National Personal Safety Day is an annual event aimed at raising awareness of everyday harassment and recommending solutions to help reduce violence, aggression and abuse in our society

For National Personal Safety Day 2024 we’re Steering Towards Safety through a review of passenger safety on the public transport network highlighting the alarming gaps in taxi and private hire vehicle (PHV) driver licensing law, allowing individuals with violent convictions to continue obtaining licences.  

Despite repeated calls to action by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust since 2014 and the introduction of the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022, inconsistencies across licensing authorities persist, putting passengers at risk. 

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust’s research supported by PeopleSafe showed through a Freedom of Information (FOI) that drivers with convictions, including for violent crimes such as assault, battery and harassment, were still being licensed despite licensing authorities knowing about the offences. A survey in collaboration with YouGov underlined that these concerns were widely shared, with other 30% of respondents reporting feeling unsafe during a taxi or PHV journey.

You can download the full report here.

Steering Towards Safety: A review of passenger safety in taxis, private hire vehicles and the wider public transport network

You can support our call for national minimum standards by signing our online petition here.

This National Personal Safety Day we will be making recommendations to the government and employers to help tackle the rise in violence against women and girls across the transport network. We also want to help keep you safe and have developed a set of quick safety tips for you to think about when travelling. If you are travelling alone in a taxi or PHV, think SAFETY.

Download the full safety tip poster here.

You can read the press release here.

For any press enquiries, please contact [email protected].   

For further information on the work of the Trust, please contact [email protected].