Taxi drivers don't like to take passengers to the Round Top Drive area where three people were shot to death Thursday night, but city law forbids them to refuse service to any specific destination.

"It's a dangerous area, because people go there to smoke marijuana and get high, and do other drugs and things," said Cuong Nguyen, an independent taxi driver and longtime friend of taxi driver Manh Nguyen, one of the victims killed on Round Top Drive. "Tourists like to go up there to see the city lights, and if they want to go, I have no choice."

Lookouts along Round Top offer panoramic views of the Honolulu skyline, Diamond Head and Manoa Valley, and the winding street is sometimes frequented by couples seeking privacy and romantic scenery. But the area also attracts rowdy groups that party late at night and leave behind beer cans, broken glass and other trash.

Cuong Nguyen said he and most other drivers don't like to drive there at night to drop off customers who live in the area because the drivers must then drive back down Tantalus Mountain alone.

Taxi drivers can refuse to pick up passengers who are "disorderly," but must take all others to the destination of their choice, by the most direct route available. The law ensures that customers and neighborhoods are not discriminated against, and that drivers do not inflate fares by taking extra-long routes.

"I believe the legislative intent might have been that the city can't have taxicab drivers picking and choosing their routes or fares because then some people or areas would be underserved while others, perhaps thought to be more lucrative, would be over-supplied," said city spokesman Bill Brennan.

But Nguyen said drivers are sometimes forced to go to dangerous locations where they fear being robbed or hassled.

"It can be very scary," said Nguyen, who has driven taxis here for 15 years. "These are the problems the drivers have to cope with."

Dale Evans, president of Charley's Taxi, said she has spent decades lobbying the City Council to change the law so that drivers could refuse service to problem areas. She said she last proposed such changes two years ago, but that council members never drafted them into a bill or voted on them.

Taking tourists up to Tantalus lookouts is a particular concern, Evans said.

"We don't want to go up there, except to residences," she said. "The drivers who work at night are pretty concerned."

Council chairman Donovan Dela Cruz said changes to the law might be warranted, but that it was important to consider the potential impact.

"I think the council would be open to working with the taxi industry to ensure public safety, but we would want to make sure we balance the needs of the entire community," Dela Cruz said.

Even without violent crime, Tantalus can be dangerous for drivers, Evans said, noting that Round Top Drive is popular for illegal street-racing and was hit with severe flooding this year.

"It's just a bad road, very (winding) and it's dangerous," she said. "The roads are very dimly lit, if there are street lights at all, and the roads are narrow, so running away or trying to get away (is difficult)," she said.

While Charley's has been actively discouraging passengers from heading to Tantalus, the lookouts are still often visited by taxis and limousines, Evans said.

"Legally, the driver is unable to refuse the customer's direction, but that doesn't mean we can't try," she said. "It just seems to be a very bad idea to take people up there."

Taxi drivers have few options once they've accepted a fare, Evans said.

"In real life, if the customer doesn't look very good, they'll just pass them by," she said. "Once they get into the car, that's another matter."

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.