As a taxi driver, you will be aware that you can, at times, find yourself in a potential risky situation. So, let’s have a look at some of those occasions when you can find yourself in that situation.

For instance, how many times have you picked up one or more passengers from a pub and they are a little worse for wear due to drinking too much and they are, shall we say, getting a little boisterous in the back of your taxi? So, how can you avoid placing yourself in that situation? Well, when you arrive to pick up your fare paying passenger(s), you could always have your doors locked, open the passenger side window and speak with your passengers. If they appear drunk, you can simply drive away. Yes, you may have lost the income but what if one of them had been sick in the vehicle – that could put you off the road for a few hours whilst you clean things up.

Try to avoid carrying large amounts of cash as this may encourage a thief to threaten you with physical violence unless you hand over the money. Therefore, why not get as many of your fare paying passengers to pay you using a debit or credit card. You could put a sticker in the window of your taxi saying that you only accept card payments and do not carry any cash.

Don’t spend too many hours behind the wheel of your taxi as a result of which you get tired. This could mean that you loose concentration whilst driving and being involved in a road traffic accident.

You may pick up some passengers that have heavy items with them such as a family who has been overseas on holiday and you are picking them up from the airport. They may have heavy suitcases. Be careful when loading the suitcases into the boot of your taxi as you do not want to injure your back.

If you are parked on a taxi rank in the dark in a city centre then you should seriously consider locking the doors so that you control who can get into your taxi.

Do drive carefully, making sure that you keep within speed limits and follow the Highway Code. This should help reduce the possibility of you being involved in a road traffic accident.

Make sure that the temperature in the taxi is not too hot as this could cause you to get drowsy. The taxi should also be well ventilated i.e. make sure that the air conditioning is working effectively.

We hope that the above is of some benefit to taxi drivers.