Taxis play a major part in the urban landscape and nearly impossible to picture a city without them. Cabbies of Adelaide have something to be fearful about. There has been an increase in nighttime beatings that have taken place in recent months. Many drivers have avoided driving at night to escape the wave of violent assaults.

Several talks have circulated on how to protect the city's drivers from physical abuse from drunk or drugged passengers. But no concrete plans have been approved. Security shields are one of the options but there is a disagreement as to who should pay for the shield. Should it be the owner of the company or the drivers themselves?

The shields come down at around $900 apiece. Many think it would cost too much to have them installed in all the city taxis. Taxi security videos have also been proven ineffective when it comes to providing safety as some suspects simply do not care if their photos are taken.

Inderjit Jassal, an Adelaide driver, was the latest victim in this troubling trend. Punched repeatedly in the face when he refused to seat five people in a four- person taxi. He said his wife has forbidden him to drive at night because of the incident.

A close friend of the Jassals, Manbir Singh, was also attacked in Henley Beach and is now blinded in the left eye. That particular fight left one of four cabbies in the hospital with throat injuries and is currently unable to speak.

In a survey that was taken May 2013 by the Advertiser-Sunday Mail, it was noted that a large percentage of day and night taxi drivers have been physically and verbally abused by passengers in the same year. Of a hundred participants, 38 were bodily harmed and 88 have experienced extreme verbal abuse.

Admittedly, a hundred people might not be enough to prove that the occupation is an especially hazardous one. Those concerned with this issue are pushing for harder penalties on individuals who will be caught assaulting drivers.