Cabbies urged to play it safe

The taxi industry wants drivers to install tape recorders or cameras in their cars to protect themselves after a spate of false rape allegations.

Drivers conceded that assaults by cabbies did happen but said many false claims were made or threatened against drivers every day, the Sunday Star-Times said yesterday.

Last month, a 23-year-old woman was charged with falsely alleging she was raped in a Wellington taxi.

And in June, 29-year-old taxi driver Allen Lepou-Umaga, also of Wellington, was found not guilty of raping a 17-year-old.

Richard Wright, head of Wellington's Taxi School, said false allegations and threats to taxi drivers were common.

He condemned any driver who assaulted a passenger, but said drivers also needed to protect themselves against false complaints.

Mr Wright recommends drivers attach cheap pocket tape recorders to their steering wheel to record any inappropriate conversations.

He also advises his students to eject at a safe location any woman who is misbehaving.

Taxi Federation head Tim Reddish said more drivers were installing cameras in their cars to protect drivers and passengers.

He said between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of taxis already had them.

He advised all drivers to seat women passengers in the back seat.

But drivers remained vulnerable to false complaints, Mr Reddish said, and drivers might follow American trends and install screens between the front and back seats to protect driver and passenger.

Lawyer Greg King, who recently represented two taxi drivers acquitted of rape charges, said taxi drivers were extremely vulnerable.

He said Mr Lepou-Umaga was unable to work for a year after the rape charge because his reputation was sullied.

* A man and two women, all aged in their early 20s, will appear in Tauranga District Court today charged with aggravated robbery after a taxi driver was punched in the face and robbed during an attempted car-jacking yesterday.

- NZPA