Vigil held on first anniversary of private hire driver’s death

The family of a private hire driver who was fatally stabbed have held a vigil on the anniversary of his death – amid calls for improved safety.

Gabriel Bringye, 37, was stabbed to death in Jarrow Road, Tottenham Hale, in February 2021. He worked for hailand- ride technology company, Bolt.

Five people, aged between 16 and 18, were on trial over the killing as HCP went to press, with all having denied charges of murder and manslaughter.

Last month Gabriel’s fiancée Mariana Fazecas and siblings attended a vigil in Tottenham on the one-year anniversary of his death. Speaking to the BBC, Mariana said: “Gabriel was a very funny, energetic man. He was not worried about his life until that day [he died].”

Following Gabriel’s death there has been a campaign to improve safety measures for private hire drivers.

The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) and the United Private Hire

Drivers (UPHD) launched ‘Gabriel’s Campaign for Driver Safety’ demanding that Bolt and other operators implement changes aimed at protecting its drivers, and for these companies to support families of drivers who are attacked.

An online petition has been signed by nearly 400 people. It states: “Gabriel’s [death] is not an isolated incident. Four private hire drivers have been stabbed and died in the last few years in London. Thousands of drivers have been physically assaulted while on the job. Many more have experienced verbal abuse.”

The IWGB safety demands include provision of sick pay equivalent to average income for drivers who have been injured at work while they recover; giving drivers official ‘worker status’; password-protected customer ID verification via the app; partitions and CCTV being made available to drivers at subsidised rates; and the introduction of a complaints system for drivers.

The union is also demanding that ride-hailing operators recognise the IWGB and agree to regular meetings with union representatives to monitor support and safety improvements.

In a statement, an IWGB spokesperson said: “Over the last year, we know of tens of drivers who have been assaulted while on the job.

“We will not stop fighting until we get justice and until the operators make this industry a safe place to work.

“It is vital that we do not forget those such as Gabriel who have been killed or hurt doing this job we all do. And it is vital that […] we send a clear message to Bolt and all the operators that we will not allow them to get away with negligence over driver safety any longer.”

A Bolt spokesperson said the company had improved safety protection for drivers, stating: “Our in-app SOS button can be deployed by drivers immediately and connects directly to the emergency services and Bolt’s safety team.

“In the past year we have introduced new welfare checks on static vehicles and 24/7 support both in-app and on the phone.

“We have also significantly increased the size of our safety team, who focus on removing passengers with consistently poor driver feedback from our platform.”