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Moment cabbie feared for his life
Date published: 30 December 2013
A TERRIFIED taxi driver feared for his life after three men stoned his car after refusing to pay a £2 fare.
Five cabbies from Premier Cars in Shaw Road went on strike on Christmas Eve in support of their diabetic colleague Raja Mehmood, who was driven off the road at the busiest time of the year by damage including a smashed windscreen, three other broken windows and large dents to the bodywork.
Company boss Taheed Sadiq is to talk to police to highlight the dangers facing drivers.
Father-of-two Mr Mehmood (30) of Balfour Street, Clarksfield, had picked up three men aged 19-21 at the Grouse Inn, Lees Road. When he dropped them at Spring Street they didn’t pay — and hurled stones at the private-hire car when he asked for the fare.
He said: “I thought I was going to die. It was very scary. There was no argument before — nothing, but when I asked them for the money they got angry. I was trapped in a narrow street and couldn’t get away.”
Customers at the Carrion Crow pub in Huddersfield Road helped Mr Mehmood, but the cabbie now faces an uncertain future: “I don’t know what I am going to do. I have no money to buy a car or to fix it,” he admitted.
Mr Sadiq said police had failed to act on similar incidents: “It is not just us. It has happened to Delta Cars and Radio Cars. The same thing happened a few weeks ago in Limeside. We report it to the police and they do nothing.”
Comments
Surely his insurance will cover the cost of the repairs? Then once (if) these hooligans are caught he can recover any costs from them through the courts?
I fear for my life driving round Oldham with the state of some taxi drivers! Last Friday night I was nearly run off the road at Ashton Rd / King St Roundabout by an idiot that thought he owned the road. He even had the audacity to have a go at me afterwards!
Lees is ridiculous on a weekend night because of them.
I know not all drivers are bad but there are a lot of them out there. I'm tempted to get a dashcam so I can start reporting them to the authorities.
Before this cabbie starts police-bashing, let's ask what actual evidence he has presented to them. They will being doing what they can, but often, there are no leads, so nothing will happen.
I just hope the police do their job right and go into this story--in fact I hope the people who issue the licences out to these taxi drivers are wondering why this person cant afford to fix his car considering he should be insured.
My dad got attacked by 3 men 13 years ago when he was doing taxis around Christmas time,he was stabbed in shoulder,knee & his hand was sliced in half by a machete & up until today nobody has been charged even do their was evidence ,CCTV & witness's that came forward.the police will never do their job right.
Reading the full article in the chronicle i find it strange that this was his business yet he only had third party insurance.
Have Your Say
"We report it to the police and they do nothing.”
I think most of us could say that's happened when incidents are reported.
By Flake @ 30/12/2013 13:26:54