GOSPORT

Shocking footage of a boy hanging out of the rear window of a moving car has sparked an outcry – as police have said no action will be taken.

Driving instructor Mike Light, 47, was teaching a student in Heritage Way, Gosport, when the rear-facing dashcam captured the video.

When the car drew closer and he stopped at traffic lights he turned around and saw that it was a young boy hanging out of the window.

Hampshire police’s Collision Assessment Team said no offence was committed and no action was taken.

Brake – the road safety charity – said the boy should have been wearing a seat belt.

Mr Light, who has nine years of experience teaching drivers, said: ‘It was surprising but what’s more disgusting is the response from Hampshire police.

‘I didn’t expect anything else to be honest. He was hanging out the window, he could quite easily have fallen out.

‘I’m a driving instructor and trying to promote road safety, I’m passionate about it.’

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 NEWCASTLE

Police are appealing for help after reports that a woman was put into a taxi against her will in Newcastle city centre.

A member of the public saw the woman on Saint Nicholas Street outside of Tup Tup bar at 1.20am this morning being put into the taxi by two men. She appeared not to know the men and did not want to get into the black cab.

The woman had previously been on the floor outside of the Tup Tup bar when the two men helped her up and got into a taxi with her and possibly another woman.

The two men are described as both being black, aged mid 20’s, 5ft 9" tall, muscular build and with short black hair. One was wearing a red long sleeved top, possibly a jumper. The second man was wearing a white long sleeved shirt/top.

The woman is described as white, aged 18 – 21 years, 5ft 8" tall, slim build, long blonde hair which was worn down past her shoulders, and was wearing a white or gold coloured sparkley dress.

Enquiries are ongoing into the incident including checking CCTV and making enquiries with local taxi firms.

Officers want to speak to the people involved in the incident, or anyone who was in the area this morning and who might have seen something.

Chief Inspector Ron Charlton said:

    Witnesses have told us that they think they saw the woman being forced into the taxi and that she may have not known who these two men were, this is very concerning and we want to find this woman and make sure she is ok.

        This could potentially be a misunderstanding but it's important we find those involved and make sure everything is ok. I'd urge this woman, the two men, or anyone who might know who this is to contact us as soon as possible."

– Chief Inspector Ron Charlton

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 STOKE

 THE driver and a passenger in a stolen Mercedes fled the scene after smashing into a taxi leaving the cabbie hurt.

The pair also abandoned a second passenger after the late-night crash in North Road, Cobridge.

Police and ambulance crews were called at 4.20am yesterday to the scene of the collision, which flipped the Mercedes onto its roof.

The road was closed for several hours while the vehicles were recovered.

Paramedics took a 22-year-old man who was travelling in the Mercedes to the Royal Stoke University Hospital where he is understood to have undergone an operation after suffering a collapsed lung and injuries to his head and arm.

The taxi driver was also taken to the same hospital suffering with neck and back pain, but he has since been allowed home.

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 DORSET


 A Heroic taxi driver and his passenger pulled a young woman from her burning car moments before it turned into a “fireball” on Saturday.

Dorset Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that it received reports of the blaze on Dorset Way, Poole, at 3.30am and that two passers-by had freed the vehicle’s driver prior to their arrival.

One of those passers-by was 32-year-old Darrel Priestley who was travelling back to his Broadstone home after an evening out with his fiancée, Jayne Weeks, when they saw a smoking car on the side of the carriageway.

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 NEW YORK

  A taxi medallion owner has been caught taking drivers for a ride.

Andrew Rosenberg, a medallion owner and manager of 142 medallions, will have to pay $750,000 to more than a thousand burned drivers for skimming from fares paid by credit card and overcharging them on cab leasing fees, according to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

The credit card rounding to even numbers — stiffing drivers an average of .73 cents per payout — was a bonanza for Rosenberg, allowing his company, Style Management Corp., to take about $159,000 between October 2010 and April 2014.

Meanwhile, drivers were paying too much to lease cabs through Rosenberg’s Style Management. Some drivers who leased a cab for daily 12-hour periods paid $6.23 a shift above the capped rate. When taxi rules changed in 2012 to further limit these lease fees on drivers, hacks were overcharged up to $140 a week on top of the limit.

"Taxi drivers work hard every day to keep New York moving and their earnings should not be squeezed by taxi companies which own or manage medallions," Schneiderman said in a statement.

Under a deal with the attorney general's office, Rosenberg agreed to stop rounding payments and keep lease fees to drivers within the cap. Rosenberg will also have to show the attorney general’s office it’s in compliance with taxi rules for the next two years.

City Taxi and Limousine Commissioner Meera Joshi, whose agency referred the case to the attorney general, said the enforcement effort sends a "powerful message of support to TLC drivers and an equally strong warning to those who would contemplate depriving them of their hard-earned pay.”

Rosenberg, of Armonk in Westchester County, did not return request for comment left at his business and could not be reached at other numbers.

http://goo.gl/ZaztYg
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