Editorial: Taxi driver safety a company concern

OPINION: In reality, the frenzied knife attack that killed taxi driver Hiren Mohini during the weekend could have happened anywhere in New Zealand. The appalling killing of the Auckland family man has shocked the country in its brutality, pointlessness and for the fact so many people could relate to it.

Attacks on drivers, sadly, are part of the job. Bigger cities like Auckland and Wellington are not the only places where things like this happen. Late last year in Palmerston North the Manawatu Standard covered the story of city driver Keith Eveleigh, who was the victim of a cowardly attack.

Back then he called for stronger safety measures in cabs and even had a camera system installed in his own car.

The Government has already come under pressure to look at ways of making cabbies safer on their job.

The job is like no other. You deal with complete strangers on a day-to-day basis. The risk of physical harm escalates as the night progresses and, undoubtedly, alcohol intake has gone up.

But should the responsibility of driver safety fall solely on the shoulders of central Government? I think not.

Government regulations are not a panacea for the problem – they can only create an environment that allows for improvement.

In other sectors, workplace safety for employees is something that is the responsibility of employers. I can't see why that doesn't translate into a compliance cost for the taxi industry.

Whereas many people work in a building, cabbies call their car their office. It is their workplace.

The cost of installing security cameras, panic alarms and other protective measures are something that must be worn.

Passengers will, no doubt, bear that extra cost if it comes to that stage. If that is the price to pay for driver safety for the minute percentage of horrible offenders, then so be it. The circumstances around Mr Mohini's death are still not clear as police work to piece together the events of his final night. His death is a heart-wrenching one; allegedly killed over a $20 fare and a cab ride that went wrong in the worst imaginable way. Nothing will bring him back.

The best we can ask for is that some lessons can be learned so that the next attack on a driver just going about his job isn't a fatal one.

One more thing: We don't need reminders that our Defence Force personnel work in dangerous conditions, even during training exercises. The latest incident at Waiouru, where a Linton soldier was injured after a detonator exploded, showed once again the trying situations they are put in. Thankfully, the soldier was released from hospital today, but the incident instantly sparked memories of the two recent fatalities of Andrew Forster and Nick Cree. At least, in this case, the soldier lived to tell the tale.

- © Fairfax NZ News