Taxi Driver Online

Video on website - you really need to view it to understand whole context of the exchange.

Been trying to work out how the video got into the public domain, but not sure - presumably driver thought he would share it with some close friends, but clearly these things can get shared around a bit too much, and obviously one of the recipients hasn't liked what they saw


Cops hunt black cab driver who ‘knocked out passenger by deliberately slamming brakes during row over fare’

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9718126/b ... passenger/


Cops today released a new CCTV image of the taxi driver (Image: Metropolitan Police/The Sun)

COPS are today hunting a cab driver who allegedly knocked out a passenger by slamming on his brakes after the pair argued over a fare.

Shocking security footage shows the passenger's head smash into the partition screen following the foul-mouthed row in London Bridge.

The passenger was knocked unconscious and was dragged from the footwell before being dumped on the pavement.

Shamelessly, seconds later the driver accepted a new fare and drove off - leaving the passenger on his hands and knees on the ground.

Detectives have today released a new image of the driver after they were unable to trace him despite footage from inside the cab leaking online.

FURIOUS ROW

They are still trying to trace him three months after the incident on May 17.

Footage showed the pair rowing over the correct way to their destination - believed to be Sevenoaks, Kent - from central London.

The video shows the taxi passenger, who is not wearing a seatbelt, arguing with the taxi driver saying: "F***ing hell, I’m a southerner yeah."

This enrages the taxi driver who shouts back: "Mate listen, shut your f***ing mouth, I’ve done it for a set price!"


The driver then suddenly brakes and the passenger is thrown forward (Image: Metropolitan Police/The Sun)

After slamming the passenger's head against the partition, the driver is heard saying: “F****** idiot.”

Another man then approaches the taxi and says to the driver: “I need to go to Euston.”

The taxi driver replies: "Yeah alright mate."

A Scotland Yard spokesman said today: "The incident, which took place on Friday, May 17 at 1.15am on London Bridge, involved a dispute between a taxi driver and the passenger in the back of a Mercedes Vito Hackney Carriage.

INJURED PASSENGER

"CCTV footage of the incident appears to show the driver braking excessively, causing injuries to the passenger.

"The taxi came to a stop on King William Street, EC4 where the driver exited his cab and walked around to the nearside rear passenger door and dragged the passenger out.

"The driver got back into his cab and was then approached by another man who asked to be taken to Euston.

"Police would like help from the public to identify the man shown in the CCTV still."

PC Phil Hastings, who is investigating, said: “Although I have now made contact with the injured passenger, we still need to hear from anyone who witnessed the incident.

"I would also urge the driver and the second passenger, who approached the taxi after the assault, to come forward and speak with us."


Security footage inside the car appears to show the man nodding off before the row (Image: Metropolitan Police/The Sun)

Wouldn't say the video provides conclusive evidence that driver braked deliberately. He certainly slowed down, but didn't grind to a halt exactly, but I wouldn't say for certain that he did it on purpose.

Driver certainly seemed to lose the plot a bit though in terms of verbals and aggression, so that certainly won't help his case.



And that aspect to the thing certainly won't help him either - could have been leaving him for dead, by the looks of it.

But that bit is a carbon copy of the London HCD who was filmed dragging the drunk from his cab and leaving him on the pavement - wonder if they ever found him?

Looking at the video again, perhaps the driver *did* brake quite sharply momentarily but then maintained his speed. Looking at the car behind the HC, you can see it lurch noticeably when the passenger falls forward, suggesting a reasonable and sudden braking force.

On the other hand, the driver didn't seem to be going very fast in the first place, and his speed didn't seem to drop too much, and the way the passenger fell forward just doesn't seem to tally with the vehicle's movements, somehow.

Of course, videos can't convey the full picture of the driving and braking force etc, so who knows?

And at the end of the day it's not the force of the braking or how the passenger came to grief, precisely, but whether or not the driver's actions were *deliberate*, so who knows?

I was sent this via whats-app at least two months ago, so I'm guessing the driver shared it with his mates trying to be Billy big bollocks.

Not sure swearing at punters ever got anyone into a better situation. Best bet was for the driver to pull over and tell the punter get another cab, as this one was not going any further with him in.

Punter was a knob, if it was a fixed fare, the driver is never going to go the long way round. However I suspect punter had too much to drink so wasn't that rationale.

No way the driver will get away without some action being taken against him.

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IDFIMH

Indeed, but some people will argue just for the sake of it, even though they know they're in the wrong

Strictly speaking, though, the driver may well have taken a slightly longer route than normal if it was a fixed fare.

Recall one to Dundee a few years ago, group of lads, one got lairy and accused me of taking the long way round. In fact I possibly did, because the slightly longer route was the quickest and easier drive, but we'd agreed the fare in advance, so he seemed to be just arguing for the sake of it.

And it was a £50 run, or something like that, so 20/40p difference on the meter isn't really a good *rationale* for a ruck.

(Note proper use of 'rationale' there )

Always wear your seat belt, you never know what can run out into the middle of the road. What a screamer that punter was, reminds me of when I was driving a bus, one punter walked up to me and said, "I've got a knife and I can make your face look like a road map." I applied the brakes, his head made a bullseye hole in the windscreen, he didn't use the knife.

There's an argument to make from the punter's point of view that you priced the fixed fare accounting for the fact that you were going to go the long way. I occasionally get grief for quoting a price to Liverpool and then going via the A41 rather than M53.

I had an incident a couple of years ago when I had to brake sharply due to a car cutting across my path, I only had one passenger on board and he flew forward and banged his head against the top seatbelt bracket on the pull down seats. He had a nasty cut and I had to take him to A&E. Luckily, he never made a claim against me, I took him into the reception at A&E but didn’t leave him my details (I suppose he could have traced me through cctv if he or an ambulance chaser wanted to though!)
I gave up telling passengers to put their belts on years ago while driving a HC. If they have children with them I tell them to ‘belt up’ and wait until they have before driving away.
I have spoken to an insurance specialist since this happened and the legal position is I would be liable for the compensation if I couldn’t prove the other driver was at fault and then the claim would have to be made against them. The passenger would have lost 25% of their claim under ‘contributory negligence’.

_________________
IDFIMH

Did wonder if the driver in the video had braked to avoid something - that would certainly be his most obvious excuse, whether or not it was true...

Looking at the video it did look like they'd driven into some kind of single coned lane, so there might have been some kind of hump on the road for cables or whatever, or other obstacle, which might have caused him to brake pretty sharply.

On the other hand, looking at the following car out of the rear screen doesn't suggest anything like that (it doesn't look as if it's braked or gone over a bump, or anything like that, so who knows.

Of course, it doesn't help to avoid such obstacles if there's an argumentative passenger in the car, so if that distraction had ultimately caused the driver to brake sharply then it's arguable the customer brought it on himself.

They should lose all right to a claim if they don't put on the belts you have provided in your vehicle...the Laws the Law.