606 Taxicab Driver Homicides: United States and Canada 1980-1994
Tables and Charts
The 606 homicides of the report's title include many for which minimal information was available. The statistics below reflect a subset of perhaps 280 homicides for which more detailed information was available, primarily from press sources.
Sample sizes vary because not all information was available for each occurrence. For instance, many news items on cabdriver homicides report the age of the driver, but fewer describe the age of the assailants. Thus the sample size for driver age in the tables below is 186, but the sample size for assailant age is just 124.
Year of Assault
(sample = 606)Year............USA........Canada...........Totals
1980..............32..............0....................32
1981..............33..............2....................35
1982..............27..............0....................27
1983..............24..............1....................25
1984..............35..............2....................37
1985..............35..............1....................36
1986..............28..............1....................29
1987..............25..............1....................26
1988..............38..............5....................43
1989..............30..............1....................31
1990..............52..............2....................54
1991..............76..............3....................79
1992..............69..............1....................70
1993..............67..............2....................69
1994..............10..............3....................13 (partial year)
Totals............581............25.................606
Driver's Gender
(sample = 237)Male...........95%.....(226)
Female.........5%.......(11)
Driver's Age at Time of Attack
(sample = 186)Under 20.........0%......(0)
20-29............16%.....(29)
30-39............35%.....(66)
40-49............25%.....(47)
50-59............20%.....(37)
60-69.............3%.......(5)
70+.................1%.......(2)
Time of Assault
(sample = 117)12:00am - 5:59am..........41%.....(48)
6:00am - 11:59am...........6%.......(7)
12:00pm - 5:59pm..........12%.....(14)
6:00pm - 11:59pm..........41%.....(48)
Weapon Used
(sample = 234)Gun...............84.6%.....(198)
Knife.............12.8%......(30)
Other..............2.6%........(6)
Injury to Driver
(sample = 151)Shot in head.................64%.....(96)
Other head or
neck trauma.................10%.....(15)
Not head or neck..........26%.....(40)
Nature of Assault
(sample = 139 cases; total exceeds 100%)Robbery or suspected robbery..........91%.....(127)
Known or likely serial killing..............20%.....(28)
Rape or attempt..................................0%.....(0)
Driver In or Out of Cab at Time of Attack
(sample = 122)Driver in cab.........94%.....(115)
Out of cab..............6%.......(7)
Assailant In or Out of Cab at Time of Attack
(sample = 65)Assailant in cab.........75%.....(49)
Out of cab................25%.....(16)
Assailant's Gender
(sample = 152)Male...........91%.....(138)
Female..........9%......(14)
Assailant's Age
(sample = 124)Under 20..............66%.....(82)
20-29...................29%.....(36)
30 or over..............5%.......(6)
minimum = 12 years old
maximum = 37 years old
Number of Assailants
(sample = 101 cases)One Assailant...........47%.....(47)
More than one..........53%.....(54)
Return to the introduction to the 606 homicides report.
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