After two drug-addled men fled without paying their fare on Monday, the 55-year-old went to clean their mess when she felt a sharp sting. 

She must now wait six months to learn if she has contracted hepatitis or AIDS.

The young grandmother has spoken of her “terror”.

Police have revealed they are downloading camera footage from the vehicle in order to identify the passengers responsible. 

The Wagga cabbie, who did not want to be identified because she has not yet told her family, said she was scratched and pierced by the used syringe. 

She begun her shift about 9am and shortly before 11am picked up two passengers who she claims were drug-affected.

“I knew something wasn’t right so I just wanted them out as soon as I could,” she said.

“They eventually ran off without paying.”

It wasn’t until the 55-year-old tended to her next fare that the tension escalated.

“I got a job to pick up two fellows on Gurwood Street and it was actually a customer in the back seat who found the first needle,” she said.

“I almost had a fit and pulled over immediately to clean out the car.”

“As I did, one needle behind the seat scratched me across the hand and one beside the seat pricked me in the thumb.”

After several visits to her doctor and Wagga hospital, she was told the risk of contracting hepatitis B and C is “very real”. 

“I’m going to have to live with fear and horror until I get diagnosed,” she said.

“I was just trying to do my job and now my life is in jeopardy.

“Wagga is just becoming awful.”

Despite her harrowing experience, the 55-year-old was relieved that the needles were discovered early. 

“Imagine if a little kid had climbed into the car,” she said,

“It would have been absolutely horrible.”

She also claimed the city’s taxi drivers are abused, insulted and fled from without payment on a daily basis.

“It’s an issue that really needs to come to light,” she said.

Her colleague, David Southgate, echoed her calls for a change in behaviour and said he was tired of being spoken to like a “second-class citizen”. 

“We don’t need to be talked to like we’re dirt, we’re only only trying to provide a service,” he said.

“We’re putting these customers before our families a lot of the time by working through Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve. 

“Yes it’s our job and we’re getting paid to do it, but there’s just no reason to behave this way.”

In 2014, an eight-year-old boy was pricked by a used needle walking along Baylis Street, prompting a city-wide warning for pedestrians to exercise caution. 

Syringes were also last week found dumped in an Ashmont playground. 

If you find a needle or syringe on public place, please call Wagga City Council or the Needle Clean-up Hotline on 1800 633 353 to have the items safely removed.