Panic button is coming to taxis: The driver will give SOS when he presses the button

A new and exemplary practice has been started in Istanbul due to the increase in theft, extortion, injury and death incidents against taxi drivers. Various studies on the subject have been carried out by taxi drivers’ associations and non-governmental organizations for approximately 15 years, but the implementation phase has not been reached. In many cities, local governments made it mandatory to have panic buttons in taxis, but still no results were obtained. The panic button application in taxis, the prototype of which was introduced by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) on January 12, 2024, began to be extensively tested as of June 1, 2024. The panic button application is being tested with taxis included in the system according to the appointment order. It is planned to integrate all taxis in Istanbul into the system in a short time.

THE DRIVER WILL PRESS THE BUTTON AND THE SAFETY UNITS WILL BE NOTIFIED.

Thanks to the application, in cases of incidents against taxi drivers, the driver will press the panic button and the incident will be reported to the police units. In addition, an illuminated sign on the vehicle will warn about the situation and the police and gendarmerie units inspecting the route will be informed. No one in the vehicle other than the driver will know these processes.

A PANIC BUTTON WILL ALSO BE INSTALLED FOR PASSENGERS

The panic button for passengers in the prototype introduced by IMM has not been implemented yet. After the trial phases of the current application are completed, panic buttons for passengers will also be placed in taxis. As the final stage of the application, a camera system that transmits instant images will be placed inside the taxi. Thus, routine security inspections will be provided continuously by the security units of IMM.

“WHEN YOU PRESS THE PANIC BUTTON, IT LIGHTS ‘TAXI SOS'”

Speaking on the subject, taxi driver Birol Güneş said, “I am giving this system as an example, when you are traveling with the passenger, dropping the passenger off at his location, or if there is an argument with the passenger in the car, there is a panic button. When you press this panic button, it lights up as ‘TAXI SOS’. Thus, it alerts the police units.” and 153 are reported to Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, the nearest teams come to the scene and intervene, if it is the police, or if it is the gendarmerie, the gendarmerie intervenes.”

“POLICE AND GENDARMERIE WILL INTERVENE TO THE SCENE”

Giving information about the trial process of the application, Güneş said, “You make an appointment, you go to the IMM’s own location in Bahçelievler. When it is your turn, everything such as the beacon lamp and the panic button are installed. You wait for the integration, when the integration comes into operation, this time our system will be fully functional. In other words, click on the panic button.” “If you press it by mistake, the police team will come. If you are in real trouble, when you press the panic button, the gendarmerie will intervene at the scene,” he said.

“THIS SYSTEM IS VERY NICE RIGHT NOW”

Taxi driver Necati Kara said, “As you know, our life safety is in trouble for us taxi drivers. We come face to face with all kinds of customers. I think this system is very good right now. In fact, it would be better if we were in the cabin. It would be better for us if we switched to a system with a cabin, that is nice.” “I think it will happen,” he said.

“THERE SHOULD BE A GLASS PANEL INSIDE”

Taxi driver Yakup Halipçi, who expressed his demand for a glass panel as well as being satisfied with the panic button, said, “This is a very nice thing. When the customer gets in, it says full, when the customer gets in, we press it and it says empty. It is very nice, but the important thing is that it is connected. There must be a panel inside.” , glass panel. There should be something like that. We have 40 people here. They are all satisfied, we did not experience any problems, hopefully it will be even better in the future.