Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Brutal year for taxi operators
Drivers stabbed, pepper sprayed, beaten by clients
A Winnipeg taxi driver stabbed for a $5 fare Tuesday is the latest in a line of cabbies hurt for money this summer, but officials say changes are coming to help protect them.
The driver picked up a woman at about 4:30 a.m. near Selkirk Avenue and Parr Street and then took her to the 800 block of Pritchard Avenue in the taxi's front passenger seat, according to police.
Taxicab Board secretary Joan Wilson says passengers shouldn't be allowed in the front seat of taxis. (MIKE.DEAL@FREEPRESS.MB.CA )
The woman allegedly stabbed the driver over $5 she refused to pay for the ride, then took off on foot. The driver headed to the Spring Taxi headquarters at 880 Logan Ave., where he contacted 911 about the attack.
The driver was not seriously injured.
"We all worry," said Blueline Taxi manager Victor Kumar, who said it's the driver's call whether to allow passengers in a cab's front seat. "This is not good, this is not good at all."
He said he's lucky his 20 or so drivers haven't suffered any injuries.
It has been a brutal year for cab drivers, who've been terrorized by stabbings, beatings and pepper sprayings by clients.
Police charged a 27-year-old man last week after he allegedly robbed three cab drivers at knifepoint this year, hurting two. Also last week, a 37-year-old cabbie was punched and kicked by a man and woman who stole his cab and then took off.
The secretary of the Taxicab Board, Joan Wilson, said an announcement is imminent on new, fuller shields that wrap around the driver in an L-shape.
She said by the end of 2010, it will be mandatory for all drivers to have bigger shields made of Plexiglass and steel, instead of the smaller shields cab drivers currently have that covers their backs. They'll also have strobe lights to alert others in an emergency and better cameras to film what's going on.
Regardless, Wilson said cab drivers shouldn't allow passengers in their front seats.
"It seems to be when the problems break out is when the customer is sitting in the front seat, unfortunately," she said.
The new rules were first announced in March. A taxicab industry source said the delay in implementing them is due to discussions over how far the new L-shaped shield will extend towards the taxi's dashboard.
Earlier this year, some cab drivers said an L-shaped shield would stop them from chatting with passengers, as well as hinder them if they were involved in a crash.
A Spring Taxi employee who did want to be named said the driver hurt in the attack had only been working for the company for a short time.
The employee said all drivers should have L-shaped shields to protect drivers, but that won't end all attacks.
The cab company has about 50 taxis on the road, he said, and many drivers deal with difficult customers on night shifts.
"The majority of assaults were with knives or from people reaching over and assaulting (the drivers)," he said.
A dispatcher who answered the phone at Spring Taxi Tuesday night said the driver would no longer be working there.
Winnipeg police said the suspect in Tuesday's attack is a Caucasian woman about 30 years old and 5-9 with a heavy build and long black hair she wore in a bun.
She wore a white, long-sleeved shirt. Anyone with information on the stabbing can call the police at 986-2848.
gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca
L-shaped shield
Coming by the end of 2010.
The new shield will cost less than $1,000. The design should be unveiled by the end of the month.
New cameras
Must be installed by Sept. 30.
The VerifEye cameras have longer memories than those currently in use and provide a full view of what's going on in the taxi, including with the driver. To pay for the new cameras, which cost about $1,500, cabs added a 20-cent surcharge per fare from April 2010 to February 2011.
Strobe light
Mandatory Nov. 1.
The bright light, costing about $150 to install, goes on the top of the cab so drivers can turn it on when there's trouble.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 11, 2010 B1
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