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Report finds taxi commuters “greatest fear is getting into an accident.”

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A recent survey by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) has found that majority of South African taxi commuters report feeling unsafe during their trips.

The IRR’s Public Perceptions of Taxi Use, Safety and Crime report, prepared in conjunction with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, focused on taxi use and commuter experience.

The report was compiled in December 2018 and comprised a representative sample of 1 237 adults in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

Head of Politics and Governance at the Institute for Justice and Reconcilliation Gareth van Onselen explained that it had several focuses. These include taxi logistics such as how central the transport mode is, how much the average trip cost and the average time a commuter spends travelling. The safety aspect covered crime, road safety, conditions of roads and illegalities by taxi drivers.

Onselen noted that 82% responders said they make use of taxi and 64% use them in one way or another, identifying taxi use as a primary mode of transport.

According to Onselen, responders have identified a wide range of issues but “the greatest fear was being in an accident.”

Key factors such as road infrastructure problems (such as potholes) were of concern, while 71% have seen taxi drivers breaking the rules of the road. These rules include driving unroadworthy vehicles, overloading, speeding and drunk driving.

Drunk driving was earlier this month highlighted by the City of Cape town Mayoral Committee memver for Safety and Security JP Smith, who was left speechless after a breathalyser test found a taxi driver to be 14 times over the legal limit. The driver was transporting 13 passengers and was pulled over in Green Point Main Road.

Smith noted that similar cases have been reported in Cape town.

“The frustrating thing is that we had a similar case not too long ago where a driver was arrested for drunk driving and it emerged that he had been arrested twice before for the same offence.”

The report also showed that 50% of all respondents viewed overloading as a big problem.

This follows an incident in Port Elizabeth where a 26-year-old taxi driver was arrested, after at least 48 pupils were found to be crammed in the 16-seat capacity Toyota Quantum.

When questioned about concerns over crime, Onselen said not much attention was put on this as the general lawlessness referred to the taxi drivers. However. he noted that a small percentage (12%) showed concern about being assaulted or robbed while walking to or from a taxi stop.

Another statistic which highlights the lack of regulation in the industry was that half the taxi commuters said they’ve seen taxi drivers paying a bribe to avoid paying a fine.

Onselen said the taxi industry does not take regulation seriously enough and adds that hopefully the survey acts as an incentive to improve the service:

“These issues can be dismissed but if these are public perceptions and these are (your) users, at the end of the day NOT addressing these issues is going to harm your business.”

Onelsen highlighted that the survey was conducted as a public service and its purpose was to formalize views of the industry in the hope of improving the service.

“We want key role-players to take note of these statistics- the stakeholders, regulators. (and for) The public to use these figures to apply pressure on the industry itself. It (the public) has the most power out of all those role players, as it pays for the service. If these are the concerns, it (the public) should demand better services from taxi drivers.” \

VOC

 


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