Rape prompts warning to taxi passengers

Taxi passengers should steer clear of less established companies, land transport authorities say, following a sex attack by a driver in Wellington.

A 22-year-old woman told police she was raped in the back seat of a taxi near her Johnsonville home in daylight on Saturday morning.

In another case, Hamilton police are still hunting a taxi driver after a student was raped at the end of June.

Land Transport New Zealand spokesman Andy Knackstedt said the screening system for those applying to carry passengers was "fairly robust" -- but there was room for improvement.

"Hindsight is 20/20, but one thing we encourage people to do before get into a taxi is to see what company it is," he said today.

It was generally well known which companies were "established" in each city and which were not, he said.

"Thankfully it's rare, but when the worst happens, then at least the person will be able to tell the police what kind of taxi they were in.

"In this case, it doesn't appear the woman will be able to do that, which will make it much harder to identify the driver."

Under the "fit and proper" persons test, drivers applying to operate taxis and buses must pass a police background check into any past criminal convictions or even if they have been charged with an offence, and if they are setting up a company, their financial past is also scrutinised.

"This is repeated every 12 months, and in addition, if they are convicted of any traffic offences, such as drink-driving, or serious violence offences during that 12 months, the LTNZ is automatically informed.

"And in most cases, when they are charged, we are informed."

In the year to June 2004, there were 102 licenses revoked -- an increase of 33 on the previous year.

Suspensions, taken as an immediate step to protect public safety, were down six to 40.

A damning report by the Auditor-General into the taxi industry in June included a recommendation to improve data matching and information sharing between police the licensing authority, and that was already being implemented, Mr Knackstedt said.

However, it was not always possible to get accurate records on drivers from overseas, he said.

For instance, many refugees were fleeing countries where civil society had completely broken down.


Taxi Federation executive director Tim Reddish said the latest allegations -- coming on top of a spate of other sexual assault complaints against drivers in the past year -- was "very distressing".


Such incidents were the direct result of a lax system, which allowed undesirables into the industry, he said.


"The regulatory system has been deficient but now at least there is the legislative framework to make some changes," he said.


- NZPA