Dashcam footage on Echo's website doesn't add much to photos below, but certainly shows a bit more than the video from Middlesbrough a few weeks ago
Yob hurls bottle at Liverpool HC windscreen in shocking dashcam footage
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/li ... n-14936827
The Hackney driver was left shaken - and says job now involves 'taking your life into your own hands'
A Hackney driver captured a yob throwing a bottle at their cab - in the latest evidence for what he says is an increasingly dangerous climate for drivers on our roads.
The driver claims the shocking footage, taken in Park Road, Dingle, shows only one of a daily stream of "abuse and attacks" cabbies face in the city.
In the clip, he is heading down the road when a gang of what appear to be teenagers are gathered on the pavement. As he passes, an object hits the windscreen, spreading liquid right across it.
Yobs at side of Park Lane in Dingle Image: Liverpool Echo
The orange bottle hit the centre of the windscreen Image: Liverpool Echo
The driver, who wished to remain anonymous, told the ECHO he had seen the situation on the roads become progressively worse, with similar attacks becoming more common.
He added: "I'm not being over-dramatic but you now take your life into your own hands on our roads.
"You need to sit with a taxi driver and see what we're subjected to. The job is turning into something wicked."
The cab driver decided to speak out when he captured the footage just days after installing a dashcam to help protect himself from attacks.
He said the incident could have been a lot worse and he thought the bottle was going to hit him in the face, as he had the window down.
The driver added: "I had just passed the Tesco in Park Road and just before the road bends into Aigburth Drive, there was about eight of them and one launched something at me and it hit the window.
"It really shook me up. I knew it was a Lucozade bottle and it flew at the window and ricocheted off.
"I saw them getting ready to do it so I actually braced myself. I drive a six-seater and I thought 'this is going to hit me in the face' as I was driving with my window down.
"I could have gone off [the road] and killed someone.
"In all honesty, I'm sick of it. We're having a terrible time in the city and this was the last straw."
The cabbie claims other colleagues are scared to turn on their yellow lights (know as their "top hat"), to show they are available for hire, as that is when they become most vulnerable.
He added: "Every time I've had something thrown at me, I've had my yellow light on. It's only when I have my top hat on that they're doing it.
"This is one of many things that happens. It is different this time because I've got it on video. I also think I need to put a video inside my Hackney.
"I've done this job over 12 months and I've never been able to speak with the council and authorities. I have no knowledge there's been anything to help the taxi trade.
"There should be something every month where we can go and they can tell us what they need to help"
The ECHO has approached council for a comment on efforts to support drivers.
