Many Taxi passengers feel unsafe

Taxis lined up outside Oslo S. Photo Forbrukerrådet

Many Norwegian Taxi passengers feel unsafe

Every fourth Norwegian has felt unsafe in a taxi, according to a survey from the Consumer Council. Even more Taxi passengers respond that they have had a negative experience.


Six out of ten respond in the survey that they have had a negative experience with a taxi driver.

The Consumer Council conducted the same survey back in 2014. This year, slightly more than five years ago, it shows that people have felt unsafe. Almost every third women answered yes to this, against every fourth woman in 2014.

In the survey, six out of ten responded that the drivers had driven negligently, detoured or had communication problems as a result of poor Norwegian language skills.

Some also tell about threats and physical approximation, and it is especially in Oslo that such cases are reported.

Government proposes ammendments

The Government will present a proposal on changes in the taxi market this spring. In its consultation response, the Consumer Council has suggested that it should punish drivers who do not do their job properly. In the most serious cases, the council believes that drivers must lose the right to drive a taxi.

The Norwegian Taxi Federation points out that it is not good if people feel insecure in taxis, but believe the survey is not precise.

“It is not clear whether the incidents reported by the passengers in the survey took place recently or many years ago,” editor Atle Hagtun in the Norwegian Taxi Association tells NRK.

“There are no statistics or events that indicate that there is so much insecurity,” says Hagtun.

He refers to a random sample at the taxi centers in Oslo which showed that the percentage of complaints in 2014 was 0.02 percent.


© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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