Monash university accident research centre report documentation page

The largest proportion of respondents from most groups perceived the annual inspection process to be both effective/very effective and important/very important in ensuring the safety of taxis and hire cars. Hire car operators were generally equally likely to perceive the annual inspection process to be important and unimportant, and taxi/hire car industry stakeholders were somewhat more divided in their perceptions of its effectiveness.

These responses were generally consistent with those reported by the interstate taxi regulators. However some felt that the number of compliance officers needed to be increased to enable more frequent inspections, and others thought that the inspection regime needed to be more stringent and consistent.

Taxi and hire car operators and selected industry stakeholders were asked to provide their opinion on the frequency with which vehicle inspections are currently conducted (Figures A4.15 – A4.17) and to indicate whether the frequency of annual inspections should change with the age of the vehicle (Figures 4.18 – 4.20).

Figure A4.18: Proportion of taxi operators indicating that annual vehicle inspections should stay the same, increase or decrease as vehicle age increases (n=21)