How safe is your taxi?

Abuse, threats, overcharging and assault. No, it's not another night out inthe city, just what can happen on the taxi ride home. In advance of tomorrow's protest by Dublin taxi drivers, Sarah Marriott looks at how women passengers can feel particularly vulnerable, amid reports thatone in five of those granted a licence since deregulation has a criminal record

'Get out of the car now or I'll f***ing drag you out," shouted the taxi driver. Shocked - and a little scared - I scrambled out of the car into the dark, empty car park outside a block of flats on Dublin's northside. I'd been looking for a pen to write down his licence number because he'd already been abusive. "You f***ing English c*** 10 times over," he said, after I'd suggested he was trying to short-change me.

As a woman travelling alone at night, I'd assumed I would be safer in a taxi than on a bus, but his aggression has made me think twice before picking up a taxi in the street. And I'm not the only one. One young woman was so frightened by a taxi driver repeatedly asking her to go to his apartment for a drink that, five years later, she still prefers to get the Nitelink bus home: "I feel safer on the bus, even with a five-minute walk home in the dark".

According to the Garda Traffic Division, the number of complaints against taxi drivers in Dublin has not increased in the past few years. In 1999, before taxi deregulation, when there were under 3,000 taxi drivers in Dublin, 300 complaints were made. Last year, 509 passengers made complaints, but there were about 7,000 taxi drivers on the road. So far this year, 470 people have reported drivers to the Carriage Office - which investigates complaints about Dublin taxis - and there are currently about 9,000 taxis and 20,000 holders of taxi licences in the capital.

The vast majority of complaints - about 95 per cent - concern overcharging, according to the Carriage Office (which, however, does not keep a detailed breakdown of figures). Other causes for complaints include abusive behaviour, dirty cars and, rarely, says the Carriage Office, serious crimes such as assault and rape. But does the relatively small number of complaints mean we are happy with the service provided by taxi drivers and how many of us actually bother to make a report?

In an informal, random survey, I asked eight women about their experiences in cabs - women, because they feel so vulnerable alone in a car with a man they don't know. Six immediately launched into stories of taxi-driver trouble, but only one had made an official complaint.

One woman, who uses taxis frequently, was almost unstoppable in her litany of bugbears: "Drink driving - the smell of alcohol when you get into a taxi, especially going to the airport for an early-morning flight; cleanliness - filthy clapped-out cars which shouldn't pass the NCT; drivers asking your business, where you work, where you've been, where you're going; getting lost and constantly having to give directions - one driver wanted to go from Ringsend to Ranelagh through the city centre because it was the only way he knew . . ."

Another woman, who suffers from asthma, has had to get out of cars because the smell of cigarette smoke was so strong. One wet evening, she got into a cab in Westmoreland Street, not realising the driver was smoking: "Feeling nervous because I was on my own and I didn't want him to ask me to get out, I asked him to put out his cigarette. He tutted and made a big performance of throwing it out of the window on O'Connell Bridge." Smoking in a taxi and littering are both illegal, but she never got round to making a complaint.

Wanting to read the newspaper in peace was enough to get another woman thrown out of a taxi.

"I was going to the airport and the driver kept asking me personal questions. After I told him I'd rather not talk, he became abusive - calling me a 'stuck-up bitch', among other things - and then told me to get out of the car. I think it's easier for men to get away with not talking - taxi drivers seem to expect women to be more responsive." She reported the incident but never received a reply.

Inappropriate questions and sexual remarks made two women who hailed a cab in Dalkey village to go to Rathfarnham fear for their safety. "As soon as we got in, I could sense he was strange. He interrupted our conversation, asking: 'Where are your men?' and 'What are women like you doing out on the town?'. I was afraid he was going to turn up an alley and attack us." And no, they didn't report him.

The fact is that women passengers alone with a male taxi driver are vulnerable (only about 5 per cent of taxi drivers are female). The Rape Crisis Centre advises women to exercise common-sense about their safety; to use a reputable firm and to travel with another person if possible - "especially women in vulnerable situations, with a lot of drink taken, should not travel alone".

And there are basic precautions women can take. Since my abusive experience, I am reluctant to pick up a taxi in the street and make sure friends know the licence number of the driver, if I'm travelling alone. One woman, who regularly takes taxis from Dublin city centre to Clontarf at night, says she is aware of the risk: "I usually phone my husband from the taxi to tell him I'll be home soon, so the driver knows someone is waiting for me".

But how worried should we be? Can someone with a criminal record get the Public Service Vehicle licence necessary to drive a taxi?

In March this year, the man convicted of sexually assaulting the 14-year-old girl at the centre of the X-case, Sean O'Brien, was jailed for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl and falsely imprisoning her in his taxi in 1999. He had been granted a PSV licence in 1998, following his release from prison after serving his four-year sentence for the X-case assault.

The increase in the number of rapes and sexual assaults since deregulation two years ago is "alarming", says Vinnie Kearns of the National Taxi Drivers Union (NTDU). At least seven alleged assaults on women by Dublin taxi drivers are under investigation by gardaí, Kearns says, including one which allegedly took place in February this year and involves the attempted rape of a young woman in the early hours of the morning in the Phoenix Park.

According to Kearns, one in five people granted licences since deregulation has a criminal record. One problem, he says, is that applicants who are refused a PSV licence after the Garda Traffic Division carries out its vetting procedure - checking for a criminal record and checking references - can appeal the decision to the district court, which generally overrules the Garda.

"Anyone convicted of an offence against a person should not get a taxi licence," says Kearns. He gives examples of the district court overruling the Garda and giving a PSV licence to a man with 17 counts of aggravated burglary and to a woman convicted of running brothels.

He also points out that two taxi drivers died of drugs overdoses in their cars and one driver has been convicted of trafficking millions of pounds of hard drugs. According to the Carriage Office, "seven or eight" taxi drivers have been arrested for drink driving this year.

When a passenger reports a taxi driver to the Carriage Office or regional PSV office, gardaí investigate the complaint. The driver is questioned and, if the complaint is upheld, will receive a caution on his or her file. And it's a case of two strikes and you're out - a second caution and the gardaí revoke the PSV licence. So far this year, 11 licences have been revoked in Dublin, but the Carriage Office says it does not keep a record of the number of cautions given, or the reasons licences are revoked.

Dissatisfied passengers can also take a civil action against a taxi driver - last week, Yvonne Carroll, a wheelchair user, won her case in the Dublin district court against a driver who refused to take her in his cab. He was fined €250.

International research shows that widespread overcharging, an increase in sexual assaults and a refusal to work certain routes are common results of taxi deregulation. With the recently introduced system of printed taxi receipts, the situation may improve, as it is now easier to make an official complaint (because the driver's licence number is listed). Bear in mind, as the Dublin taxi drivers' protest brings the city centre to a standstill today, that one of the NTDU demands is for the Government to fulfil its commitment to appoint a taxi regulator.

Although the majority of taxi drivers are ordinary, decent people trying to earn a living, when a woman gets into a cab, she shouldn't have to worry about whether she'll make it home safely.

Complaints about Dublin taxi drivers can be sent to Carriage Office, Dublin Castle, Dublin 2. Complaints in other areas should be made to the local PSV office or Garda station