ROSSENDALE

A man has been taken to hospital with neck injuries after a two-car collision in Rawtenstall town centre.

Police and firefighters were called to Queens Square near the fire station and library junction at around 8.10pm on Monday, April 4.

The collision involved a red Skoda taxi and a grey Mercedes and one driver was taken to hospital with neck injuries.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service said the injured driver was trapped but was able to release himself ‘with guidance’ from firefighters and the ambulance service.

Police said the other driver was not thought to be injured and was walking about at the scene.

A fire service spokesperson said: “Fire crews from Rawtenstall assisted at an incident where two cars had collided.

“The was one casualty trapped in a vehicle, although they were able to release themselves with guidance from firefighters and ambulance crews.

“Crews used lighting equipment and assisted in making the scene safe.”

http://www.rossendalefreepress.co.uk/news/man-taken-hospital-after-collision-11138401
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 NEW YORK

 An Uber passenger who took the wheel while the driver slept later crashed the car while trying to elude police.

State police say 20-year-old New York City resident Juan Carlos hired the car in Philadelphia to take him 200 miles to central New York.

Police say the driver asked Carlos to take the wheel on Saturday while he napped, and a trooper later clocked Carlos going 86 mph in a 65 mph zone on Interstate 81 near Binghamton.

When the real driver woke up and asked Carlos why he was driving so fast, Carlos told him it was because police were chasing them. 
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TOULOUSE airport and various Airbus buildings have once again been blockaded as the taxi protest in the city enters its second day. 

More than 100 taxis blocked the main access to the airport this morning, and also caused disruption at the Airbus building at Saint Martin du Touch, Colomiers and Blagnac. 

T2 tram services, and some buses that serve the airport were suspended as the protests bit, though the T1 line, all other bus lines and the metro are operating normally. 

 http://goo.gl/VXc6Yr
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 FRANCE

The government is mulling a new fund that would effectively compensate cab drivers in France for what they've shelled out on their licences. But cabbies in Toulouse continue to strike and threaten to step up their game.

Taxi driver protest to halt transport in Toulouse (04 Apr 16)
French Transport Minister Alain Vidalies met with taxi and private cab representatives on Monday and suggested plans for a new fund that would compensate taxi drivers for what they've paid for their licences.

The plan, created by think tank Terra Nova, would come at a cost of €4.5 billion - or an average of €135 per driver per month - and would be financed "by all stakeholders in the sector".

"The idea is to compensate taxi licence owners for what they have actually paid," Romain Perez, who authored the study, told The Local.

He explained that this compensation would take into account inflation, and that drivers would not be paid for the market value of licence, which is higher and reflects speculation.

Perez added that the discussion was about the volume of licences to be repaid, the actualization rate, and the future of taxis in general.
The exorbitant cab licence fees - which cost up to €240,000 - are one of the main points of frustration for taxi drivers, who are irate that firms like Uber drivers do not have to pay the fees.

Traditional taxi drivers fear they won't be able to sell off their licences when they retire, as many drivers have done before them.

The concept of a new fund hasn't gone down well, especially not in Toulouse, where cabbies have already been on strike since early on Monday morning.

http://www.thelocal.fr/20160405/france-mulls-fund-to-buy-back-taxi-licences
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  EIRE

A 23-year-old jobless man was followed by a taxi driver because he did not pay a €140 “soilage fee” after vomiting in the vehicle, a court was told Tuesday.

Circuit Court President Mr Justice Raymond Groarke said taxi driver Anthony Olajude, who had been following Fabian Wolasewicz closely with his taxi, had, perhaps entirely by accident, run over and injured his left foot.

Judge Groarke, awarding Mr Wolasewicz €18,500 damages against Mr Olajude, said there had been a very direct conflict of evidence between the two as to what had happened in September 2014, but he preferred the injured man’s evidence.
Mr Olajude, of Doire Beag, Oriel road, Collon, Co Louth, who denied driving over Mr Wolasewicz’s foot, claimed Mr Wolasewicz had been very drunk and had tried to run away when asked to pay the soilage fee. He alleged Mr Wolasewicz injured his foot when he had fallen while running.

Mr Wolasewicz told the court he had been on a night out with friends in Harcourt Street, Dublin, when they stopped Mr Olajude’s taxi to go home to Arbour Hill, Dublin. His friends had already left the taxi when he became sick.
He said he removed his shirt to try and wipe up his vomit and, following a request by Mr Olajude to pay a €140 fee, he had told him he did not have such money with him but had said if he came to his house at St Margaret’s Terrace, Arbour Hill, he would pay him.

Mr Wolasewizc told his barrister, Conor Kearney, that as he could not find enough money at his home he had told Mr Olajude he would go to his sister Wioletta’s house nearby to get it.

He said Mr Olajude was angry and had driven over his foot while following him in his taxi to Wioletta’s house.
He had been shirtless and in shock when he reached his sister’s home and had been taken by ambulance to the Mater Hospital in Dublin.

His foot had been swollen and bruised and he had suffered lacerations to his knee and elbow when he had fallen. His sister had later paid the soilage fee.

Awarding Mr Walosewizc €18,500 damages, Judge Groarke said the fact that Mr Olajude had twice called gardaí showed, in the court’s view, that he had been getting more annoyed and thought Mr Walosewizc would manage to escape.

http://goo.gl/7AGTcs
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 CARLISLE

 A ROBBER was told by a judge to expect a prison sentence after he admitted hijacking a taxi in Kendal.

James Shaw, 23, was charged with robbery following an incident in the town on December 19.

This was said to have occurred in the Rinkfield area. Police located the stolen taxi in School Knott Close, Windermere, two days later.

Shaw appeared at Carlisle Crown Court and pleaded guilty to a charge of robbing David Johnathon Buck of a Skoda Octavia.

http://goo.gl/lSZHCU