Shield designed to protect taxi drivers

Karl Cochrane (front) with driver Tony Singh, who personally paid for one of the shields. Photo / Alan Gibson

A protective shield for taxi drivers will soon be on the market, and its maker hopes it will put an end to a string of serious on-duty attacks.

In what is believed to be a New Zealand first, Tauranga Perspex manufacturer Karl Cochrane has constructed a shield which can be fitted around a taxi driver's seat.

The Perspex shield creates a strong, transparent barrier which makes a taxi driver less vulnerable to assaults from the passenger seat or rear seats.

Mr Cochrane was inspired to design the shield after the slaying of Auckland cabbie Hiren Mohini, 39, in Mt Eden on January 31.

"A shield would not prevent all attacks, but it would buy a taxi driver a bit of time if a passenger was behaving in a threatening manner," Mr Cochrane said. "In three or four attacks I know of, the driver hasn't been able to get out of the car."

Transport Minister Steven Joyce has recommended to the Cabinet that taxi companies be required to install cameras in cabs in cities and large towns throughout New Zealand.

Tauranga Mount Taxis Society chairman Sukhwinder Singh said that if a taxi driver had a surveillance camera and a shield, it would make attacks nearly impossible.

Drivers the Herald spoke to said cameras were effective in catching offenders, but not deterring them. Attackers were usually drunk and did not notice the camera in a taxi.

Mr Cochrane expected his company, Sava Shields, to get approval this week from Vehicle Testing New Zealand to install the plastic barriers.

The estimated cost for each shield would be $1300.

It could be removed in five minutes and stored in a car boot.

Tauranga Mount Taxis driver Tony Singh was one of the first to buy one, paying out of his own pocket.

Two of his close friends, Mohinder Singh and Dev Sangha, were assaulted in their taxis on the same weekend in March.

Mohinder Singh suffered severe facial injuries when beaten about the head and dragged along a road by a passenger who refused to pay his fare. He and Mr Sangha were reluctant to return to work, fearing they would "be the next Hiren Mohini", said Mr Singh.

In all, 10 drivers from the Tauranga Mount Taxi company have been assaulted in the past two years.

Sukhwinder Singh said drivers could install the shield for night shifts, when most of the attacks occurred.

He said the shield made taxis very impersonal, so it was important that they were not permanently fixed.

New Zealand Transport Agency officials have examined Mr Cochrane's design and have recommended refinements to make it a safe addition to taxis.

The agency will report back on the shield to the Ministry of Transport, which said it needed more information before it legalised shields nationwide.

ATTACKS ON CABBIES

January 31 - Auckland Co-Op Taxis driver Hiren Mohini, 39, stabbed to death by a passenger in Mt Eden. The suspected killer fled overseas and is still being hunted by police.

March 21 - Tauranga Mount Taxi driver Mohinder Singh, 55, suffered serious facial injuries when being beaten and dragged down a road in Brookfield, Tauranga. Labourer Stacey Adam, 21, charged with assault and robbery.

March 22 - Tauranga Mount Taxi driver Dev Sangha, 37, robbed in Papamoa by a passenger claiming he had a gun. Mr Sangha's wife, also a taxi driver, quit her job, fearing another attack. Unnamed 22-year-old charged with robbery.

March 27 - Cheap Cabs driver, in his 50s, robbed at knifepoint in Oratia by two men for $30 in coins.

March 28 - New Zealand Cabs driver Mohammad Alam left bloodied in downtown Tauranga after a serious beating by a drunk man who refused to pay his fare. Karam Kipa Hood, 29, pleaded guilty to assault.

April 1 - Female taxi driver, aged in her 50s, robbed at knifepoint of more than $500 on 17th Ave in Tauranga. A 19-year-old was charged with assault and robbery.

April 25 - A taxi driver smashed into a Wellington house after two passengers assaulted him in an attempted robbery.