Cab attacks?
Page 26
Call Sign February 2012
As unemployment rises, are taxi drivers going to be subject to
Views on life as seen through the
more...
eyes of David Kupler (Y74) at...
Kupkake's
Korner
Over the years, Call
Sign has reported on
the occasional Dial-a-
Cab taxi driver who
has been attacked
and robbed.
Happily, whilst the occa-
sional taxi has been broken
into when the driver was
away, attacks while the driver
is in the cab have been
something of a rarity.
But over the past few
My Identifier...
months, the number of
drivers being attacked
has increased with cur-
In a plastic clear container
rent economic hard-
Above the no smoking sign,
ships being one of the
Is my new identifier
reasons put forward.
With a number that is MINE...
Divyesh Ruparelia
(V59) has been on Dial-
In Green it shows I'm legal
a-Cab since September
That for sure I'm qualified,
2004 a time when
To ply the streets of London
finding passengers was somewhat
Within the M25...
easier than it is now. He told Call Sign
of an incident that happened to him
I can plot up on all stations
recently and which he believes has also
I can cruise the City streets,
happened to other drivers. Divyesh
But there is no celebration
takes up the story...
"I was driving down Grange Road in
If I'm `thinking with my feet'
South Norwood at 3am on 10 January
Whose plan was this I wonder
on my way home to South Croydon.As
I approached the junction of Ross
What fool dreamt up the idea,
Road, I saw a couple of small bins in
To make each Taxi a target
Divyesh's screen is smashed on the near side
the middle of the road. I would nor-
There's trouble ahead I fear...
mally stop, get out and move them
over to the side of the road, but I was just feeling so tired that I
Yet PH has that round thing
drove around them and carried on.
You can view it if you're close,
As I passed Ross Road heading towards Thornton Heath High Street, I saw two lads.
Behind their tinted windows
One was on the left by the pavement, while the other was standing in the middle of the
We should have some like those...
road. So I slowed down to drive around him and just as I did so, he gestured as if to
throw a punch at me. I ducked instinctively - even though I was in the cab and it obvi-
It's them that need enforcing
ously wasn't going to land on me.
As they tout and steal our work,
The next second I heard an almighty bang as something had landed on my windscreen
When they think they're just like Taxis
and bounced off. I carried on driving in total shock, luckily for me the object landed and
Yet driven by real jerks!
cracked the nearside of the windscreen so that I could still see where I was going.
I carried on driving home, whilst at the same time calling the police to report the inci-
Now everyone can spot me
dent. Fortunately for me, apart from the shock and £60 excess insurance payment, there
They can see who drives my cab,
was no other harm done to me. I hate to think what would have happened had I
It's so easy to report me
stopped."
The police told Divyesh that his had not been the first report of an attack on a taxi
Oh what fun they'll have!
driver in the area, yet according to the DaC driver there was not one sign of any police
Mad cyclists and irate bikers
presence during the whole trip home.
Divyesh ended by saying that he feels very relieved that his tiredness stopped him get-
Drunk punters one and all,
ting out of his cab to pick up the bins.
Can quote the cabby's number
"Never ever get out of the cab is the moral, I guess...!"
When they make that spiteful call.
Kopyright Kupkake 2012
© Call Sign Magazine MMX11
