Montreal taxis: Incidents raise questions about women's safety

Andrea was out for a few drinks with friends downtown when she decided to hail a cab to take her home to Verdun.

She was having a friendly chat with the driver from her seat in the back of the taxiwhen she noticed he was masturbating.

Andrea said he tried to make her touch his genitals, and attempted tokissand grab her.

I was just thinking, I have to go. I have to leave, she told CBC News in aninterview.

She quickly thought to tell the driver they were passing her street and asked him to stop.

She hopped out of the car and went up a flight of stairs to a random house hoping he would leave as she pretended to look for her keys.

Everything happened so fast, she said. I didnt have time to get the identity of the guy, to get the name of the taxi or anything.

The incident, which happened last summer, left Andrea terrified. She asked that her last name not be used out of fear that she could be identified by the driver.

Cameras in cabs

Shes one of several young women who told CBC theyve experienced a similar episode and expressedconcernabout lax safety in cabs in the city.

After a taxi driver was killed on the joblast November, thecitys Transportation and Public Works Commissionbegan looking at strategies to make taxis safer for both drivers and passengers.

• Montreal taxi drivers call for safety improvements after killing
• City of Montreal unveils plan to improve taxi driver safety
• Montreal taxi commission recommends cameras in cabs

In April, the commission released 16 recommendations, including the installation of cameras in cabs.

City councillor Alex Norris said the city is moving in the right direction, but there still arent enough protections in place for taxis.

The city could be doing more to protect passengers and taxi drivers alike, he said.

Norris said the presence of the camera alone can have a dissuasive effect on those looking to harm drivers and data from cities where cameras have been installed show a drop in violent incidents.

More safety measures needed

But more can be done, including adding GPS locators to cabs and requiring taxi drivers to pass a criminal record check before they can take on any passengers.

Norris said the plan to install cameras in cabs isin the works, but there are still details to be worked out.

There are still questions surrounding the installation of the cameras, namely who will foot the bill, he said.

Andrea said shes still wary of getting into a taxi.

She didnt report the incident because she didnt have any information to identify the driver. And, because she had flagged the cab from the street, there are no dispatch records to help identify the car number.

I just told myself that theres so many of them, she said. My mom said I should report it, but I didnt see the point because theres so many of them.

She wholly supports adding cameras to the cabs to protect both the drivers and passengers. She said shes only taken a handful of taxis since the incident, but she now takes steps to protect herself.

I think the best way [to stay safe] is to tell girls to call a taxi, not to hail one especially if you're a girl alone at night, she said.

Complaints news to taxi company

Dominique Roy, president of Montreal's Diamond Taxi company, said he's never heard of such situations happening in his cabs.

"Sexual harassment is a criminal offence and drivers are very prudent about those issues because the consequences are very important for them," he said.

Roy said reports of such incidents received by his companywould be communicated to Montreal's taxi bureau.