The Role of Economy in Taxi Drivers’ Safety: A Qualitative Study

Background: Economic pressures are important factors contributing to accidents. Despite the importance of economic factors in the safety of taxi drivers, a few literatures have referred to these factor. Methods: This research was a phenomenology study. The purposive sampling was used, so, 18 taxi drivers with the average 43.05 ± 10.22 years old participated in the study of whom, 12 took part in individual in-depth interviews (IDIs) and 6 participated in a focus group discussion (FGD). The Bengtson’s method (2016) was adopted to analyze qualitative data using content analysis. Results: Two themes interlacing the impact of taxi drivers’ Economic pressure on their safety were identified. The themes referred to taxi drivers’ occupational expenses and livelihood concerns. Each of the themes were consisted of two categories, namely competition for passenger, taxi-keeping expenses and stability, adequacy of income, and undesirable household economic conditions, respectively. Conclusion: This study showed the significant impact of economic pressure on the safety of taxi drivers as participants repeatedly reported unsafe driving behaviors in order to increase income. They also stated that issues such as unemployment and inflation caused many people to enter this occupation which led to dangerous competition over passengers and subsequent aberrant driving behaviors.