Taxi Driver Online

Taxi driver out of work after finding car windows smashed

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/214991 ... s-smashed/


Image: Dave Cogdon/Daily Echo

A TAXI driver has described the shock of finding his car’s windows smashed to pieces.

Dave Cogdon, 58, was going to pick up a child for the school run when he found his car's eight windows had been smashed.

The retired police officer said: "I walked to the car to go out to my school run and from the distance, I noticed every glass window of the car had been smashed and my chin hit the ground.

"My first thought was of the autistic boy who I have been driving to school and who had just got used to me, this is going to affect him as well."

Dave had parked his silver Vauxhall Astra in a lay-by near his home in Tanners Lane, Shootash on Saturday.

When he returned just after 7am on Monday, he found it had been vandalised.

He said: "To me, it’s just unnecessary stupid damage, someone who wanted to amuse themselves doing it. It’s a secluded area and there was no reason for this to happen.

"I have no idea as to why someone would want to do that."

After taking a break during the pandemic, Dave had his first day driving the taxi again last Tuesday.

However, the incident has made him feel unsafe and has now decided to quit driving again.

He said: "I just had everything authorised for my driving, I spent about £240 for the renewal of my license and for the medical exam, and that has been a complete waste of money now.

"It filled a big gap in my life, and it gave me a routine, and now it’s gone because I don’t have the confidence to leave the car parked there."

Roger Vivian, 67, owner Viking Cars, said: "[Dave] was back only for a couple of days, so he paid for everything to be renewed, he’s had all of those expenses and now he’s not going to get paid for it."

Mr Vivian was told by the insurance company the cost of repairing the damage was not economical and the car was written off.

He expects it will cost £5,500 to replace.

Looks like this is the lay-by here:

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.9972552 ... 384!8i8192

There are a few houses nearby, but it's otherwise very rural and hardly any traffic even when the Google cars was taking the photos, never mind late at night, or whenever.

So not really clear why he parked it there, but it would certainly worry me if I'd left it in that location.

But I'd guess it was a random attack rather than the driver specifically targetted, although the fact that it was a 'taxi' very possibly meant the vehicle was specifically targetted in that regard

How much would it cost to replace the glass? How old is the vehicle for it to be not economically viable to replace the glass?

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Grandad,

It's on an Eastleigh plate, and licensed to the owner of Viking Cars, Mr Vivian. Which is presumably why he rather than the driver said to the newspaper that the insurers told him the car had been written off.

It's a 12-plate, thus over 10-years-old now

And at its last MoT it had 206,000 miles on the clock

So I suppose the write-off is a no-brainer. I mean, with the tailgate glass, the windscreen and half-a-dozen other windows needing replaced, that would cost a couple of grand minimum?

More to this than meets the eye.

Much more IMO.

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IDFIMH

easy target for a competitor or *isse^ off neighbour taking revenge ?

It would seem odd that a passing vandal would go to the trouble of smashing every window

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Retired police officer as well. Someone with a grudge has found out what his new job is.

Spent a wee while trying to find the motor on the council's licensing register, and then using its registration number to search the MoT database to confirm its age and find out its mileage.

But if I'd seen this photo illustrating the article in another publication (Hampshire Chronicle) then that would have at least saved a few minutes



There's also this high-res version of one of the earlier photos. On which even the words 'BOROUGH COUNCIL' are readable on the door sticker, if you blow it up

https://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/re ... 2015337240