taxis in rio de janeiro are generally safe, however some basic safety measures should be taken to avoid any problems - unfortunately, there is an estimated 5% of the entire fleet of rio taxis that are illegal, for lack of better terms.

aside form the obvious safety issues of using an illegal car, usually these cars have tampered meters that overcharge by a lot.

while for a visitor, and even a resident, it is almost impossible to spot an illegal taxi a good rule of thumb is choosing to board only modern taxis, and taxis that are part of a cooperative, listing name and phone number in the back of the car, on the outside of the car clearly visible above the back tire.

in fact, the blue line painted on the outside of the taxi should show in white letters the name of a coop, in the back of the car.