Driving Into Risk: Protecting Rideshare and Taxi Drivers in Trinidad and Tobago

Rideshare and taxi drivers perform an important service across Trinidad and Tobago. But the nature of the job creates a security vulnerability that deserves serious attention:

A driver routinely travels alone to locations selected by strangers, often at night, carrying a valuable vehicle, a mobile phone, money and personal information.

Recent crimes show that offenders are learning how to exploit that vulnerability.

In June 2025, Assistant Commissioner of Police Richard Smith publicly warned rideshare and taxi drivers after police recorded at least five cases that year in which drivers were robbed after responding to supposed customers. Police said offenders had created fake accounts on taxi applications to attract their victims, with the reported attacks occurring at night.

That changes the way drivers should think about the threat.

Traditionally, a robber had to find a victim.

With rideshare technology, the criminal may be able to summon the victim directly to a location of their choosing.

That is the threat drivers need to understand.

The Booking Can Be Part of the Crime

Consider what happened to a 47-year-old rideshare driver in Morvant in June 2025.

She accepted what appeared to be a legitimate request shortly after midnight. When she arrived at the pickup location, another vehicle blocked her car. Two masked armed men approached, forced her into the back seat and drove away with her. She was eventually released and her vehicle was later recovered.

In August 2025, another driver responded to a request apparently made by a woman. When he arrived, three men confronted him, forced their way into the vehicle, tied him up, covered his head and placed him in the trunk. He eventually escaped.

Newsday also reported in May 2025 that rideshare driver Keston Ramsey collected two men in San Juan. One was armed. He was forced to drive to Santa Cruz, where two more offenders joined them before he was taken to a forested area, beaten, robbed and tied to a tree.

These incidents are different, but the security pattern is similar:

The transportation service itself can become part of the offender's method of getting access to the victim.

And this is not exclusively a rideshare problem.

In February 2026, a 49-year-old taxi driver reportedly picked up four passengers at the Penal-to-Siparia Taxi Stand. When they reached Saney Trace, the driver was attacked, stabbed and robbed of his vehicle.

Whether the passenger comes through an app, a taxi stand or a roadside pickup, the underlying vulnerability remains the same: the driver is allowing unknown people into a confined space while operating alone.

Stop Thinking Only About "Dangerous Areas"

One of the most useful points made by ACP Smith was that avoiding areas considered high-risk does not solve the problem.

Criminals can change their tactics. They can arrange pickups in places where drivers feel comfortable and then redirect the journey or introduce additional offenders later.

Security decisions should therefore be based on behaviour and circumstances, not simply geography.

A driver should constantly ask:

• Does this booking make sense?

• Does the person approaching match what I expected?

• Why has the pickup location suddenly changed?

• Why am I being asked to enter an isolated road?

• Are other people waiting nearby?

• Is another vehicle positioned where it could block me?

• Has the passenger suddenly asked me to collect someone else?

• If something happens now, does anyone know where I am?

None of these circumstances automatically means a robbery is about to occur.

But several appearing together should significantly increase your level of caution.

Your Best Defence Is Before the Passenger Gets In

Once an armed offender is sitting behind the driver, many of the driver's options disappear.

That is why effective security begins before unlocking the doors.

Keep your vehicle locked while waiting for a passenger. Confirm the booking before allowing anyone inside. Where the rideshare platform provides passenger verification, ratings or account information, use it.

If you expect one passenger and several people suddenly approach the vehicle, reassess.

If something feels wrong, drive away and cancel from a safe location.

A driver who has travelled ten kilometres to reach a customer may naturally hesitate to abandon the fare. But the fuel and time already spent should never influence a security decision.

No fare is worth overriding a legitimate warning sign.

Vehicle positioning is equally important.

Whenever practical, stop in a way that allows you to move forward and leave quickly. Avoid allowing another vehicle, wall, gate or dead end to trap you.

The Morvant case is particularly instructive because another vehicle was reportedly used to block the driver's car at the pickup location.

Until you have assessed the passenger and begun the journey, your vehicle is not simply transportation.

It is also your primary means of escape.

Be Alert to Changes During the Trip

The threat assessment should continue after the passenger enters.

Be particularly cautious about unexpected instructions such as:

• "Drive further down the road."

• "Stop here for somebody."

• "Turn into that track."

• "Wait here while someone comes."

There can be perfectly legitimate reasons for these requests. But an unexpected change that moves the vehicle away from populated or well-lit areas should cause the driver to reassess the situation.

Where possible, significant destination changes should be made through the rideshare application so that there is a digital record.

Drivers should also use trip-sharing features where available and establish a simple check-in procedure with someone they trust, particularly when working late at night.

Someone other than the driver should be able to determine where the driver was going and where they were last known to be.

Technology Should Work After Your Phone Is Gone

A driver's mobile phone should not be the only means of locating the vehicle.

During a robbery, a phone may be taken, discarded, switched off or destroyed.

Drivers who depend on their vehicles for their livelihood should therefore consider an independent vehicle security system.

Modern solutions can include discreet GPS tracking, geofencing, tamper or battery-disconnection alerts, backup power and, where appropriate, redundant tracking technologies.

But there is another important distinction:

Tracking a stolen vehicle is not the same as recovering one.

Knowing that your stolen vehicle is parked somewhere does not mean you should go there.

A driver who has just been robbed should never pursue armed offenders or attempt to recover the vehicle personally.

Where possible, consider a properly equipped stolen-vehicle recovery provider capable of monitoring the vehicle, interpreting location data and coordinating recovery information with law enforcement.

Technology should help create distance between the victim and the offender—not encourage the victim to confront them.

Do Not Build Your Security Plan Around Fighting Back

There is a dangerous misconception in personal security that preparation means being ready to fight.

For rideshare drivers, the better objective is to recognise and avoid the confrontation before it begins.

Once a firearm or other weapon has been produced, the risk equation changes dramatically.

Your vehicle is replaceable.

Your life is not.

The driver's security strategy should therefore prioritise:

Detection. Avoidance. Communication. Escape. Reporting. Recovery.

Not confrontation.

Dash cameras can preserve evidence. Trip sharing can establish your last known movements. Vehicle tracking can assist in locating stolen property. Passenger verification can reduce anonymity.

But none of these replaces situational awareness.

If You Are Robbed

Once you are safe, contact the police immediately.

Preserve as much information as possible about the booking and incident, including the passenger name or account, pickup point, destination, time, number and description of offenders, weapons observed, other vehicles involved and direction of travel.

Do not delete messages, trip information or account details. Dash-camera footage and location history may also become important evidence.

If tracking technology later identifies the vehicle's location, do not approach it yourself. Pass that information to the police or an appropriately equipped recovery provider.

The objective following a robbery is to recover the vehicle without creating another victim.

The Most Important Security System Is Still the Driver

Most rideshare and taxi passengers are ordinary people trying to get to work, reach home or travel safely.

The concern is the small number of offenders who recognise an opportunity within the transportation model.

They may be able to choose the time.

• Choose the pickup point.

• Create the account.

• Introduce additional offenders.

• Change the destination.

• And wait for the driver to arrive.

Drivers must therefore approach passenger-for-hire work with the same mindset used in other occupations where people operate alone in unpredictable environments: continually assess what is normal, recognise when something changes, and act before the situation develops.

Advanced GPS tracking can help protect the vehicle.

Passenger verification can reduce anonymity.

Professional stolen-vehicle recovery capability can assist after a theft.

But the most valuable security decision may happen several minutes before any of those systems are needed: recognising that something does not look right, keeping the doors locked, and driving away.

Sometimes the safest trip you make is the one you decide not to take.