Inquiry’s views in Draft Report
The Victorian Government’s concern for the safety of taxi drivers and passengers is evident by the strong emphasis on safety in the inquiry’s Terms of Reference. This focus was reflected in the inquiry’s Draft Report, which included a dedicated chapter on safety matters and several general and specific recommendations designed to improve safety.
Significant concerns were raised with the inquiry regarding the safety of taxi customers and drivers. The inquiry agrees that ensuring the safety of passengers and drivers must remain a core objective of taxi and hire car regulation.
While recognising that Victoria’s taxi and hire car industry has a relatively good record of passenger safety, the inquiry found that improvements could be made in a number of areas. The most pressing issues were identified as passenger safety late at night at taxi ranks, child safety in taxis and safety issues for women passengers and passengers with a disability. Some safety concerns also related to unsafe driving practices, such as driver distraction (drivers talking on the phone or programming their GPS units) and poor driving skills (such as speeding and merging dangerously).
The inquiry found widespread concern within the industry and the broader community about the safety of taxi drivers. Many drivers told the inquiry of being involved in a situation where they felt unsafe while at work, with incidents ranging from customers damaging vehicles to verbal abuse from passengers and serious physical assaults. The inquiry noted that taxi driving is an inherently risky and dangerous occupation, with some estimates putting taxi drivers as having up to 15 times the average exposure to occupational violence. The inquiry heard of considerable driver dissatisfaction with the application and operation of current safety measures (particularly driver protection screens, safety cameras and duress alarms) and police responses to anti-social behaviour by passengers.
The inquiry discussed in detail the range of measures and programs introduced by the industry, the regulator and the Victorian Government to address taxi safety since 2006. While observing that some of these initiatives had been successful or partially successful the inquiry found that improvements are needed in the operation and effectiveness of a number of measures. In particular, the inquiry found a lack of evidence about the effectiveness and benefits of safety cameras and driver protection screens, problems with the current design of protection screens and a lack of consistent practices in operating and responding to duress alarms.
Several specific regulatory ‘gaps’ were identified: the absence of an industry-wide, risk-based regime for managing driver fatigue, inadequate provisions for young children travelling in taxis and hire cars, and a shortage of data and information about in-cab incidents.
The inquiry noted that the complexity and fragmentation of the overall regulatory environment means that safety matters relating to taxi and hire car services are not dealt with in a holistic way, with measures often being taken on an ad hoc or selective basis. The inquiry observed that prescriptive safety-related regulations about particular pieces of equipment and their operation had resulted in substantial costs for industry, despite there being little verifiable data about the safety benefits accruing to passengers and drivers. This approach has also stifled innovation and the industry’s ability to accommodate advances in safety-related equipment, practices and technology.
The inquiry observed that, as safety-related regulations frequently impose significant costs on the industry, intervention by regulators must consider all costs and benefits, and be the minimum required to ensure safe vehicles, safe drivers and safe passengers.
Finally, the inquiry cautioned that safety should not be seen as the sole responsibility of the taxi and hire car industry, but as a shared responsibility between industry, taxi users, government, Victoria Police, late night venues and major event organisers.
Draft recommendations
The inquiry made six draft recommendations directly related to safety. These recommendations aimed to move away from an unduly prescriptive regulatory regime to a risk-based, outcomes-focused model designed to give the regulator and the industry greater flexibility in responding to safety issues.
Regulatory impact assessments should be completed as a mandatory requirement before decisions are taken in relation to the implementation of safety initiatives in the commercial passenger vehicle industry.
Where possible, safety measures should be outcomes-focused rather than prescriptive. The Taxi Services Commission should undertake research into the performance of current initiatives and other potential safety-related measures and provide advice to the Department of Transport as necessary.
There should be an immediate moratorium on the roll-out of the new taxi safety cameras while the inquiry’s report is being considered. In this period, a cost and benefit assessment of applying the new camera standard in country Victoria should be undertaken. More generally, the specifications set for this camera should be reviewed against appropriate benchmarks. The target date for completing this work should be the end of 2012.
The requirement for driver protection screens should remain in place in the short term, but should be reviewed after three years to consider the impact and performance of other safety measures that may obviate the need for screens. Some of these will arise from the implementation of the inquiry’s reforms, such as the imposing of Occupational Health and Safety duties on permit holders and the extent of take up of purpose-built taxi vehicles with in-built safety measures.
The exemption for Victorian taxis and hire cars from the mandatory use of child restraints for children aged one year or older but less than seven years should be removed. The taxi and Pre-Booked Only cab industry should be responsible for managing the operational and service issues associated with supplying appropriate child restraints for passengers. Authorised Taxi Organisations and permit holders should be able to levy reasonable charges for child restraints where not provided by the passenger.
The Department of Transport, with coordinated involvement from the Taxi Services Commission and other stakeholders such as Victoria Police, local councils, liquor licensees and taxi industry representatives, should develop guidelines on establishing and operating safe taxi ranks, including addressing issues relating to:
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Physical design and infrastructure needs
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Operational requirements such as supervision and CCTV
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Management of rank space for an expanded range of services
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The differing requirements for inner city, suburban and regional safe ranks
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Clarity of funding arrangements for the ongoing investment in and sustainability of safe ranks.
The inquiry notes the difficulties experienced by local councils in funding the ongoing operations of safe ranks. As part of the development of these statewide guidelines, consideration should be given to developing policies for safe rank funding options including user pays, an accord between beneficiaries of safe ranks to share costs, and directing some of the revenue from the sale of taxi licences to supporting safe ranks.
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