20mph limit 'sparked attack on taxi driver'A taxi driver was subjected to a late-night attack after being accused of “going too slow” to Addenbrooke’s.
A man was arrested on suspicion of actual bodily harm after the attack, at about 2.45am on Sunday in East Road, Cambridge.
Police were called to reports of a dispute in the taxi after the driver was allegedly punched on the nose.
It is believed the passenger accused him of going slow on the way to the hospital.
The city’s 20mph speed limit has been blamed for a raft of complaints by angry passengers asking taxi drivers to speed up in the slow zones.
Taxi driver Adrian Maltby said: “I get a lot of passengers now moaning that I am not going fast enough.
“I tell them it’s a 20mph zone and I am not going to break the speed limit.
“East Road, where the attack happened, is 30mph but if you come from most places in Cambridge you have to slow to 20mph now.”
And taxi drivers claim police are slow to respond to calls from them.
Mr Maltby said: “In the 28 years I have been a taxi driver I have had a knife pulled out on me twice and my taxi was shot at once.
“That was near the Science Park about six years ago and the police arrived about 40 minutes late.
“Most taxi drivers in Cambridge say if they need to call the police don’t tell them you are a taxi.”
A 46-year-old has been bailed to return to Parkside police station on March 26.
A Cambridgeshire police spokeswoman said: “We are investigating reports of an assault in East Road before 3am on Sunday and we take all reports of crime seriously.
“A 46-year-old was arrested on suspicion of ABH and has been bailed.”
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