Vic cabs 'safe' despite charged drivers

Victorian cabs are safe despite more than 1300 cabbies being charged with criminal offences in the past three years, Premier Denis Napthine says.

Almost 10 per cent of all Victorian cabbies have been charged with offences, some of which include rape, murder and culpable driving causing death since June 2011, the Herald Sun reports.

Dr Napthine said the statistics show that Victorian government efforts to weed out criminals from the taxi industry are working.

"I believe people can feel very safe in the taxi system because under the coalition government it has significantly improved," he said on Thursday.

"The figures that we have seen this morning reflect the past.

"They reflect the improvements that we are making to make sure that every taxi driver every week is subject to an assessment under the (Victoria Police) LEAP (criminal record) database and make sure that people driving our taxis are appropriately skilled and qualified and appropriately safe."