WORLDWIDE from Ireland
IRISH TAXI DRIVERS ‘MISSING OUT ON THOUSANDS IN INSURANCE SAVINGS’
Taxi drivers are miss- ing out on insurance savings worth thou- sands of euros during the Covid-19 crisis due to the require- ments of the National Transport Authority (NTA), according to the largest taxi union. The Irish Examiner reports that Jim Waldron, spokesman for the National Private Hire Taxi Association (NPHTA), said that the NTA’s requirement that any driver switching from a professional policy to one for domestic and social use must give up their tamper-proof discs, is discouraging the union’s members from securing necessary savings. Every licenced taxi driver in Ireland is legally required to maintain two tamper-proof discs on their vehicle. Mr Waldron said that drivers are declining to lower their insurance costs for fear that the NTA would not be in a position to reissue and quickly affix discs so they can work again when the crisis ends. Typically professional insurance policy premiums for taxi drivers in Ireland average c. €2,500, depending on the driver’s safety record. They can rise as high as €10,000 per annum in certain cases. “Taxi drivers don’t have the faith in the NTA to replace the discs quickly when they are able to work. They’re afraid to seek a reduc- tion in their insurance because of this,” Mr Waldron said. A spokesperson for the NTA said that the disc requirement is nec- essary so that drivers “don’t operate as a taxi without the appropriate insurance cover”. Meanwhile, Mr Waldron also called on all taxi drivers to break the electronic link on their vehicle to the NTA’s driver check app in order to verify that they have been off the road when the issue of possible post-crisis compensation is raised. At present, off-the-road drivers using their car for private reasons are listed as still at work. Mr Waldron said that according to the app 78 per cent of drivers are still at work, a figure far removed from the reality.
The incredulous cabbie, working for Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi, filmed the gobsmacking incident. It happened in the city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province in south-western China, on May 15 after the victim's ex Mr Xian, 21, tried to transport her to his own residence. According to a police report, Mr Xian barged into Ms Liu's flat on May 12 and demanded money from her. Three days later, he forced her into the suitcase and hailed the taxi, but the driver was fortunately able to rescue her before she could be moved. In the footage, the terrified young woman can be seen covering her face as she sits in the open suitcase. “I’m on Jingu 3rd Road. I picked up a passenger heading to Xihe [town],” the driver can be heard saying. “He hid a woman in his suit- case! I heard a woman screaming, so I told him to open the suitcase. “After he opened the suitcase, the woman said: ‘Mister, call the police!’ While calling the cops, the man made a run for it. I chased him for two streets but didn’t catch him.” Chengdu police said they found Mr Xian later the same day. While it is unclear whether Ms Liu had been harmed during the inci- dent, the authorities said her ex-boyfriend remains in custody and the investigation is ongoing. In June 2016 a naked woman was found inside a suitcase in a park in China’s Hunan Province. She had been raped and shoved in the bag by a man who was seen carrying it through the park before the woman’s screams caught the attention of passersby who rescued her. The man dived into a nearby lake to escape but was later caught and arrested.
The young woman was allegedly kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend
from India from China
CHINESE DRIVER RESCUES WOMAN FROM SUITCASE AFTER HEARING SCREAMS
A young woman who was kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend and stuffed into a suitcase has been rescued by a taxi driver who heard her screaming from the luggage full of clothes. The Daily Star reports that incredible footage shows the woman, known only by her surname Liu, 25, sitting in the open suitcase in the back of the taxi after being discovered.
102
ANTI-CORONA FIBREGLASS PARTITION IS A BOON FOR INDIAN TAXI DRIVERS
Tough times often lead to creative innovations and Indians are par- ticularly renowned in this department. The ongoing pandemic has proven a major threat to mankind with numbers of Covid-19 posi- tive cases piling up every day. Government issued a lockdown to curb down the spread but recently made some necessary alter- ations in the rules and restrictions being implemented. While at first, they banned the operation of cab services, now they have given a green flag to the taxi operators to resume their services in areas that are included in Green and Orange zones. Taxi drivers belong to the most vulnerable part of the system and are more exposed to contracting Covid-19 across the globe. Amidst these tough times, Ernakulam district administration has evolved a rather unique way to ensure the safety of drivers. They have launched a fibreglass partition to ensure that taxi drivers do not come into
JUNE 2020
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