Cameras won't stop all violence, say taxi drivers

Vivek Rao says the Government should offer loans to struggling drivers. Photo / Greg Bowker

Auckland taxi drivers have mixed feelings about moves to make surveillance cameras mandatory in their cabs, with some saying nothing will make them feel safe enough at night.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce said yesterday he would recommend to the Cabinet that taxi companies be required to install cameras in cabs in cities and large towns throughout New Zealand, although those in smaller centres will be exempted.

That follows advice from officials that attacks on taxi drivers in Australia dropped by at least 70 per cent after cab cameras became compulsory.

The minister's decision has been welcomed by the Taxi Federation, following murders of two cabbies in little more than a year - including the fatal stabbing two months ago in Auckland of Hiren Mohini, father of two young daughters.

Another Auckland driver was robbed at knifepoint last weekend and the Ministry of Transport said at least 160 cabbies were attacked in the region in the past five years, up from 60 between 2000 and 2005.

Several recent assaults have been reported in Tauranga, including the bashing a week ago of a 55-year-old cabbie left with serious facial and head injuries.

But some Auckland drivers spoken to by the Herald said nothing would persuade them to work at night.

Vivek Rao, of Reliable Cabs, used to drive at night but Mr Mohini's murder drew a demand from his family that he operate only in daylight hours.

He did not believe cameras would be an effective enough deterrence for passengers bent on violence, some of whom would be too drunk to notice them, and believed the Government should at least offer loans to drivers hard-pressed to afford the extra cost.

"It is hard to deal with those people who get drunk and threaten you, or fall asleep in the car," he said.

Fellow driver Major Aujla said that if the cabbies were required to pay for mandatory security measures, they should be entitled to choose between cameras and protective screens, which he believed would be more effective.

Subject to Cabinet approval and public consultation, Mr Joyce hoped a rule change would be ready by the end of the year, so cameras could be introduced through the taxi fleet during the following six to eight months.

"We are very conscious the Rugby World Cup occurs next year and certainly the industry and myself feel it would be appropriate to have new security measures that we think are necessary in place prior to the Rugby World Cup," he said.

The federation, which represents about half of the 7000-vehicle taxi industry, expects some companies will be keen to start installing cameras as soon as the Government makes specifications available about the middle of this year.

Mr Joyce said the cost of installing cameras - at an estimated $1000 to $1500 a cab - would have to be borne by the industry as any financial assistance from the Government would set a difficult precedent for other industries facing security concerns.

Although the Taxi Federation would have welcomed any such assistance, and expects to recover the cost from passengers instead, executive director Tim Reddish said he was delighted the minister had acted so swiftly.

He said it was difficult to predict how much fares would need to rise, but believed it would be "under 30c per ride".

The minister said officials had considered the installation of protective screens, but concluded on the basis of Australian experience that the deterrence effect of cameras would provide the "the highest benefit at the lowest overall cost to the industry".

"If you have the whole industry involved the public become very aware that it is going on and behaviour towards taxi drivers improves right across, because they know they are going to have their photo taken in the cab."

Mr Reddish said drivers tended not to favour screens and there were practical difficulties such as those caused by a wide variation of taxi models and incompatibility with air-conditioning systems.

ON FILM

* The Transport Minister is to recommend to the Cabinet before end of May that cameras become mandatory in taxis in time for next year's Rugby World Cup.

* The taxi industry will have to pay to install them at between $1000 and $1500 a cab.

* Passengers will end up footing the bill, by paying up to 30c extra on fares, although the Taxi Federation says cameras will protect them as well as drivers.