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Tom Cooper (B97)
greeted Call Sign warmly when we met shortly after
what he calmly described as his little incident. "I wondered what the heck had hit me, because it was like being rammed by a tank," he told our reporter. "It was 02.30hrs on a Friday night / Saturday morning. I had just set down my passengers on Bow Road E3 and was being paid off at the kerbside when there was an almighty bang at the rear of the cab. The force of it pushed the cab forward right up onto the pavement. I was feeling really stunned for that moment, then I looked out of my driver’s window to see a Fiat Punto still spinning like a cartwheel down the middle of the road!" Continuing, Tom told us: "After a few seconds - and with legs that felt like jelly - I got out of the taxi to see what the damage was. The Punto had collided into the back of my taxi, ripping open the trunk lid and tearing into the offside rear wing and door. Thankfully, I was ok. Well, at least I was all in one piece - even if I felt rather shaken!" That last comment brought the first sign of a nervous smile. "I got on my mobile to call the police and ambulance and to my astonishment, while I was still on the phone a police car arrived on the scene! I was amazed at the response time, but it turned out that the officer was actually on his way to work and stopped to see if I was ok! I was really, really |
DaC’s Tom: My lucky escape… |
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  grateful I
can tell you," Tom told the Call Sign reporter.And of course, Tom was being paid off at the time via the driver’s nearside window… "The passengers that had been sitting on the rear seat of the cab only seconds before the crash were incredibly lucky. Had they decided to pay me off from inside the cab, they would most certainly have been seriously injured." "The ambulance took the Fiat Punto driver to hospital with head injuries," said Tom. "When I looked at his car with the police inspector, we noticed the windscreen was cracked and splintered from the impact, so we reckon he was not wearing his seat belt. The front of the car was a right mess too!" Tom added that he believed the driver was later charged with drink / driving related offences. The car had belonged to |
his mother.
"Several fellow cab drivers stopped to see if I was ok, especially the Dial-a-Cab guys and I’m really grateful to them all. Be sure to put that in your report," he gently urged our journo. "I’ve been on DaC since January 1996 and it’s the camaraderie that I appreciate," Tom stated. "I woke up the following morning with a very stiff neck and shoulder. I went to the hospital and was diagnosed with ‘whiplash’ from the crash and am having physio, but it still aches." Tom ended on a sad note regarding his taxi – almost as though it had been a family member. "My cab is very likely to be written off. After sixteen years and half a-million miles together, it’s a bit sad to part company that way, but at least I’m here to tell the story," Tom said, the hint of a real smile creeping across his face. Looking rather thoughtful, Tom said that his insurers had provided a TX4 loan cab until the matter was concluded, but he missed DaC and now had to make a decision about the future and more specifically, what to do about getting another cab. "Ah well" he sighed, "I’ll suppose I’ll have to get my whiplash sorted first!" © Call Sign Magazine MMX1 |
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CLIENTS LOVE BLACK CAB HERITAGE TOURS! |
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Since setting up the company just over two years
ago, the cab driver directors of Black Cab Heritage Tours
have seen the number of passengers looking for tours increase.
The three qualified Taxi Guides that started up the company –
Call Sign’s Bob Woodford, DaC driver Brian
With (Y84) and Graham Woodhouse - have just put a new
tour on offer that is sure to be popular this year. The Royal
Wedding Tour is set to take advantage of the number of
tourists visiting the capital before, during and after the Royal
event of the year, if the not the decade! The company offers
bespoke tours such as their Classic Tour, Royal London
Tour and the very popular Harry Potter Tour to name
but a few. Some of the more unusual tours during the past twelve
months have included corporate bonding tours with a number of
cabs involved. The directors of Black Cab Heritage Tours are currently on the verge of securing a deal with |
a leading UK tour
company. Details of the deal are still under wraps for the
moment but could see a further increase in passenger numbers.
Last year, Black Cab Heritage Tours spread its’ wings and opened an office in the US under the company name of Hackney Heritage Tours. Dave Dart in New York handles that side of the operation. He keeps in regular contact with US based tour companies to help generate Stateside business even before the ‘punters’ get on the plane! Graham told Call Sign: "We all know how scarce work out on the street is at the moment, so the anticipated volume of tours this will generate is very welcome to us and all of our guides." For more information about BCHT, please contact the office on 01707 696034 or drop them an e-mail to HERE. They’ll send you more joining information.
Guide course |
Black Cab Heritage
Tours have successfully completed the Cab Guide Course run by
The Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers, although
this is not a requirement for the guides to join. Some also hold
the City of London Guide qualification. |
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