Taxi and Limousine Driver Safety
 

As a taxi driver or chauffer, you face safety hazards daily. Because you work mostly alone, interact with the public, work all hours, and handle money, you could be at a greater risk for assualt or worse.

Your vehicle is your 'office.' By taking some simple precautions, you can reduce the chance that you will be a victim.

When you get to your vehicle:

• Do a visual check of the vehicle. Walk around it and check for damage, check the tires, make sure oil, water and windshield washer fluid are full.
• Check for cleanliness inside the vehicle and remove all garbage. Be careful when running your hands between the seats or under them. A passenger could have left a needle, broken bottle or a weapon.
• Check all emergency equipment.
• Buckle up!
• Practice safe driving speeds.
• Allow a safe following distance from the vehicle in front of you.

While you're at work:

• Keep doors locked and windows rolled up enough so that you can talk, but not so someone could put their hand through.
• Know your way around your city. Keep track of your location. Use a satellite device or map.
• Stay in areas that have good lighting.
• Use a partition or shield that separates you from your passenger/s.
• Make sure you have a communication device, such as a radio or cell phone, available to you in your vehicle. Your dispatcher is your lifeline.
• If unfamiliar with the surroundings or client, keep your vehicle running during a pickup.
• When possible, stay in the vehicle and use the remote trunk release to give passengers access to their luggage.
• When you greet your passenger/s, be confident and make eye contact. Trust your instincts. You can refuse passage to anyone who does not give you proper directions or an address, exhibits dangerous behavior, or tells you to go to an area that is too dark or looks dangerous.
• Be aware of passengers who give you "vague" information. Get a specific destination or address as to where they are going before you start driving away. Then write it on your log and even advise your dispatcher of where you are headed. This will give your passenger the understanding that other people know where you are going.
• Don't flash your cash while on the road. Make it policy to limit the amount of money you have on hand. Cover your trip log. Consider a sign that states you do not carry money.
• Don't wear expensive jewelry. That watch or bracelet may be an invitation for someone to rob you.
• If a passenger gives you a large denomination bill, tell them that you will take them to get it changed at a nearby store. Don't show them that you have money to change it.
• Learn to "read" your customers. Understand that no  two people are the same.
• Watch their body language. Listen to what they are really saying vs. what their body language is telling you.
• Never underestimate what your customer may be capable of doing to you.
• Never let your guard down, no matter who is in your vehicle.
• Be aware and alert of what is going on around you at all times, whether parked or driving.
• Know your company's emergency procedures.
• Be extra careful late at night. Most assaults and robberies against taxi drivers occur late at night.
• If possible, never let a passenger sit behind you; you cannot see behind you. Ask the passenger to move to the right side of the seat, using any excuse (i.e., company policy.)
• Never tell customers you've had a good shift and made a lot of money or had a lot of fares that day.
• Don't be aggressive or argumentative. This behavior may escalate a minor issue into a violent confrontation. Stay calm, don't lose control and don't panic.
• If you are confronted with a robber, don't resist. Give them what they want and memorize details about the robber that can be passed on to the police -- eye color, hair color, race, clothing, facial features, piercings,  voice defects, scars, tattoos, shoes, direction of travel, type of weapon used, vehicle involved, etc., and report the robbery to the police immediately.