Media release
April 16, 2018
The Road Safety Manual for the Taxi Industry, developed by QUT’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q) has just been released and aims to develop a standardised safe driving guide for taxi operators, owners and drivers.
The report is the result of months of work on the Motor Accident Insurance Commission (MAIC) funded project called Reducing the Crash Involvement of Taxis in Queensland: Situational Analysis and Crash and Exposure Analyses.
The Taxi Council of Queensland (TCQ) and our members actively participated in the development of the Manual in a bid to help deliver a new, coordinated approach to driver safety and highlight the key hazards and risks affecting the industry.
TCQ CEO, Blair Davies, said the industry’s approach to safety has always been to push to higher standards.
“The safety of our operators, owners, drivers and passengers is of utmost importance and TCQ’s support of this manual reinforces this,” Mr Davies said.
“With some 3,200 taxis operating on Queensland roads 24/7, and moving up to 90 million people per year, improving safety in the taxi industry is a big deal.
“A standardised safety-related framework such as The Road Safety Manual for the Taxi Industry aims to provide the industry with a number of strategies that taxi operators and drivers can adopt to ensure a safer industry as a whole.”
CARRS-Q Senior researcher Amanda Evenhuis said the manual highlights some examples of the key hazards and risks facing the industry and provides some risk management ideas that could be adopted to make the industry safer.
“While our previous research found examples of initiatives to improve road safety within the Queensland taxi industry, an overarching coordinated, strategic approach was lacking,” Ms Evenhuis said.
“The most common factors associated with a higher risk of crashes for taxi drivers are gender (mostly men), age (25-49), driver distraction, vehicle condition, road conditions, organisational culture, high mileage and time pressure.
“Driver distraction or inattention has been found to be a contributing factor of 78 per cent of all crashes and 65 per cent of near crashes by taxi drivers and other drivers. Fatigue is another danger area that can impact on drivers’ mental and physical capacities.”
The Road Safety Manual for the Taxi Industry covers six main sections with a seventh revision process covering:
- Systematic nature of work driving safety
- Legislative obligations
- Core safety elements
- Steps towards improving driving safety of taxis
- Post incident management and investigation
- Continuous improvement
- Reassess management of taxi industry risks
Each section provides a series of actions or questions taxi drivers, owners and operators can consider in a bid to help them understand the potential risks and formulate a management plan relevant to their own operations.
The Road Safety Manual for the Taxi Industry is available to download here.
https://eprints.qut.edu.au/117485/1/__qut.edu.au_documents_StaffHome_StaffGroupe%24_evenhuis_Desktop_Road%20safety%20manual%20for%20the%20taxi%20industry.NAV.pdf
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