These days we read about many crimes committed by auto/taxi drivers especially against women and predominantly during nights. Of course men were also attacked by these criminals and there were cases when the driver along with friends forced the passenger to withdraw the money from ATM and give it to them!
I have a very simple and effective solution to avoid these crimes and also to help catch these criminals fast in the event of a crime being committed.
Every time you get into an auto/taxi alone (doesn't matter whether you are male or female) irrespective of the time of the day please make it a habit to SMS the registration number of the vehicle immediately to your folks at home. In case of inordinate delay of you reaching your destination your people can immediately pass on the registration number of the vehicle to the police which will definitely help them trace the same fast. This would also help in cases of the vehicle being involved in accidents too!
Actually they say prevention is better than cure. Ideally the traffic police of all cities/major towns should advertise extensively informing the public to practice this. They should also make it mandatory that the auto/taxi should display a board inside the vehicle (at the back of the front seat) the registration number of the vehicle, the driver's name and any other emergency number the public should call.
The very fact that the passenger might have SMSed his vehicle registration number to his people will prevent many criminals (in the making) from committing the crime. And in the unfortunate event of a crime it would help police to nab them immediately.
Please spread this among your friends if you think this will help them.