JANUARY 2009
PRIVATE HIRE AND TAXI MONTHLY
‘N’ APART FROM THAT... PENSIONER FINED FOR RACIST
MAY ATTACK ON LEEDS TAXI DRIVER
A pensioner prodded a taxi driver in the face with his walking stick in a racist row over a 10p fare increase. Peter Reeder, 74, unleashed a tirade of racist abuse on the driv- er during a row over the fare. The former railway signalman admitted using racist language and shouted, “You peo- ple are ripping me off”. The great-grandfather then poked his walking stick through the win- dow, hitting the driver in the eye.
On his arrest, Reeder
told police: “You are only arresting me because I’m white.” According to the York- shire Evening Post, Leeds Magistrates Court heard how Reed- er admitted the offence but said he believed the window was shut. Reeder, of Cow Close Road, Lower Wortley, apologised and said he never meant to injure the driver.
It was January 8 when Reeder took the cab home. The driver asked him which one of two routes he would like to
AUGUST
TAXI DRIVER RECOUNTS ‘FLOATING STEEL BALLS’
Taxi driver, Andrew Pyrka had a spooky close encounter when he spotted two uniden- tified flying objects which looked like steel balls.
He was driving through Upper Coberley, near Cheltenham at 1am when he saw them. The 44 year old from Cam- berwell Road, Fiddler’s Green told the
Gloucestershire Echo: “They were moving in a parallel formation on my left hand side. I pulled over and stopped and they stopped as well. I put my lights on full beam and they changed for- mation so one was above the other.” He said the eerie objects, which were 50ft to 60ft away from
the road, made no sound and didn’t emit any light. He could only see them because of a full moon.
Mr Pyrka said: “It was quite frightening, the hair was standing up on the back of my neck. They could be some sort of extra-terrestrial object. They were there one minute and gone the next.”
take, which prompted the outburst.
The court heard that Reeder said: “You ille- gal people, you don't know where you are going.”
On arrival, a row broke out as the fare was 10p higher than usual which resulted in the taxi driv- er being attacked. Reeder was ordered to pay a £100 fine and £100 in compensation to his victim.
He also had to pay £60 costs and a victim sur- charge of £15, making a total of £275.
JUNE DOGS TRUST HOPES
THAT FOUR WHEELS WILL HELP THE FOUR LEGGED
The traditional London black cab is set to get a makeover as Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity launch their own fleet of branded yellow taxis.
Dogs Trust cares for 16,000 dogs a year in their network of 17 rehoming centres across the UK.
It is hoped that the taxis will raise awareness of Dogs Trust, who never put a healthy dog down. Chief executive Clarissa Baldwin com- ments: “We’re enormously excited about these taxis. Our work of rescuing and rehoming is only made possible by the support of the public so spread- ing the word is incredibly important to us. We hope these taxis will brighten up the streets of London, just as rescue dogs bright- en up the lives of their new owners!” And Dogs Trust are urging any taxi drivers and their families who are thinking of getting a dog, to consider
JUNE
EDINBURGH CITY CABBIES SING WHEN THEY’RE WHINGEING ABOUT TRAFFIC CHAOS
Taxi drivers have a reputa- tion for grumbling about roadworks, traffic and other motorists.
But now a group of city cabbies have recorded a musical rant about the problems of getting around Edinburgh. Cab driver Roy Reynolds, from Leith Links, persuad- ed four of his colleagues from Central Taxis to air their frustration at road closures and diversions in the Scottish Capital by recording a song - entitled Hacked-Off Taxi Drivers. The Central Band hopes to have the track played on local radio stations and raise money for the annu- al outing for disabled children next month. To create the song, Mr Reynolds wrote new lyrics to the tune of Jeff Beck's 1967 hit Hi Ho Silver Lin- ing, and was joined on the
News: "I used to do a lot of singing, and I just came up with this song. I asked a few friends to help me record it. They were very keen and thought it would be a laugh.
"A lot of passengers do complain, so this is my way of cheering them up. "I've tried putting it on in the cab, especially if we get stuck waiting because of roadworks. They all think it's brilliant.
recording by fellow cab- bies John Duff, George Kilpatrick, Diane Ross and Rab Padget.
Photograph courtesy of the Edinburgh Evening News. the trams."
The song includes the lines: "They're every- where, they're everywhere baby, stuck in a traffic jam. The roadworks are killing the city, all for the sake of
In the chorus they sing: "Coz we're hacked-off taxi drivers, going round the bend." They hoped to start sell- ing the CD last month, although they were await- ing permission from the copyright owners of the
original song.
Mr Reynolds said it had already proved a hit with passengers, cheering them up when they were stuck in traffic jams. The 46-year-old, who has worked full time as a taxi driver for four years, told the Edinburgh Evening
"The song is meant to be tongue-in-cheek. We don't mind too much about all the tram work, as we've got used to it.
"There's always some- thing going on and I actually think the council haven't done too bad with all the roadworks.
"I feel sorry for the cus- tomers. Every fare is going up by about £2, as there are so many diversions,
and fuel costs are going up too.
"I thought if we could get a couple of hundred pounds for the kiddies' outing then that would be great."
The five recorded the sin- gle at Kean Audio, a studio in Leith. Central Taxis has offered to produce the disc for free.
They hope to sell the recording for £3 each, and to have it played on local radio stations. All pro- ceeds will go to the charity.
Each June, dozens of Edinburgh cabbies deco- rate their taxis and take children with disabilities for a day out at the beach. Luke McCullough, Radio Forth programme director, said: “We’ll definitely con- sider giving it a spin and we’re always very keen to support local bands.”
111
rehoming one from Dogs Trust.
The charity promotes responsible dog own- ership and a great amount of considera- tion should be taken into the lifelong com- mitment and expenditure of taking on a dog.
What’s more, Dogs Trust works with you to choose the dog that’s just right for you, lead- ing to waggy tails all
round for pooches and pet owners alike. Dogs Trust has thou- sands of dogs of all shapes and sizes just waiting to meet their new two legged best friend. Will you make dogs’ dreams come true?
If you would like to know more about the work of Dogs Trust, then you can get ‘The Knowledge’ at
www.dogstrust.org.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136
