Taxi drivers are blamed for one sex attack a day
As Uber app fuels the boom in private hire cabs...
CABBIES and private hire drivers are facing almost daily accusations of sexual assault, police figures revealed yesterday.
The number of reported sexual attacks on passengers has jumped by a fifth in only three years.
At least 337 assaults were reported between April 2016 and March this year in England and Wales, a steep rise on the 282 recorded in 2014-15.
The figures, obtained from 23 of 43 police forces, relate to a wide range of vehicles including illegal minicabs, Uber cars and black cabs. Most police forces could not break them down by firm or type of vehicle.
Most of the assaults were in London, with the number rising from 142 to 156 in three years.
More than half of private licensed taxi drivers in the capital are Uber drivers.
Campaigners described the figure as ‘alarming’, but stressed the increase could be down to more sexual attacks being reported, rather than the crime becoming more common.
But the increase, revealed by a Freedom of Information request, comes after the Met police accused Uber of failing to report serious sex attacks on passengers
According to Department for Transport figures, the number of drivers with private hire licences has risen by a fifth to just over 356,000 since 2015.
Commenting on the rise in alleged sexual assaults, Katie Russell, a spokesman for Rape Crisis England and Wales, told The Guardian: ‘It’s an alarming figure but it is always hard to know whether the increase is due to a rise in crime taking place or an increase in sexual assaults being reported.
‘Sexual offences have been massively under-reported, so an increase in willingness to report will play some part in the statistical increases.’
She urged companies to conduct ‘urgent reviews’ of their security systems, adding: ‘We know rapists and sexual offenders are often quite devious in how they plan their attacks.
‘They often get themselves in positions of authority and responsibility, where they have access to potential victims – those industries may be attractive to sexual offenders.’
Uber is currently appealing against the decision not to renew its licence in London, and is allowed to continue operating in the interim.
An Uber spokesman said: ‘We take any allegations of this nature very seriously, immediately preventing drivers from using our app and supporting the police with their investigations.
‘All drivers who use our app are licensed by a local authority and have gone through the same enhanced checks as black cab drivers. Our GPS technology also means that every trip is electronically tracked and recorded.’
‘Alarming increase’