Don’t assault taxi drivers
THOSE who assault public transport workers have been warned: An appeal judge yesterday tripled a businessman’s jail term after he appealed against his one-month jail sentence for punching a taxi driver, who later died of a heart-related condition.
Justice of Appeal V K Rajah said the courts needed to send “a clear signal that any assault against public transport workers will be firmly dealt with”.
On May 19 last year, businessman Wong Hoi Len, 50, had boarded cabbie Toon Chin Joo’s taxi at around 12.30am, after a night of drinking.
Just before reaching his destination, Wong requested to stop the taxi as he needed to throw up. However, before he could alight from the taxi, Wong threw up. Toon, 49, alighted from his taxi and scolded Wong, who responded angrily.
The dispute turned into a scuffle, with punches thrown by both men. Wong then pushed the cabbie to the ground as both men continued to struggle. A while later, Toon became motionless on the ground, and was later pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.
An autopsy report found “deep bruising” on Toon’s face, but said the cabby died of an existing heart condition, known as Thyrocardiac Heart Disease.
In March, a district judge had jailed Wong for a month, and the businessman then appealed against the sentence.
Yesterday, Wong’s lawyer, Mr Tan Siah Yong, appealed for a lighter sentence — a fine or a day’s jail.
While he took into account that Wong had offered to compensate the cabby’s family, Justice Rajah said he “can’t ignore the fact that the extent of the attack was completely disproportionate” to what the businessman claimed had happened between the pair. Wong alleged the cabby had verbally insulted him that morning.
The assault charge that Wong faced was also “comparatively modest, compared to the consequences that followed”, said Justice Rajah. The High Court Judge will be releasing detailed grounds of his decision later.
When contacted, ComfortDelGro spokesperson Tammy Tan said the company — which runs taxis and buses — has seen “several cases” of passengers assaulting cabbies and bus captains in the last few years.
For taxi drivers, “the numbers have gone up slightly this year compared to last year”. Assaults against bus captains seem to have fallen slightly, due in part to an anti-assault campaign the company launched last year, added Ms Tan.
How cabbies can defuse threats
In light of the recent rise in cases of cabbies being robbed, the Land Transport Authority will work closely with all parties, including the police, to boost efforts in enhancing the safety of drivers.
Transport Minister Raymond Lim disclosed this in his reply to a parliamentary question tabled by Member of Parliament Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim.
While hardware installations, such as distress alarms in taxis, are useful, "simple preventive measures" can also be more effective, Mr Lim said.
This includes "educating drivers on the dos and don'ts and the appropriate responses to take when faced with potential threats", he added -- TODAY
Taxi robber nabbed due to close cooperation between Police and Comfort Cabs
Police arrested a taxi robber early this morning thanks to close cooperation between its Combined Operations Room and Comfort Taxi's.
The 35-year-old taxi robber had been picked up along Kampong Bahru Road at about one this morning and wanted to be driven to Jurong West Street 81.
While the taxi was travelling along the Ayer Rajah Expressway, the passenger, seated beside the 53-year-old driver started fiddling with information stickers pasted on the dashboard.
He became abusive and aggressive when told to stop.
He poked the driver on his left eye, and then punched him on the left cheek.
The driver stopped and got out to call the Police at the road shoulder along the AYE near the National University Hospital.
The passenger took the opportunity to drive away as the driver had left the key in the ignition.
The police operator then worked closely with the operations room of Comfort taxi to track the stolen cab.
Based on information received two Traffic Police officer laid an ambush for the taxi at the slip road from Jurong Town Hall leading to the AYE.
Corporal Muhammad Ismail Amzah who was one of the two officer who laid the ambush recounted what happened.
"Less than about 5 minutes we spotted the vehicle bypass our vehicle. Within two minutes we managed to stop the vehicle and managed to arrest the subject. They gave chase in their patrol vehicle when they spotted the cab speeding by."
The officers managed to stop the suspect along the AYE opposite Faber Hill Condominium.
The suspect failed a breathalyzer test and was arrested .
Deputy Commander of Clementi Police Division Superintendent Loh Jee Cheong on the quick arrest.
"The swift arrest of the taxi robber would not have been possible if not for the close cooperation between the two operations rooms. I would also like to congratulate and thank the two Traffic Police colleague of mine for their quick thinking that resulted in the arrest of the taxi robber."
The suspect will be charged in court tomorrow for robbery with hurt.
If convicted he can be imprisoned for between five and 20 years and caned at least 12 strokes. --938Live
good lawyer he have lah. if he a poor guy.. already gone case.....manslaughter already
But I thot taxis ARE private transport.. so taxi drivers are not considered public transport workers.. so what gives now?
Originally posted by I-like-flings(m):good lawyer he have lah. if he a poor guy.. already gone case.....manslaughter already
someone need to die before there is a manslaughter case
straight away kill them.
Originally posted by lem0nade:But I thot taxis ARE private transport.. so taxi drivers are not considered public transport workers.. so what gives now?
Taxis are public transport as they serve to transport the public around like a bus/mrt - only at a more expensive rate
Reduce ERP for taxis at least since they are encouraging people to take "Public Transport". Its win win for cabbies n passengers.
Channel NewsAsia - 2 hours 26 minutes ago
SINGAPORE: Cabbies may say assaults against them are rare, but they are on the rise, according to the largest taxi operator here.
ComfortDelGro — which has 15,000 of the 24,000 taxis on the roads here — told Today that assaults against the company’s drivers have more than doubled from a year ago.
In the first seven months of the year, ComfortDelGro has seen 17 attacks against drivers, more than double the number for the whole of last year.
Could last December’s fare hikes have played a part in some of these passengers seeing red and venting their spleen against cabbies?
Most of the 15 cabbies Today spoke to did not think so, saying that most attacks could happen after fare disputes, when passengers try to cheat their way out of paying and when dealing with drunken passengers — a perennial headache cabbies face.
While passengers might grumble about high fares, cabbies said most would get agitated if they got caught in a traffic jam, or felt that the cabbie was out to cheat them by taking a longer route.
The authorities have taken a tougher stance to deter crimes against cabbies.
Two weeks ago, the High Court sent out a stern message to attackers of public transport workers when a judge dismissed an attacker’s appeal and instead tripled his jail sentence from one month to three months. Under the law, the maximum punishment for common assault is two years’ jail and a $5,000 fine.
Fare cheats cases, too, are on the rise for some operators — in the case of ComfortDelGro, a monthly average of 134 cases this year, up from a monthly mean of 85 cases last year, said spokeswoman Tammy Tan.
Cabbie Ong Eng Seng was the victim of a violent passenger, who not only refused to pay a $16.60 fare but also punched him in the eye before fleeing.
The attack on Feb 7 left the 69—year—old driver with a swollen eye and blurred vision. He was unable to work for a week.
“If he didn’t have the money to pay, we could have negotiated. He didn’t have to resort to violence,” the CityCab driver told Today, recalling his shock at being attacked for the first time in his 21 years as a cabbie.
First—time offenders can be fined up to $1,000 while repeat offenders can be fined $2,000 and jailed six months for cheating.
Unlike other countries, attacks against taxi drivers are just a blip on the crime radar here, but an alarming one nonetheless. For example, the number of reported taxi robberies has risen from 24 to 49 between 2006 and last year, according to the police.
Cabbies say a large proportion of crimes, including assaults, go unreported. Mr Ong called the police after the attack, butdecided not to pursue the matter. “It was too troublesome. Just my luck to have picked the wrong passenger,” he told Today.
CityCab driver Robert Leong believes in reasoning things out with passengers. “If the passenger insists that I have taken a longer route, I offer him a discount. Why argue? I would rather just move on and pick other passengers,” he said.
Cabbies in other countries, however, have opted not to face the wrath of unruly passengers on their own — relying on taxi drivers’ associations lobbying and working with the authorities to make their work safer.
In Australia, for example, two state governments have adopted a tougher stance on assaults on public transport workers. In February, the Northern Territory Government raised the maximum penalty for common assault on a bus or taxi driver from one to five years.
In the state of Victoria, a A$2.5—million ($3.2—million) safety strategy was launched last August, following the murder of a taxi driver. Trials of protective and dismountable screens to shield the driver from rear—seat passengers, and improved cameras inside the vehicles, are scheduled to start next year.
Here, taxi operators have dismissed the idea of installing such cameras, citing passengers’ privacy and costs.
What about protective screens — used in London cabs since the 1970s?
Smart Taxis’ general manager Niki Ong felt such screens may be aesthetically ugly. “We want our drivers to be approachable, interactive and provide a service to the passengers,” he added.
Companies here employ a distress alarm that uses the Global Positioning System technology to track the location of their taxis. The technology also allows the police to be notified.
Would a public education campaign help? An SBS Transit campaign has helped reduce assaults against its bus captains.
Today understands that ComfortDelGro is looking at a similar public education campaign to deter assaults against cabbies.
Some cabbies are already taking their own deterrent — if unauthorised — measures, including keeping packets of chilli powder with them and not wearing seat belts for a quick getaway when trouble strikes.
Cabbies say they take the first step to defusing any potential unhappiness by asking the passenger his or her choice of route.
Most cabbies opt to stay cool despite being harangued. “No choice,” Mr Anthony Tan, a cabby for 20 years, said. “Your livelihood could be affected should the passenger complain against you.” — TODAY/sh
Channel NewsAsia - 1 hour 59 minutes ago
SINGAPORE: Police have arrested a 34—year—old man who is believed to have robbed three taxi drivers at knife—point over the weekend.
On Sunday at about 1:45pm, a female taxi driver told police she was robbed at Raeburn Park by an attacker who fled in a blue taxi. She managed to provide the police with the taxi’s registration number.
The police relayed this information to Comfort Taxi, which tracked the taxi using GPS and alerted its drivers to be on the lookout.
After 20 minutes of a joint search, police officers intercepted the taxi at the junction of Outram Road and Eu Tong Sen Street.
One officer fired his Taser — akin to a stun gun — at the suspect after he approached the officers in a threatening manner, ignoring instructions to stop.
The suspect is believed to have robbed two other taxi drivers at knife—point on Saturday. Both cases occurred within 20 minutes of each other.
The suspect will be charged in court on Tuesday with armed robbery. If convicted, he can be jailed between two and 10 years, and given at least 12 strokes of the cane. — CNA/so