By LAURA WAKELY
THE GOVERNMENT has approved a taxi screen developed in Tullamarine, weeks after a series of attacks on cab drivers in the West.
Taxi industry manufacturer Martin Meters will fit up to 3000 cars with the protective screens, which are safe to use in Ford Falcon cabs with side-curtain air bags.
Ford Falcon’s make up around 80 per cent of Melbourne’s cabs, but until now, no screen for the model has existed.
General manager Brendan Hart said the new design allows the air bag to inflate while protecting drivers from possible harm.
Last month nine people were arrested for five calculated attacks on taxi drivers across the West, in which attackers used two cars to block off the taxis before the occupants used baseball bats to damage the vehicles and rob the drivers.
In one incident, a driver was dragged from his taxi and had his arm broken (Teens caught up in taxi violence, Sunshine Star, 26 June).
The $1000 screens will be compulsory for operators to fit in taxis if drivers request them.
Roads Minister Terry Mulder said the screens meant 90 per cent of Melbourne’s taxis could have protective screens fitted, up from 60 per cent.
He said the Government had worked hard with the taxi industry to ensure the “right people (were) behind the wheel” by linking the names of taxi drivers with the police database.
“If there’s a problem with the drivers, we remove those drivers now. We want to make sure the pool we have of drivers are responsible people and the right people to have behind the wheel,” Mr Mulder said.
“And I think it’s appropriate that we offer them the level of protection that they require in their day-to-day work. I mean, they pick up strangers, they pick up strangers at night.”
Victorian Taxi Directorate (VTD) spokesperson Bob Neilson said the screens were a “massive boost to driver safety” and were part of the push for driver safety, which has also included the installation of new cameras.
“Look, they are expensive, but when you look at some of the attacks that we see on a daily basis, exemplified by the ones a few weeks ago in Melbourne’s West, it’s difficult to put a price on safety,” Mr Neilson said.
“Because we know these help drivers, they help police catch people and they help as a deterrent, so we think they’re worth it.”
