Intellasia News Services -- Taxi firms mull security after spate of robberies

Taxi firms mull security after spate of robberies
Source: 08-SEP-2008 Intellasia | Thanhniennews
Sep 8, 2008 - 7:00:00 AM
Cab companies are considering installing security screens and introducing security courses after a string of attacks on taxi drivers.

The murder of Vinasun driver Nguyen Van Chi is the latest and worst of robberies involving taxi drivers.

Chi was fatally stabbed in HCM City's Thu Duc District last Sunday by two robbers who have since been arrested. Three days earlier, Vinasun taxi driver Le Van Khang was attacked by a passenger he was driving to Thu Duc.

Khang managed to drive himself to a nearby hospital. Doctors said he had lost so much blood he was just minutes from death when he arrived at the emergency department.

So far this year Vinasun cabs have been the victim of five or six robberies and one fatal attack, company deputy chief Ta Long Hy said.

Nascent Future taxi firm, set up in February 2007, has also reported two violent robberies, which left the drivers injured.

Nineteen Mai Linh taxi drivers from Hanoi, Hai Phong and Thanh Hoa in the north to Dong Nai and HCM City in the south have also been robbed. One driver was stabbed in the stomach during a robbery.

Other HCM City cab operators have also reported robberies to police during the course of the year.

Action

HCM City Taxi Association deputy Chair Duong Tien Thu said the number of cab robberies this year was higher than during the same period last year. Thu did not provide specific statistics.

On September 12, association members will meet with officials from the Southern Bureau of Auto Transport to try to work out a solution to the worrying and violent trend, Thu said.

Mai Linh deputy Chair Truong Quang Man told Thanh Nien Thursday the firm was considering installing the security screens to protect drivers.

A spokesman from Future taxi, said his company was planning to provide its drivers with essential self-protection skills against would-be robbers.

Cab operators all called for the police to intensify their patrol on areas most susceptible to taxi robberies.

They said cab drivers had to be vigilant about clients who asked the taxis to meander through many areas for a long time without stopping.

In such instances, they should refuse such requests, and park their cabs in crowded areas in case they need help from the public, cab operators said.