'I don’t feel safe in the UK anymore': Private hire drivers speak out over violent attacks and rising fear

10 June 2025, 01:13

Private hire drivers have revealed how they are often too scared to work because of violent attacks by passengers or members of the public.

A survey of 400 drivers showed incidents including being threatened with knives and machetes, being racially abused and having stones thrown at their cars.

Many of those polled by the GMB union reported being too scared to work, while one said they carried a baseball bat in their car to ward off attackers.

One driver said it was ‘”heartbreaking to witness humanity at its worst”.

Most respondents said they feared race riots will break out across the UK this year.

GMB national officer Eamon O’Hearn, speaking at the union’s annual conference in Brighton, said: “These terrifying survey results show our private hire drivers were on the front line of last year’s riots, and a huge majority fear they may happen again this summer.”

One respondent said: “I passed by a mosque and had several people approach me with knives and machetes so I speeded up and did the quickest U-turn ever and got out of there.”

Another said a passenger in a van threw a cup of coffee in his car.

Another driver said: “I do not feel safe in the United Kingdom any more, I have started to carry my own baseball bats as I am in fear of having acid thrown at me.”