Winnipeg taxi drivers will soon have to install barriers protecting them from front-seat passengers under a plan to combat rising violence against cabbies.

A safety committee at the Manitoba Taxicab Board, a provincial regulatory agency, approved the plan Thursday. Brighter distress signals will also be required.

The drive for stronger safety measures follows a sharp increase in assaults on cab drivers, including a recent attack that left a driver with brain damage.

'We're finding that the attacks are coming from everywhere inside the vehicle as well as outside the vehicle.'— Phil Walding, Duffy's Taxi

Times have changed since the original back-only shields were installed in cabs a decade ago, said Phil Walding, a committee member and the general manager of Duffy's Taxi, the city's second-largest fleet.

"Eighty per cent of all attacks that were happening at that time were coming from the seat directly behind the driver," Walding said. "Now, we're finding that the attacks are coming from everywhere inside the vehicle as well as outside the vehicle."

Signal misunderstood

Along with the bigger shields, cabs will also be required to have brighter rooftop lights that serve as distress signals. Cabbies needing help now flash their rooftop taxi signs — a signal that Walding says is hard to see in daytime and is often misunderstood by the public.

The safety measures still need the formal approval of the taxicab board, but a board official said they'll easily get the OK next month because of unanimous support from the committee and industry.

Police are not sure what has prompted the recent assaults on cabbies.

"I'm not sure that you can actually put a finger on any one (reason)," said Winnipeg Police Sgt. Rick Zurba. "The money's available and I think the more media coverage that there is, unfortunately, puts a lot of ideas into some people's heads."

Walding said some robbers hit taxis because many people now have immobilizers in their cars. An idling taxi is an easier target, he said.

"Any vehicle that is running is a target now, and certainly I know when I'm sitting at red lights, I keep my doors locked now, because you never known when it's going to be you," he said.

The taxicab board still has to work out details, including the deadline for installing the new shields and lights, and whether to raise fares to help the industry pay for the devices.

The committee is still considering other safety options, including requiring a special immobilizer to cut the fuel supply on a running car. If a vehicle is stolen, thieves can only travel about 500 metres before running out of gas.

Winnipeg is not alone in dealing with a spike in attacks on cab drivers. The manager of a taxi company in Regina said this week that fewer drivers are willing to work at night because of an increase in robberies.