Apart from having to deal with horrid partygoers making a mess of the back of their taxis on weekends, cabbies now have to worry about driver fatigue.
A study conducted by the National University of Singapore’s Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health revealed that out of the 231 cabbies surveyed, one in three experience driver fatigue.
In a first of its kind, the study defines driver fatigue as having poor sleeping habits, sleeping behind the wheel and chronic ailments, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus and high cholesterol.
Cabbies complain that they are helpless, having to grind through long hours on the road just to cover high overheads — let alone make a profit. In an interview with TODAY, Mr Han Poh Guan, a 57-year-old cabbie estimated that he had to complete 30 trips to cover the rent and fuel costs, which come up to S$190 each day within his 6pm to 6am shifts.
On top of covering overheads, the Land Transport Authority requires a minimum number of taxis to take on a daily mileage of at least 250km. That’s the equivalent of driving from Tuas to Changi, 7 times.
Mr Han is one of the many cabbies who disregard the Manpower Ministry’s suggested 12 hours behind the wheel. His sacrifice puts him at risk, with cabbies who work more than 10 hours daily admitting to sleeping behind the wheel. The gruelling demands has led cabbies to take drastic measures, from downing up to three cups of kopi daily, to 55 per cent of cabbies surveyed taking no days off.
To combat this unfortunate phenomenon, the National Taxi Association (NTA) has teamed up with the Health Promotion Board to provide free health screenings and workshops to cabbies. If keeping track of the steps taken while seated in a car ferrying passengers around won’t help, maybe the free stretch bands offered by the NTA will urge cabbies to join the aunties at the exercise corners of HDBs.
53-year-old cabbie Mr Kelvin Lim makes an effort to spend three hours between two driving shifts to play basketball with fellow cabbies and neighbours. Mr Lim describes the job as “high-risk” and believes that it is paramount that cabbies watch over their health.
Executive adviser of NTA Ang Hin Kee hopes that the influx of third-party taxi applications and a larger pool of relief drivers will give the existing fleet of cabbies a much-deserved rest.
Researchers expect their conclusions to urge the review of current policies and impose measures to solve sleep-deprived cabbies. Some of their hopes have been realised, with the NTA posting a comprehensive guide, ‘Tips on how to manage Fatigue’ on their website. The guide provides tips with managing fatigue, dieting and coping with the demands of work.
Netizens have expressed hopes that the issue will not be resolved with yet another price fare hike, but rather a review of the taxi operating costs. A revamp is expected, while we can only wait and hope that the meter on our cabbies won’t run on for too long.
Photo: Geoff Penaluna via Flickr
Apart from having to deal with horrid partygoers making a mess of the back of their taxis on weekends, cabbies now have to worry about driver fatigue.
A study conducted by the National University of Singapore’s Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health revealed that out of the 231 cabbies surveyed, one in three experience driver fatigue.
In a first of its kind, the study defines driver fatigue as having poor sleeping habits, sleeping behind the wheel and chronic ailments, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus and high cholesterol.
Cabbies complain that they are helpless, having to grind through long hours on the road just to cover high overheads — let alone make a profit. In an interview with TODAY, Mr Han Poh Guan, a 57-year-old cabbie estimated that he had to complete 30 trips to cover the rent and fuel costs, which come up to S$190 each day within his 6pm to 6am shifts.
On top of covering overheads, the Land Transport Authority requires a minimum number of taxis to take on a daily mileage of at least 250km. That’s the equivalent of driving from Tuas to Changi, 7 times.
Mr Han is one of the many cabbies who disregard the Manpower Ministry’s suggested 12 hours behind the wheel. His sacrifice puts him at risk, with cabbies who work more than 10 hours daily admitting to sleeping behind the wheel. The gruelling demands has led cabbies to take drastic measures, from downing up to three cups of kopi daily, to 55 per cent of cabbies surveyed taking no days off.
To combat this unfortunate phenomenon, the National Taxi Association (NTA) has teamed up with the Health Promotion Board to provide free health screenings and workshops to cabbies. If keeping track of the steps taken while seated in a car ferrying passengers around won’t help, maybe the free stretch bands offered by the NTA will urge cabbies to join the aunties at the exercise corners of HDBs.
53-year-old cabbie Mr Kelvin Lim makes an effort to spend three hours between two driving shifts to play basketball with fellow cabbies and neighbours. Mr Lim describes the job as “high-risk” and believes that it is paramount that cabbies watch over their health.
Executive adviser of NTA Ang Hin Kee hopes that the influx of third-party taxi applications and a larger pool of relief drivers will give the existing fleet of cabbies a much-deserved rest.
Researchers expect their conclusions to urge the review of current policies and impose measures to solve sleep-deprived cabbies. Some of their hopes have been realised, with the NTA posting a comprehensive guide, ‘Tips on how to manage Fatigue’ on their website. The guide provides tips with managing fatigue, dieting and coping with the demands of work.
Netizens have expressed hopes that the issue will not be resolved with yet another price fare hike, but rather a review of the taxi operating costs. A revamp is expected, while we can only wait and hope that the meter on our cabbies won’t run on for too long.
Photo: Geoff Penaluna via Flickr