Taxi, Uber drivers refusing rides due to safety concerns over Qld’s youth crime crisis

Taxi and rideshare drivers are refusing jobs due to safety concerns amid the youth crime crisis plaguing the state, exacerbating driver shortages. One driver has spoken of his alleged assault, calling the police reaction “bulls**t”.

Taxi and rideshare drivers are so fearful for their safety that many are now refusing to work nights or weekends, exacerbating driver shortages across Queensland and driving up prices.

Industry insiders say the significant increase in violence from juvenile and adult passengers has led to many drivers refusing jobs due to safety concerns, while others have abandoned the profession altogether.

The shortage is causing an increase in fares for rideshare users, with surge pricing often in place when there are not enough cars to keep up with demand.

It follows a series of attacks on taxi drivers and personalised transport drivers across the state, with two Uber drivers allegedly assaulted by a group of teenagers in a violent carjacking on Friday.

“We have seen an uptick in incidents against drivers across Queensland,” Taxi Council of Queensland chief executive Blair Davies said.

“There is a shortage of drivers at the moment, we have had good drivers who enjoy providing taxi services give it away, because they have had enough of the verbal and emotional abuse from people having a bad day.

“We understand it is a major concern for drivers.”

Brisbane taxi drivers are refusing jobs and preferring to work during the daytime due to the ongoing youth crime crisis. Picture: David Clark

Mr Davies said it was crucial for drivers to feel safe, particularly amid the current shortage of taxi drivers with about 200 taxi service licences across Queensland not having a registered vehicle attached.

“We need taxis to operate between midnight and 5am. People need to get to work, people need transport to hospital, doctors, so we need people to drive those cabs and feel safe and confident in doing so,” he said.

“We need the government to take the view that frontline workers like taxi drivers and rideshare drivers need to be able to feel safe, irrespective of the time of day.”

Taxi driver Ramman Singh told The Courier Mail that he had recently been assaulted by a male customer.

“They hit me with a punch, I tried to call the cops and they didn’t show up,” Mr Singh said.

“That’s just bulls**t, that just breaks your heart because you’ve been attacked by a passenger.”

Uber driver Scott Cabrie was murdered in Hervey Bay in February 2023.

Fellow taxi driver Alwyn Dellow said he no longer works on the weekends due to the increased potential for trouble to occur.

“I’m semi-retired and if there’s any trouble around, it is usually on the weekend with people going out drinking and that sort of stuff, there’s a lot of trouble around these days,” he said.

Mr Dellow said there were certain parts of South East Queensland he avoided due to safety concerns.

“If I go down to Woodridge and around that area, I’ll drop off and I won’t log back on until I get out of there,” he said.

He also refused to pick up any potential passengers that he believes could threaten his safety.

“If I see a group of young guys who look like they’re going to be trouble, I just go straight past,” he said.

Brisbane taxi driver Alwyn Dellow no longer works on the weekends.

Taxi and rideshare drivers have increasingly become the target of violent attacks in recent years.

Hervey Bay Uber driver Scott Cabrie was killed by two teenage passengers during an attempted robbery in February 2023.

A juvenile has pleaded guilty to his murder and will be sentenced in July. Another has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

A Brisbane taxi driver was subjected to a terrifying ordeal when his passenger pulled out a weapon and threatened to shoot him if he didn’t give him any cash at a Gailes address in Ipswich in April 2023.

And an Ipswich taxi driver was also allegedly held up at knifepoint and robbed $40 by a woman at Booval in September 2023.

Uber driver Vick Vivek would like to see increased safety features made available for rideshare drivers.

Uber driver Vick Vivek said he prefers to work during the day due to safety concerns.

“I generally avoid doing it at night time, because at night time, I’m not sure of the response time of the police if something happened,” Mr Vivek said.

“Due to the safety issues, I don’t do it after 12am.”

Mr Vivek said he would like to see increased safety measures made accessible for personalised transport drivers, including approved security cameras that are mandatory in all taxis, limousines and ride-booking vehicles, but not personalised transport vehicles.

“We are paying the same money for the licence that taxi drivers are paying for, they have all the cameras and everything, why can’t we put the cameras in?” he said.

“When a customer sees the camera their behaviour changes quickly, they start behaving properly.”

Another Uber driver named Greg said he has refused bookings on arrival, if he felt passengers presented a potential safety risk.

“I rocked up to a booking and he looked like a crackhead so I was like ‘yeah, nah’,” he said.

“We really don’t know who we are picking up, all we get is a name.”