The universal service obligations placed on the industry are very real and important. The licenced taxi industry has to be seen to obey the rules and provide a comprehensive service to all areas in a city, particularly when there are no public transport options after hours.

But at the same time the taxi council’s power to direct drivers to work an area with a history of robbery and violence must surely put it at odds with basic workplace safety practices.

Whose responsibility and how realistic is it to expect a driver’s working environment to be made safe at all hours when that can include well-known trouble spots?

The answer is not as easy as solving an impasse in Dubbo a few months ago where Australia Post posties refused to deliver to certain streets until rock-throwing youths had been dispatched.

The sort of people who will bail up a taxi driver at knife point are much harder to catch and are not going to stop until they are caught or move on to stay ahead of the police.

While three arrests have been made over a hold-up on Saturday night after the taxi’s video footage was examined, there are no guarantees other hold-ups won’t occur in the future.

Regardless of what their industry body says, local drivers probably won’t feel comfortable returning to areas they consider risky until there is a significant passage of time without another arrest.

To assist them the industry body should be ensuring every safety measure available is in use in Orange. Video cameras are mandatory in NSW taxis but driver safety screens are not. While many drivers here do not like them there may be case for making them mandatory also.

Arrests over the weekend robbery are a great development but they do not bring to an end the risks our taxi drivers face, particularly at night.