan taxis, customers with limited funds, and extended waiting times at ranks. Reduction in driver vulnerability to violence depended on the identification of risk factors and the installation of appropriate and effective preventive devices. These are detailed in "Trends and Issues" paper 179. 49 references