Occupational profile of taxi drivers from three metropolitan cities in India

Abstract

Background: Taxi drivers play a crucial role in the social and economic function of the modern society and significantly contribute to the business world and tourism. Objective: The objective of this study was to find the occupational profile of taxi drivers in the metropolitan cities in India. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, community-based study used a pretested questionnaire, comprising sociodemographic, working, and personal variables, and was administered by interview technique on the taxi drivers, attending the training program at the Institute of Road Traffic and Education, Faridabad. Results: Majority of the taxi drivers in our study were married (94.01%), staying in joint families (61.31%), were driving >10 years (66.56%), and working full time (96.72%) and in shifts (92.17%) when employed in organized sectors. Majority enjoyed adequate night sleep (94.43%); neither had systemic comorbidity (95.08%) nor problem of vision (84.92) with reported nonaddiction to alcohol (69.84%), smoking (74.75%), or chewing tobacco (85.57%). Formal training was received by three-fourths (77.38%), yet nearly all were consistently using seat belts and pursued front-seat passengers to use seat belts. The participants of our study admitted their avoidable risky behavior on roads during driving, namely used to talk in speaker mode (73.44%), calling (87.21%), and hearing music (49.84%), while minority (4.92%) confessed watching video and using Bluetooth headphone (11.80%); all these risky behaviors culminated in missing road signs by 71.80%. Conclusions: It appears from this study that we need to understand the sociodemographic, work environment, and personality details of the taxi drivers in the metropolitan cities. The following core competencies are addressed in this article: Interpersonal and communication skills, Patient care, Practice-based learning and improvement, and Systems-based practice.