Violence-related payouts to drivers top $1m

NZ Herald

20 Oct, 2015 04:00 PM4 mins to read

Bus driver Logan Pillay did not see his assailant. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Bus and taxi drivers are being attacked so regularly ACC is having to pay out for violence-related claims nearly every week of the year.

Payouts to assaulted drivers topped $1 million over the past five years, despite public transport agencies saying deterrents such as spy cameras and panic buttons make it safer behind the wheel.

And that's only the tip of the iceberg, with many drivers not bothering to claim despite suffering serious injuries.

Last year, ACC accepted or administered 51 claims - an average of nearly once a week - according to ACC indicative figures supplied to the Herald under the Official Information Act.

The amount is, however, an improvement on 2010 - a year in which 70 claims amounted to $313,516 and the taxi industry was reeling from shocking years when two drivers were killed.

From August 2011, the Government has required taxi operators to install in-cab security cameras, radio links and panic buttons in an attempt to reduce the risk of harm to drivers.

The measures were also meant to help protect passengers from danger of assault and reduce fare evasion.

Taxi Federation executive director Roger Heale said that when cameras were introduced, the number of crimes reported "spiked" as drivers spoke up.

"But overall, the assaults have decreased by about 40 per cent since cameras were introduced, according to a review by Opus International Consultants."

No camera footage has to date been used in a court, said Mr Heale, because, on seeing the evidence, the assailants always plead guilty.

This saved the taxpayer over $2 million, which is the Transport Ministry's estimated cost of securing a prosecution without camera footage.

But an awareness of cameras has not put off all would-be assailants.

In Auckland on October 3, youths bashed a driver and tore the camera from the taxi windscreen and snapped a connecting wire.

However, footage of them had been saved to a computer and images were supplied to investigators.

ACC figures show only a fraction of actual assaults on drivers in public transport, say Mr Heale and Gary Froggatt, who is president of the Auckland Tramways Union, the members of which include 1100 drivers for NZ Bus.

Accepted claims reflect only the worst assaults and ACC does not count the cost of treatment at accident and emergency units of public hospitals.

The police do not record the occupations of assault victims.

"To be honest, most drivers don't want to talk about it and just get back to work," said Mr Heale.

Auckland Transport says eight bus drivers have officially reported being assaulted by passengers this year.

NZ Bus vehicles have radios and panic buttons, but on September 26 one of its drivers, 57-year-old Logan Pillay, was punched on the side of the head as he steered his bus in a queue of suburban traffic.

Mr Pillay told the Herald that he did not see his assailant and that he could have been knocked unconscious if it were not for another passenger grabbing his attacker.

"Some assaults are unavoidable and [random]," Mr Froggatt said.

"Other assaults could be avoided by the driver following company procedures."

NZ Bus declined to comment on the ACC figures and Auckland Transport said it was working with the union and police on security and fare evasion.