Durham taxi driver shot Saturday, August 28, 2010 DURHAM (WTVD) -- A Durham taxi driver was rushed to the hospital early Saturday, after he was hit by several gunshots. Durham Police found the man on the steps of their Fayetteville Road substation early Saturday morning. Witnesses say the shooting happened somewhere else, possibly in the nearby grocery store parking lot, and that the driver then went to the substation. He apparently got out of the cab, staggered to the front door, and started beating on it. An officer returning to the substation found him there. Durham police say it all happened at around 12:29 a.m. They say the cab driver was shot in the face and torso area, and that his injuries are serious but non life-threatening. Investigators do not have a motive or any suspects at this time. Friends of the driver say his name is Omar, and that three men had attacked him last week in a restaurant parking lot. There is no word on his condition. WTVD-TV Channel 11 - (Durham, North Carolina) Cab driver knocks away would-be robber's gun By Joe Macenka | TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Published: August 28, 2010 Richmond, Va. -- A cab driver cruising downtown Richmond looking for a fare early yesterday wound up getting a robber's gun instead. Richmond police Capt. David L. Martin said the gun fell into the cab when the driver struggled with one of three men he originally thought might be customers but turned out to be robbers. The cabbie was not injured in the incident, which occurred at 4:20 a.m. in the 100 block of East Broad Street. The three robbers ran from the scene. Martin said the cabbie told police he was driving on Broad Street when he saw three young males standing on a corner. When he pulled over, rolled down the passenger window and asked them if they needed a cab, one of them told him they did and that he should first pull around the corner and get off Broad Street. The cabbie refused, and one of the males put a gun through the open window and pointed it at him. The cabbie told detectives he reached over in an attempt to disarm the robber and slapped at the gun, knocking it onto the front seat, so he quickly drove from the scene. As the cabbie sped away and called police, the three males ran west on Broad, he said. Martin said the gun was a BB pistol. Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers anonymously at (804) 780-1000. Richmond Times-Dispatch - (Richmond, Virginia) $50 taxi fare for 7-minute ride stuns retired man Mon, 30 Aug 2010 A retiree who was charged $50 for what he says is usually a seven-minute ride to his house wants taxi companies to abandon big surcharges for short trips. David Richardson said he was stunned to be charged so much for a taxi ride from Dunedin International Airport to his home near Outram on Thursday. He did not dispute the fare but thought City Taxis should not have charged a $15 out-of-town surcharge for a trip so close to the airport. The charge recognised taxis sometimes travelled far from base for their fares, but this taxi was still much closer to the airport than the city. "It could have returned to the airport for more fares, so it would have been similar to a taxi working in town," Mr Richardson said. "Charging the surcharge on everyone, regardless of how close they are to the airport, is unfair." City Taxis spokesman Ron Gilkison said the surcharge was clearly stated in the price schedule on the door of all taxis. - more... Otago Daily Times - (Dunedin, New Zealand) Reserve half the city’s Autos, Cabs for short rides This is the Transport Department’s latest plan to end the commuters’ daily battle against errant drivers Alka Shukla Posted On Monday, August 30, 2010 at 02:59:10 AM The daily struggle of Mumbai’s five lakh cab and auto commuters to find a driver who doesn’t turn them down has finally found sympathy with the powers that be. After thousands of commuters recently voiced their protest – through the Meter Jam campaign – against autowallahs and cabbies who routinely refused short distance fares, the Transport Department has come up with a solution for the nuisance. It will work with unions to get half the drivers to ply short distances on alternate days. Transport Commissioner Dilip Jadhav said this rotation system worked well in Pune. “Drivers can ply short distances one day and long distances the next. We tried this out in Pune when I was the commissioner and it worked wonders,” he said. - more... Mumbai Mirror - (Mumbai, India) Why cabbies need to reinvent themselves Published: Monday, Aug 30, 2010, 2:30 IST What is it about cabbies in Indian cities that they are universally disliked? In the metros, cab and auto drivers have brought isolation upon themselves by often refusing to ply short distances and overcharging. Improving customer experience may strike them as superfluous given that at peak hours the demand for their services is greater than the supply. But in the long run, by continuing to behave the way they do, cabbies may be threatening their own existence. In Mumbai, public mistrust has made them political pawns in the hands of the Shiv Sena and MNS. Public ire has surfaced in the form of Meter Jam boycotts and consumer action. In Bangalore and Chennai, auto and cab drivers are losing business to private transport. Nevertheless, an us-versus-them approach between public and cabbies is counter-productive. What they need is better training. London’s cabbies have been voted No 1 in the world because they are the most informed and the friendliest. They get a licence only after passing a rigorous examination called ‘The Knowledge’. New York cabbies made it to No 2 for being the most available. Rather than rubbing commuters the wrong way, the taxi unions should work on improving customer service even while working out guidelines for minimum earnings a day. The rest can be left to ‘service with a smile’. Daily News & Analysis - (Mumbai, India) |
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Ender
Wiggin
Updated aug 30 @ 01:43 GMT
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