A woman returning from her father’s 80th birthday celebrations fell on her bottom as she was leaving the mini-bus taxi outside her home and yesterday she was awarded €9,000 compensation.
Janice O’Leary stood up once the Toyota Hiace taxi stopped outside her home at East Avenue, Laurel Brook, Lehnaghmore, Togher, Cork, and she testified yesterday that it moved again as she was leaving causing her to fall.
Edwin Long, the driver of the mini-bus for K-Cabs of Barrack Street, Cork, denied that the fall occurred.
Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said at Cork Circuit Court, “On the balance of probabilities the van moved and caused the fall. Her account is more consistent. She suffered a nasty injury (fracture to her coccyx). She could have taken more care for her own safety by holding on.” The judge assessed damages at €12,000 minus a quarter for contributory negligence.
The plaintiff’s barrister, Eoin Clifford, put it to Mr Long that he was annoyed at having to wait for an hour in Macroom before everyone was on board and ready to travel back to the city. Mr Long said, “I was upset a tiny bit but what can you do?”
Mr Clifford said Mr Long drove at speed from Macroom to Cork. Mr Long said he did not and the journey took one hour when it would normally take half an hour.
Mr Long said that Ms O’Leary did not fall at all. “She said something to me. I said, ‘You’re a disgrace, girl’. She was locked.”
Ms O’Leary said she was not drunk and had not drank that much as she was helping out in the kitchen at the party. She said she had three or four bottles of Coors Light that night and that the fall occurred at 3.30am that morning, February 16, 2013.
“When I went to move, he moved the bus and I fell to my bottom. I got very upset. I asked him why he moved the bus,” Ms O’Leary said.
Her sister corroborated evidence that the plaintiff was not drunk. Her husband, who was minding the children at home, said his wife was very upset and she rang K-Cabs and rang the gardaí when she got home.
When the judge was told that the gardaí were called on the night in relation to the disputed fall in the Hiace, he asked, “Did the armed response unit come out?”
http://goo.gl/IbdcVj
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The Government’s decision to amend the Police and Crime Bill to regulate taxis better is welcome news to Barnardo’s. The new clause would place local authorities under a duty to consider how they can prevent child sexual exploitation when they issue licences for taxis and private hire vehicles.
This new measure is needed urgently. The nature of the driver’s role – including having reason to drive at night and to carry children and young people as passengers – can create conditions which make child sexual exploitation more likely.
Of course we know that the vast majority of taxi drivers are law-abiding, but taxis and private hire vehicles have consistently been linked to cases of child sexual exploitation.
http://goo.gl/OIoQe8
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Walmart is piloting a last-mile delivery system in the US using app-controlled taxi services such as Uber, Lyft and Deliv.
The company said it had started tests of grocery delivery through Uber in Phoenix and Lyft in Denver.
A pilot of Sam’s Club – a Walmart-owned membership-only retail club – started in March, with Deliv transporting general merchandise and groceries for business members in Miami.
Walmart said the process started with a customer placing their grocery order online and selecting a delivery window.
Once personal shoppers had selected the required items, they could request a driver from one of the taxi services to come to the store, pick up the order and take it directly to the customer’s location.
Customers pay a $7 to $10 delivery charge online, and make no payment to the driver.
Analysts have greeted the move positively, saying it would help Walmart reach more consumers without having to spend heavily on developing a last-mile delivery service.
Data analyst 1010data said the partnership had the potential for success as its studies had shown a large percentage of retail shoppers also used Uber or Lyft, particularly in the cities where Walmart is piloting the scheme.
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FORFAR
A man fell from a moving taxi as he assaulted a driver in Angus.
Jamie Stewart, 27, of Hillhead Terrace, Kirriemuir, got in to Bruce McRitchie's cab on the A926 in the Angus town with two friends and asked to be taken to Forfar.
During the journey the trio first sat drinking beer and chatting but began whispering, prompting Mr McRitchie, 45, to pull over and ask them to pay up.
Stewart told the driver he would get "nothing" and he would "batter him" so, feeling threatened, Mr McRitchie told them he would take them in to Forfar.
As they drove off, Stewart suddenly grabbed the driver around the neck from behind, then opened the door of the cab while it drove along.
Stewart fell out of the taxi while it was travelling 15mph before jumping up and kicking the driver's door.
Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson told Dundee Sheriff Court: "The accused's footprint was later found on the outside of the driver's door of the taxi.
"After the accused got back in the car he made derogatory remarks towards Mr McRitchie.
"The accused grabbed Mr McRitchie from behind again, and at this time punched him on the side of his head.
"Mr McRitchie stopped the car and the accused and his companions ran off.
"They left beer bottles behind in the car and the accused left his mobile phone in the back seat.
"The accused was later found under the influence of alcohol and had an injury to his shoulder consistent with being sustained when he fell from the moving taxi.
"When he was interviewed he said he could not recall even being in a taxi at the time of the offence."
Stewart pleaded guilty to assault in a taxi travelling from the A926 to Market Street, on June 1, 2014.
Sheriff Tom Hughes placed him on a two-year community payback order with supervision
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FIRE crews from Bradford were sent to a two-vehicle collision in Listerhills Road, Bradford.
The callout was made at around 8.15pm this evening, Friday, to initial reports that a person was trapped.
An ambulance and police attended at the scene and two people were taken to hospital. The road was cordoned off to allow rescue vehicles to attend.
The vehicles involved were a silver Mitsubishi taxi and a black Audi A3 car.
The extent of any injuries are not yet known.
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BLACK COUNTRY
Police appeal for witnesses after four taken to hospital following crash on Walsall Road in Great Wyrley
Two taxi passengers were among four people hurt in a crash involving a cab and a car in the Black Country .
The taxi and the vehicle collided on Walsall Road, in Great Wyrley, at 7pm on Thursday.
One patient was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham with serious facial injuries while three others were taken to Manor Hospital in Walsall for treatment.
West Midlands Ambulance Service said it received several 999 calls about the accident and sent three ambulances, a trauma doctor and a paramedic area support officer to the scene.
Police and firefighters also attended.
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