A partition is only good to prevent a yoking or a blunt weapon attack. The back of your seat isn't bullet proof. OR do your partitions go all the way to the floor now?
I remember one time I checked out the back seat just for that reason and it did have a solid plastic backing, but who knows if it stops bullets. Either way if they want to kill a driver it wouldn`t be that hard.
There was a cabbie last March who picked a guy up in Brooklyn and for some reason the guy plunged a knife into the cabbies back and took off. The driver lived but it just goes to show the real danger is your back is always turned and the passenger is literally 3 feet away.
Here is the article...
http://gothamgazette.com/community/39/news/1405
Oh yes, and get this: Being that it is New York, liberal Capital of the east coast, home of Michael Moore and the Hillary cultists who feel GW is a bigger threat to the country than the psychos who took it upon themselves to fly two jet planes into their city, there is a law that says cab drivers cannot under any circumstances carry any kind of a weapon.
Of course that means no gun or knives, but get this; Not even a tire iron, a bat, a club, brass knuckles (they actually mention brass knuckles) a butter knife, NOTHING that even resembles a weapon or your license gets immediately revoked!
Isn`t that just lovely? God forbid the guy who decides to stick a knife in you back gets scratched with a butter knife.