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Nearly half of UK taxi passengers admit leaving belongings behind, The Taxi Insurer survey finds
More than two in five UK taxi passengers have left belongings inside a cab, according to research highlighting the responsibilities drivers handle beyond transporting customers.
The survey, conducted by taxi insurance broker The Taxi Insurer, found that 44% of passengers had forgotten possessions after completing a taxi journey. However, the press release did not provide details about the survey sample size, fieldwork dates or methodology.
Mobile phones were among the items commonly left behind, with 14% of respondents admitting they had forgotten a phone. One in ten said they had left a passport in a taxi.
Some reported incidents involved far more sensitive possessions. According to the survey, 4% of respondents had left either an engagement ring or human ashes behind, while 3% said they had left a baby on the back seat.
The findings indicate that drivers can effectively become an informal lost property service, taking responsibility for securing forgotten items and attempting to reunite them with passengers. Such incidents can add administrative and safeguarding demands after a journey has ended.
Drivers are also being asked to provide support during journeys. The survey found that 19% of passengers had sought personal advice from a taxi driver, while 11% had asked a driver to follow another vehicle or a pedestrian.
The Taxi Insurer said drivers can encounter situations requiring immediate judgement, including protecting older passengers from courier fraud and transporting seriously injured people to hospital. No additional details about those incidents were supplied in the release.
David Sweeney of The Taxi Insurer said: “Aside from getting their passengers from A to B, today’s drivers are also asked to wear many other hats.”
He added: “For example, one in five (19%) passengers have treated their driver as a part-time therapist and asked them for personal advice, and one in ten (11%) have gone into private detective mode by telling their driver to follow another car or a pedestrian.”
The research was released as driverless taxi technology begins appearing on UK streets, adding to debate about the future role of professional drivers. The findings focus on the human assistance, judgement and passenger contact that can form part of conventional taxi journeys.
Sweeney said: “Whether driverless taxis are the future of our industry remains to be seen, but in the meantime, there’s no doubting the invaluable role that drivers play for passengers on a daily basis. From providing personal advice to reuniting babies with the parents that left them behind, drivers have a lot more to do than just drive!”
