by News Desk | Aug 30, 2015 | London News
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Gallery: 12 Injured As London Bus Crashes Into Tree
The bus was badly damaged and at least 12 people were injured. Pic: Newham MPS
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The bus was badly damaged and at least 12 people were injured. Pic: Newham MPS
At least 12 people have been injured after a bus smashed into a tree in east London.
Five people were taken to hospital after emergency services were called to the scene in Manor Park at around noon. The lawyers from www.lawlavin.com/wrongful-death/ can help with the legal representation of such cases.
Paramedics were treating patients including a man with serious head injuries and a woman in her 60s with hip pain. The lawyers from https://www.smslegal.com/houston-car-accident-lawyer/ can help with the legal aid that one requires.
London Ambulance Service (LAS) emergency planning officer Chris Hawkswell tweeted pictures showing the crumpled front of the single-decker bus and a number of ambulances at the scene. Get legal expertise from https://speedwaymedia.com/2021/08/17/things-to-consider-what-legal-actions-can-you-take-if-you-get-harmed-in-a-truck-accident/ in case there is an accident.
His photos also showed an air ambulance which attended the incident and was helping to triage and treat the “most serious” patients.
An LAS spokeswoman said: “We were called at 11.59am to reports of a road traffic collision involving a bus and a tree at Manor Park station.
“We sent a number of resources to the scene including six ambulances, four duty officers, our hazardous area response team, London’s Air Ambulance and our emergency planning team.
“We are currently treating 12 patients.
“Five patients have been treated and taken to hospital – two as a priority. A man believed to be in his forties for a head injury was taken as a priority to the Royal London Hospital.
“The second patient, a woman believed to be in her sixties was treated for hip pain. She was also taken as priority to the Royal London Hospital.
“We continue to remain on scene treating patients.”
In a separate crash in Birmingham, 13 people were injured when two buses were involved in a head-on collision.
Both drivers were trapped in their cabs and had to be freed, but they were described as “walking wounded”, the Birmingham Mail reported.
Source: SKY News
by News Desk | Aug 30, 2015 | World News
The Uber logo is seen on a vehicle near Union Square in San Francisco, California May 7, 2015.
REUTERS/ROBERT GALBRAITH
The European Commission will launch a study in September of the ride-hailing app Uber in an effort to settle legal disputes that have pitched the U.S. start-up against conventional taxis across Europe, three people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Since opening in Paris in 2011, San Francisco-based Uber has run into vehement opposition from taxi drivers, who complain it competes unfairly by bypassing local laws on licensing and safety.
Uber has responded by submitting complaints to the European Commission against German and Spanish court bans, as well as a new French law on taxis.
The study will attempt to determine the legal instruments Brussels might use to decide whether Uber is a transport service or just a digital service, an EU official said.
Uber argues it is a digital platform that connects willing drivers with customers
. Being considered a transport service might make it subject to stricter rules on licensing, insurance and safety.
The study will review the regulatory regimes for taxi services in all member states and assess if an EU-wide framework is needed. Currently, taxis and vehicle-with-chauffeur services are regulated at a national level.
“This investigation appears to indicate that the European Commission believes that the manner in which the taxi and private hire sectors are currently regulated in some member states is dysfunctional and is no longer fit for purpose, not to mention new barriers to entry for innovative, technology-based services such as ridesharing,” an Uber spokeswoman said.
The study will run in parallel with a case at the European Union’s top court that could set a precedent for legal battles across the continent. However, it is likely the European Court of Justice will rule before the completion of the study, expected around June next year.
In the meantime, the Commission will also continue assessing the complaints againstFrance, Germany and Spain. In May, the Commission asked France for more information on its new taxi law, which Uber says favours regular taxis at its expense.
The Commission has previously said it welcomes innovative services such as Uber as part of the so-called sharing economy – where individuals are put in touch with others offering services, such as travel or accommodation.
However, businesses such as Uber should not circumvent national laws on taxation, safety and social aspects, EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc said in a letter to a member of the European Parliament in February.
The sharing economy has flummoxed policymakers, torn between promoting innovative services and ensuring that incumbent industries can still compete on fair grounds. “There needs to be a middle way”, said an EU official.
Source: Reuters
by News Desk | Aug 30, 2015 | World News
Woman’s Body Discovered Inside Car In Stater Bros. Parking Lot
WEST COVINA (CBSLA.com) — Authorities say a death investigation is underway in West Covina after a woman’s body was found inside a vehicle.
West Covina police say around noon Tuesday, officers received a call by a person who noticed a body hunched over in the backseat of a gray Volkswagen sedan.
The discovery was made in a Stater Bros. parking lot in the 300 block of North Azusa Avenue.
Although investigators haven’t released the woman’s identity, DMV records show the car is registered to an Orange County woman and the coroner’s office confirms they’re working her case. The cause of death was not immediately known.
On the windshield of a vehicle, an Uber sticker turned sideways was visible, reported CBS2’s Rachel Kim. Police, however, say they cannot confirm whether the woman was a driver for the company.
“Detectives are going to do their investigation and maybe find out how long it had been here,” Sgt. Brian Daniels of the West Covina Police Department said.
It remains unclear how long the body had been inside the vehicle.
“They are thinking she might have been there a day or two because the smell was really bad already, so it’s just really sad. It’s really shocking,” said Celine Portillo, a shopper.
The body has since been removed from the scene by the coroner’s office.
Off-camera, Kim spoke with a man who says the woman is his aunt. He confirmed that the vehicle was in fact hers and that she had just become an Uber driver.
Police said they are looking through security footage from the shopping plaza for any clues.
by News Desk | Aug 11, 2015 | London News
TfL’s Managing Director of Surface Transport Leon Daniels, has been proved beyond doubt to have lied on two separate occasions. Plus his misinformation on driver licence renewals has thrown many Taxi drivers and their families into financial hardship.
His first lie has greatly affected the livelihood of both the Licence Taxi and Private Hire industries.
The application form for a PH operators licence, makes it quite clear that a landline for bookings is a requirement.
Below is a screen shot of the application form.
Since this was pointed out to TfL, this form has mysteriously disappeared from their website.
Both Sir Peter Hendy and Leon Daniels have at separate times been asked whether Uber has a fixed telephone landline number for bookings. Both Hendy and Daniels have answered positively this was the case, but both said they didn’t have the number to hand, at the time when asked.
Leon Daniels was recently asked by a GLA transport committee to supply a landline booking number.
A number was given which later proved not to be a public number for booking, but in fact the private contact number of Ubers general manager Jo Bertram (which we believe since being made public, has been be deactivated). Also, Uber have quite openly stated on Twitter, they do not take bookings….so that’s lie number one proved…
The second lie told by Leon Daniels was again directed towards the GLA transport committee. When asked about inconsistencies of Uber drivers “hire and reward” insurance. Leon Daniels stated that PH drivers could “switch on and switch off” their hire and reward insurance when not engaging with paying customers.
The UCG wrote to the Association of British Insurers and received written conformation that such policies do not exists.
So that’s lie number 2 proved.
(Not only, but also) The worrying issue of driver renewals:
It is also my opinion that both Hendy and Daniels mislead drivers on the issue of late renewals. It has been alleged that even though the vast majority of renewals clear before the old licence expires, there is a massive backlog of Criminal Record Checks (CRB) affecting driver renewals. The agency carrying out these checks have been put under enormous pressure with the recent increase of new Private Hire driver applications, currently running at over 2,500 a month.
There have been harrowing reports of drivers off work for many months, after being told by TfL they can’t work. This is causing great hardship to these drivers and their families and must be sorted out with the greatest urgency.
Earlier this year, Taxi Leaks editor Jim Thomas wrote to Sir Peter Hendy pointing out the Transport Act of 1985 section 17(7).
The act clearly states:
(7)Where a person holds a licence which is in force when he applies for a new licence in substitution for it, the existing licence shall continue in force until the application for the new licence, or any appeal under this section in relation to that application, is disposed of, but without prejudice to the exercise in the meantime of any power of the licensing authority to revoke the existing licence.
There has been no record of any amendments to the act’s section 17. So it’s clear that once you’ve applied for your licence renewal, legally your old licence shall continue in force until you either receive your renewal or your licence is suspended or revoked.
Now, if the licensing authority seeks to suspend or revoke your licence, you have the right to appeal. The act also states that your old licence shall continue in force, until any appeal is disposed of.
There is no mention in the act of having to wait until a clear CRB is issued and received as the driver would obviously be of previous good character.
But, in a reply to Jim’s letter, Leon Daniels on behalf of Sir Peter Hendy stated that drivers could not legally work until a clear CRB had been issued and received.
It is my opinion that by issuing this caveat, which is not included in the act, Leon Daniels has overstepped TfL’s powers.
Finally, with all these lies and misinformation out there in the open….why is Leon Daniels still employed by TfL ?
Regards Martin Dwyer.
Editorial Comment:
The two lies told by Danieks are a matter of public record and we are amazed that the GLA transport committee haven’t taken this up with the mayor.
However, the issue regarding renewals is having a devastating financial affect on many drivers and their families. It is also perfectly clear these drivers should never have been put in this situation, on the whim of a man (Sir Peter Hendy) earning in the region of half a million pounds a year.
If you do your renewal through the Post Office, your receipt includes the proposed start date of your new licence. The screen shot below is from a driver who applied in February, with a start date in April. This driver is still waiting for his renewal 4 months later and as of last Tuesday (last we heard from him) it still hasn’t arrived.
Work levels Re bad enough and many driver are struggling, but can you imagine what it’s like to be thrown out of work, through no fault of your own, fir four to six months ?
Why are the trade orgs not all over this issue ?
We’ve said it before at Taxi Leaks, representative leaders should be banging down the doors of Palestra and Windsor House, getting the renewal situation amended. With the acquisition of the new building, we were promised things would improve! But fact is, they’ve just got worse.
While asylum seekers (some, in this country for just a few weeks) are able to obtain PH driver licenses without full criminal record checks. We’ve even had one case of an asylum seeker wanted in connection with mass murder and genocide being given a PH licence.
Taxi drivers of previous good character, some with many years unblemished service, through no fault of their own, are being thrown out of work for months on end, treated as guilty before having to prove themselves innocent.
It is our opinion that should trade orgs take this up with TfL, the licensing authority would have to back down.
We also believe that drivers who have lost work because of Daniels statement have a good case for compensation for lose of earnings, after being falsely advised.
Why should Taxi drivers have to suffer, because of the woeful inadequacies of a licensing authority, that is Totally Failing London.
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