The “dark and dirty” NYC subway system can be a very scary place. So it was very surprising for many to learn that women in New York have a greater chance of being sexually assaulted in a taxi.
Statistics show that about 10 percent of all ‘stranger rapes’ in 2015 were perpetrated by for-hire drivers. In fact they outnumbered those that occurred on the subway system by a 14-1 margin in 2015, the NY Post reports.
NY Police Commissioner Bill Bratton is urging women to use the “buddy system” when taking a cab home late at night from a bar. Some female riders said they already do take that extra safety measure.
“If I’m going out at night, I usually have one of my roommates with me, so safety isn’t such a big concern,” says one Lower East Side resident.
The City’s female denizens were surprised by the recent numbers. With two billion rides on the subway where there are “rank elevators and long hallways” it was shocking to hear that the underground mode of transportation is safer than a taxi.
“I’m always hearing about perverts exposing themselves in subways, stabbing people in subways. Taxis I generally think of as safe.” said Vanessa Ortiz, who works at a hotel and lives on the Lower East Side.
It may have also seemed safer to hop in a cab, because drivers must submit to a fingerprint-based criminal-background check through the state.
Still others admit that it can be scary to take a taxi home after a late night.
“I know way too many females, myself included, that have gotten super drunk and either fallen asleep in a cab or just been so out of it they could never defend themselves,” said bartender Kate Spaulding, who often takes cabs home after midnight.
