Following the murder of Auckland taxi driver, Hiren Mohini, taxi driver safety has been under review.
Police are still trying to identify Mr Mohini’s killer, after he was stabbed in a frenzied and brutal attack in Mt Eden last Sunday.
In an interview with Campbell Live today, the Taxi Federation has revealed that from August onward, every cab will be fitted with a hidden camera.
The aim is to protect drivers from the kind of attack that killed Mr Mohini, as well as the routine vandalism and drunken abuse – much of it racist – that is part of the night shift in taxis.
In what has been a tough week for drivers and their bosses, many are asking themselves how they can prevent such loss of life.
“What is required is better safety measures in taxis, and from our perspective there is only one answer – which is onboard security cameras,” says Taxi Federation CEO Tim Reddish.
He says security cameras must be made compulsory, and will be rolled out nationwide in all Taxi Federation cabs. The cameras will be similar to those currently being trialled in a small number of Auckland Co-Op taxis.
The Taxi Federation will foot the bill initially, but then passengers will be asked to contribute.
“I think it will be a small addition to flag fall, or a small increase in the kilometre rate – but these things don’t come cheap, and someone has to pay for it,” says Mr Reddish.
“Like any other business cost, the customer will pay eventually.”
Mr Mohini’s death has highlighted the safety of taxi drivers and fast-tracked this potentially life saving device.
"In Queensland, they've done a study which shows
they reduced the attacks by 70 percent and there have been virtually no serious
incidents. And by that I mean murders or life-threatening assaults," says Mr Reddish.
“Sadly it seems we are getting to a point where we do have to take these sorts of measures,” says Transport Minister Steven Joyce.
“You would have hoped this wouldn’t have to happen in a country like New Zealand.”
In a mini-van fitted with a security camera, taxi driver Logan Pillay collected eight men on January 30. The camera catches their every move – the drinking, the hugging, the good and the bad.
“A guy walked in with a beer in his hands and I told him not to drink it. He just totally ignored me,” says Mr Pillay.
After a while, the gloves come off. One man lines his mate up and gives him a couple of whacks.
“Suddenly there was a tousle and one of the guys has wound up on the floor. Legs in the air, one guy tried to twist the other guy’s ankle. He kicked with the other foot, and that’s when he smashed the window,” Mr Pillay says.
“I thought it was the head against the panel.”
The reaction is first one of disbelief, then celebration. There is finger pointing and some fist punching – then the verbal abuse kicks in.
“They said, ‘oh f***ing shut up you curry bum, just keep driving’,” says Mr Pillay.
When they finally grind to a halt money changes hands, but for the taxi fare only. When Mr Pillay sees the broken window, he asks for the cash for that too.
“I said, ‘One of you guys broke my window,' but they said, ‘No, we didn’t,'” he says.
“I told them, ‘You can’t deny it, because I have cameras in the van.' They said ‘no’, and then very casually got off, and walked away.”
In many ways Mr Pillay got off lightly that night – a few hours later Mr Mohini lost his life.
Mr Pillay has had his camera for more than a year. He paid for it himself, but he will benefit from the new high-tech cameras with GPS co-ordinates, which are linked back to the taxi base.
Mr Pillay says a security camera may have saved Mr Mohini’s life, or at least helped identify his killer.
“Some guys walk in and you can see they’re going to be aggressive, and you tell them ‘I’ve got cameras on board,' and they behave themselves.”
Unfortunately cameras weren’t enough to stop the drunken men from smashing Mr Pillay’s window. Police were eventually called and the group forced to pay – but not enough. Mr Pillay was given just $300 toward a new window, which cost him $1,400 to replace.
But while a price can be put on Mr Pillay’s window, the same cannot be said for Mr Mohini’s family and their loss.
Mr Joyce says even if the Government makes cameras compulsory, the industry will have to pay the costs itself.
"If you take the example of somebody working in a retail store or a service station late at night, it's the responsibility of the service station owner or the store owner to look after their safety," says Mr Joyce, "so I think it's a hard call to ask taxpayers to pay for the safety of taxi drivers."
3 News / Campbell Live