Editorial: Safety screens are worth it

OPINION: The Government's review of taxi safety comes too late for the family of slain cab driver Hiren Mohini. The Auckland cab driver died in the early hours of Sunday after a frenzied knife attack over a $20 fare. His life could have been saved by a $1000 plastic screen, which are mandatory in most other countries. It was certainly worth a lot more than the cost of a safety screen.

His death, which follows that of Christchurch driver Abdulrahman Ikhtiari in December 2008, has prompted a review of taxi safety by Transport Minister Stephen Joyce. He said the Government would consider introducing mandatory safety measures as a result. The move is long overdue and it is sad that it took another death to make it happen.

That compulsory safety measures should be introduced is obvious. They're used in most other western countries where they faced up to the sad fact years ago that taxi drivers need heavy duty protection. Taxi drivers have a tough job. They work long and often anti-social hours and inevitably take big risks picking up customers in varying states of intoxication and desperation and they deal in an increasingly rare commodity – cash. They also perform an incredibly valuable service in getting often vulnerable people home safely.

In big cities it is an ideal job for immigrants willing to work long hours for little rewards in order to get established in their new home.

The taxi industry's response has been hopeless, largely because protection is expensive. Because of deregulation the business – particularly in large centres – is fiercely competitive and any additional costs would put firms that did the right thing at a competitive disadvantage if their rivals decided to opt out.

There is no doubt a mandatory safety scheme would impose a greater burden on the industry. Taxi owners prefer the installation of cameras to plastic screens, because the screens are expensive and cut down on the space that can be used to carry passengers and luggage.

The industry has known for years that its drivers need protecting, but has done little. Some taxi companies have already begun installing security cameras and the industry's preference is for cameras over screens, which appears to show it is putting money ahead of safety.

While security cameras may act as a deterrent, they are unlikely to deter the most determined of criminals. It is hard to imagine that cameras would have saved the lives of Mr Ikhtiari or Mr Mohini.

The Government no doubt will study the problem carefully and listen to the views of the industry and its drivers. What it has to do is come up with a solution that puts the safety of drivers ahead of the interests of the industry's money managers. If security screens save one life, they will be worth the effort.

- © Fairfax NZ News