All-women Taxi Firms

[Diane]

I was shocked yesterday when my 20-yr old daughter said she would rather walk home after a late shift at work than risk getting in a taxi on her own: She works in the cityy and often finishes in the early hours of the morning - at the moment she drives herself home, but is planning on getting a flat share somewhere central and she thinks she is at greater risk of getting attacked by a taxi driver if she gets into a cab alone than she would be if she walked. Obviously this is something that her and her mates have discussed, both in person and online, and the consensus is that the majority of male taxi drivers couldn't be trusted by a young female on her own in their cab.

 

Am I the only one that is totally shocked by this, or do I have my head buried in the sand? At her age I was working in the City in London and regularly rolling into a black cab, pretty much insensible after nights out drinking on expenses! Now I know black cabs are a cut above the type of taxis we get here, but even so....

 

Anyway, it started me thinking, is there such a thing as an All Female Driver taxi company here? I'm sure if my daughter's views are widespread it would be something that would be in great demand.

[Steve_H]

The taxis here are amongst the safest in the world. Every licensed taxi has to have working CCTV installed which records inside and out to a secure hard drive. A light on the dash indicates a malfunction and the car will get defected if the light is on.

If you phone a licensed control centre like suburban or yellow cabs, your journey is also logged and tracked with GPS.

[Diane]

She said they "just throw a cloth over the camera"! Actually I just tried googling "all-female taxi companies in Adelaide" and there are a frightening number of stories about attacks - both by and on taxi drivers - so it looks like the security measures are not actually working as they should....

 

I didn't find any, by the way, in my searches - there was talk of setting something up (Pinklink I think) in Victoria about a year ago but looks like it may have never happened.

[Lazy Cow]

I worry about my daughter travelling in a taxi.

 

If I can't pick her up (and obviously when they're 20+ they wouldn't expect us to be on call), I ask her to make it really obvious that she's talking to someone on her mobile, and to stay alert. I have also asked her to make a point of sharing their plate number with whoever she's talking to.

 

It sounds a tad (!) paranoid, but I have heard the horror stories and I worry. One of the pleasures of being a mum, I guess!

 

LC

 

PS. And don't even get me started on drugs in drinks!

[Toni]

My 70 year old Godmother wouldn't take a taxi because she was worried about her safety, until she got a regular one she trusted. I've heard a few stories too about attacks on passengers by taxi drivers and also quite a few about passengers on taxi drivers. A few years ago there was as story about the difficulty of getting women to do taxi work as they feared for their own safety. I guess the same with bus drivers too. Especially if you had to work the night shift.

[guspjmh]

Is it just me who thinks the idea of all-women taxi firms is sexist in the extreme?

 

It's making an assumption that men are basically a threat to a woman's safety and thus shouldn't be trusted.

[Diane]

Is it just me who thinks the idea of all-women taxi firms is sexist in the extreme?

 

It's making an assumption that men are basically a threat to a woman's safety and thus shouldn't be trusted.

 

Like it or not - and my daughter does boxing, is super fit, and 5ft 10 so no pushover - men are generally stronger and/or bigger than women. As parents of daughters, we stress to them not to put themselves into vulnerable positions if they can help it and despite the security measures in place, if they think getting into a taxi alone with a male driver late at night puts them at risk, then the damage is done. There are women only gyms (Fernwood for example) so why not women-only taxi firms? I am sure I have even seen signs advertising women-only plumbing companies so I guess the vulnerability issue extends to a woman on her own at home who needs to get a workman in.

 

By now means does this imply all taxi drivers, all workmen, or all men are a danger. But if even one is, then the vulnerability is there.

[Toni]

Personally I think that if people feel threatened by their safety (and especially because there have been some incidents) then people need to take action and avoid that threat. We know it isn't all men. The majority aren't like that but for those people who are like that then it is the perfect job for them.

[Blossom]

It isn't just women who think taxis are unsafe for women.

 

My ex husband was telling me how he and a friend found a VERY drunk girl who could barely talk. They found her address off her driving licence, put her in a taxi, paying for it themselves in advance and warned the taxi driver that they had all his details so if anything happened to that girl they would make sure he paid for it.

 

I have only had to get taxis a couple of times here and both were Indian drivers. Neither time did I feel safe. They were very open in telling their views of Australian loose women and how they deserved all sorts of nastiness. :-/

[sidestep]

You mean like this lot?

 

[minty]

Is it me or is this thread just hidden racism. Black cabs in London are ok because white people drive them. Here there "Indians" and are either murders or rapists. Most are pretty well educated aswell and just can't get jobs in there fields but lets not worry about that. Yes there have been a few incidents but is this no different from other non indian incidents. Wasn't the guy who raped and murdered the girl in Melbourne white?

[emmie]

The few times I have taken a cab here with a 'minority' driver, I've been more concerned about the over-reliance on GPS!

 

The nasty, white 'trash' that is so prevalent in this country appear to be the main instigators of violence against cab drivers, not the reverse. If any cab driver started a moral soliloquy whilst I was a passenger in his car, I'd be on my mobile immediately to call the dispatcher (and put it on speaker, too).

[minty]

Personally I think that if people feel threatened by their safety (and especially because there have been some incidents) then people need to take action and avoid that threat. We know it isn't all men. The majority aren't like that but for those people who are like that then it is the perfect job for them.

 

They need to have a police check, are on camera, and cars are tracked by GPS, so unless they are completely dumb then not the ideal job.

[Blossom]

Well my post is my own personal experience. I've only had Indian taxi drivers for my tiny amount of trips. I'm guessing this is because there are more of them than white ones, but who knows? Not me. And it could very well be a coincidence that they were both very negative about Australian women and felt the need to tell me basically that they thought they were all sluts who deserved not very nice things to happen to them. But that is my EXPERIENCE. No racism.

 

There are absolutely Aussie men I wouldn't want to get in a car with either. I would feel safer with a woman driver without a doubt. They could be Indian, no problem with that at all. ;-)

[Diane]

Black cabs in London are ok because white people drive them.

 

How totally ridiculous - when I was getting in Black Cabs I never even noticed the colour of the skin of the driver!!

 

You absolutely can't play the racism card here - sexism I'm prepared to defend against, but racism is just so totally NOT what the issue is about!

[Diane]

This is the closest I've found so far: http://www.hellesangels.com.au/

[emmie]

Is it me or is this thread just hidden racism. Black cabs in London are ok because white people drive them. Here there "Indians" and are either murders or rapists. Most are pretty well educated aswell and just can't get jobs in there fields but lets not worry about that. Yes there have been a few incidents but is this no different from other non indian incidents. Wasn't the guy who raped and murdered the girl in Melbourne white?

 

It's not racism if any and all evidence has been removed from the posts that caused some to question the OP's very words.

[Blossom]

It's not racism if any and all evidence has been removed from the posts that caused some to question the OP's very words.

No posts on this thread have been edited. Not quite sure what you mean.

[snifter]

It's not racism if any and all evidence has been removed from the posts that caused some to question the OP's very words.

 

I looked back over this thread, not a single post has been edited, by anyone.

[Blossom]

So what emmie is actually saying is there is no racism. ;-)

[Diane]

It's not racism if any and all evidence has been removed from the posts that caused some to question the OP's very words.

 

As the OP on this thread - perhaps you'd like to explain where and how I have been racist? And perhaps you would like to note that my Original Post has not been edited in any way?

[emmie]

So what emmie is actually saying is there is no racism. ;-)

 

Exactly.

[emmie]

As the OP on this thread - perhaps you'd like to explain where and how I have been racist? And perhaps you would like to note that my Original Post has not been edited in any way?

 

Perhaps it was a bit cheeky but I noted no inferred racism in your original post, Diane.

[Diane]

Perhaps it was a bit cheeky but I noted no inferred racism in your original post, Diane.

 

Thank you Emmie, I appreciate that

[Ktee]

I am not sure if they ever did go ahead but Melbourne was set to get pink taxis for female drivers. I think it was a great idea but then ive heard so many horror stories of taxi drivers asking female passengers to pay them with favours rather than cash.

I once considered being a taxi driver but I would be worried about taking on male passengers who were drunk. I've seen some taxis where the driver sits in a plastic pod so that passengers can't get to them and they can't get to passengers, now I think that would be a great idea.