Taxi robberies: Don't become a victim

Since the turn of the year TaxiPoint has been alerted to spate of taxi related robberies. In London alone, two taxi drivers have been robbed by opportunist thieves, another has had ammonia thrown in his face and there have been a number of taxi break-ins, leaving drivers with the headache of dealing with the cost of a new window.
These attacks are not uncommon and are a countrywide problem. To be on your guard, try never to keep anything of value on display when you are working or parked up. Try to never open your window fully when talking to or dealing with the public and if possible always use the nearside window as a point of contact and most importantly always keep your doors locked.
If you have somebody who refuses to pay or does a "runner", do not go after them, leaving your vehicle could put you in an extremely vulnerable situation.
Always carry a bottle of water, so as to try to minimise the effects of any noxious substances thrown into your face. Sadly that is the world we live in now.
Always report incidents to the police, just reporting these incidents on social media, whilst informative, doesn’t help others in the quest to prevent this kind of behaviour. Help the police to help you by giving as much information as possible.
Be lucky and safe in 2018.
