Gimhae City Supports 50% of Installation Costs for Protective Barriers in 185 Local Taxis

Gimhae City, Gyeongnam supported the installation costs of protective partitions in taxis within the jurisdiction.
[Image source=Gimhae City]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Sang-hyun] Gimhae City, Gyeongnam Province, announced on the 16th that it has supported the installation of driver protection partitions in 185 taxis within the city, spending 23 million KRW.

Unlike city buses, where the installation of protection partitions is mandatory, taxis are not subject to related legislation and are defenseless against assaults by intoxicated passengers. If a driver is assaulted while driving, it is highly likely to lead to secondary or tertiary traffic accidents.

For this reason, the city has been supporting 50% of the installation costs for protection partitions since last year. The partitions are made of polycarbonate material and installed behind the driver's headrest to protect the driver.

Additionally, they have a certain effect in blocking droplets from rear-seat passengers, which has been positively received by passengers.

With 59 vehicles last year and 185 this year, a total of 244 taxis (15.8%) out of 1,542 taxis in the city (1,163 private, 379 from 6 corporate companies) have been equipped. There are 42 female drivers in total.

Taxi drivers expressed satisfaction, saying, "We used to feel anxious when intoxicated passengers verbally abused or threatened us during night shifts, but now we feel more psychologically stable than before."

A Gimhae City official stated, "We will continue to promote the installation project so that taxi drivers can operate with peace of mind and citizens can use taxis safely."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.