Why driving for a living carries real risk

Every driver who has worked a Saturday night has a story about the passenger who was not polite. The numbers back those stories up. A 2018 survey of rideshare drivers by the Transport Workers' Union (TWU) and the Rideshare Drivers' Co-operative logged 969 reports of harassment and assault. 37 per cent of drivers said they had received threats, one in ten said they had been physically assaulted, and more than six per cent said they had been sexually assaulted. A follow-up TWU survey with the Rideshare Drivers' Network in 2020 found 62 per cent of drivers reported experiencing verbal or physical assaults, and 17 per cent had been sexually harassed or assaulted.

These are union surveys rather than official statistics, and they are now several years old. But they match earlier Australian research, which found that assaults on taxi drivers usually come from passengers in the rear seat, with injuries typically to the head and upper body.

The reasons are built into the job:

• You are belted in, facing away from the threat. The person most likely to hurt you is sitting behind you, within arm's reach of your head and neck, while your hands are on the wheel and your eyes are on the road.
• You work alone with strangers. Rank and hail work in particular means you often know nothing about who has just got in.
• Night work and alcohol. The busiest, best-paying hours are often the riskiest: pick-ups outside pubs, clubs and events, with passengers who are drunk, high or angry.
• Money and ratings. Fare disputes, surge pricing, cleaning fees and the threat of a bad rating or false complaint can all turn a ride sour.
• You go where you are told. A passenger who changes the destination mid-trip or directs you to a dark car park or dead-end street is controlling where the trip ends. Researchers flag vague or changing destinations as a warning sign.

Delivery drivers face a version of the same problem: working alone, often at night, walking up to unfamiliar doors and back to a car full of goods.

A late-night pick-up that goes wrong

It is 1.30 on a Sunday morning. You pick up two men outside a nightclub. Both are drunk, and one sits directly behind you. Ten minutes in, the one behind you decides the route is wrong and the fare is a rip-off. He asks you to "just pull over here" next to an empty park, then changes his mind. His voice gets louder. He leans forward between the seats, and you feel his hand on the back of your headrest.

Nothing has happened yet. But you are belted in, both hands are busy, the threat is behind you, and the trip is heading somewhere quiet. Do you keep driving towards light and people? How do you unbuckle and get out without turning your back? What if that hand moves to your neck?

Why apps, cameras and policies are not enough on their own

Queensland requires approved security cameras in taxis and in booked hire vehicles that meet certain risk criteria, such as rank and hail work or cash payments. Rideshare apps offer emergency buttons that call authorities and share your location, GPS tracking of every trip, and trip sharing with family. Australian research found attacks on Perth taxi drivers fell after cameras became mandatory. Use all of them.

But most of them work after something has started. A camera identifies the offender. An emergency button summons help that may be minutes away. None of them can stop a hand reaching for your throat, unclip your seatbelt, or decide where to stop the car. That still depends on the driver noticing the warning signs early, staying calm while adrenaline spikes, and acting decisively.

A vehicle used for work is a workplace, but many drivers are sole traders, so their safety largely rests on themselves. Under stress, people freeze, fixate or rush. Practising under realistic pressure is what changes that.

The benefits of learning effective self defence

For a driver, effective self defence is not about winning a fight in the back seat. It is about not needing to have one, and getting home safely if one comes to you. If someone wants your cash, your phone or your car, let them have it. Things can be replaced. Good training builds practical skills around that principle:

• Reading passengers before they get in. Watching how a person approaches the car, whether they match the booking, and trusting your gut when something feels wrong.
• Talking a ride back down. A calm voice and no arguments about the route or fare while the car is moving. Agreeing to sort out a dispute through the app later is often the safest way to end it.
• Choosing where the trip ends. Steering towards light and people, such as a busy service station, rather than stopping where a hostile passenger wants you to.
• Getting out of the car safely. Knowing when to unbuckle, how to exit without turning your back, and how to put the open door and the car between you and the passenger.
• Protecting your head and neck. Simple, reliable ways to break a grab from the rear seat and create enough space to leave. Australian law generally allows force that is reasonable and necessary to defend yourself, and good training teaches you to use only what the situation requires.

There is a wellbeing benefit too. Drivers who have practised for the worst nights tend to carry less tension through every other shift.

How Arakan helps drivers, fleets and operators

Arakan Martial Art has been teaching for more than 30 years and has trained tens of thousands of people, from children to executives, professional athletes, law enforcement and military personnel.

For taxi companies, fleet operators, delivery businesses and driver groups, a workshop can focus on the situations your drivers actually face:

• sizing up a pick-up and deciding whether to start the trip;
• handling intoxicated, abusive or argumentative passengers without escalating;
• fare, route and destination disputes, and when to end a trip;
• protecting yourself from a grab or strike from the back seat while seated and belted;
• exiting the vehicle safely and using the doors and the car itself as a barrier;
• staying composed once adrenaline hits, so you can think clearly and call for help.

Sessions are led by full time professional instructors, are trauma-aware and safety-first, and are designed so that everyone can take part regardless of age or fitness. Formats range from 90 to 120 minute intensives to half day and full day workshops and ongoing team programs. Drive for yourself? Arakan also runs regular classes across its locations.

Why Arakan is not a ring sport or a traditional dojo

Many martial arts are taught standing up on open mats, against one opponent who follows rules. That is a long way from a driver's seat at 2 am.

• Not built for the ring. Arakan is a Burmese martial art that has never been a ring or competition style. A rear-seat passenger does not wait for a bell, so we do not train as if they will.
• Vehicles and confined spaces. Training covers vehicles, confined spaces, doorways and situations involving more than one person: a car with two passengers is all of those at once.
• Principles that work seated. Movement, balance, timing and positioning that adapt to any situation, not fixed sequences that assume you are standing with room to move.
• Awareness and the law come first. Avoidance, de-escalation and legal responsibility are part of the training, so drivers understand when to hand things over, when to leave and when force is justified.
• No egos, no aggression. Drivers come away calmer and more confident, not more combative with passengers.

This article is general information only and is not legal, safety or professional advice. Always follow your platform's, operator's or employer's safety procedures and road rules, never put property ahead of your safety, and contact police on 000 in an emergency.