Taxi Driver Moves 999 Ambulance

[Raistlin]

A taxi driver was arrested after he got behind the wheel of an ambulance answering an emergency call and moved it to make way for his own vehicle, police have said.

Officers attended the incident after the ambulance crew reported their vehicle had been driven away from outside an address in Pevensey Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, as they were preparing to take a one-month-old baby to hospital on Sunday.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: "They reported at 12.40am that a taxi driver had objected to the road being temporarily obstructed, so he had just got into their ambulance and drove it a short distance up the road, before driving away in his own taxi.

"The ambulance crew retrieved their vehicle and took the baby to hospital.

"The 64-year-old came to the police station of his own accord a short while later and was arrested on suspicion of taking a vehicle without consent, and obstructing an emergency worker contrary to the Emergency Workers (Obstruction) Act 2006."

He said the man was bailed until August 31 pending further inquiries.

[jw67]

How stupid was he?He could have caused more unnecessary suffering or worse for that child :ffs:

[Jan&tone]

Grumpy, I'm sure you will see this so I'm going to apologize to you in advance 'cos you seem like a nice guy from what I've read on here.. But frankly this article doesn't surprise me. Taxi drivers I've come across seem to be arrogant, spoilt and completely incapable of considering other road users. The worst ones seem to be those driving black cabs in a big city in the south of England when they are either working or on their way into that big city from their mansions in Essex....

[jw67]

No need to apologise,I couldn't agree with you more.The taxi drivers around here think they are above most of the laws and the one in the post is a complete and utter idiot.

[Raistlin]

Don't beat about the bush tell us what you really think

[jw67]

I'm trying to as polite as possible for a change

[Raistlin]

Why break the habits of a life time...

[jw67]

:shutit: :fishyface: .It was one of my new year resolutions.I'm just a late starter,that's all

[bothwell_buyer]

wimps -

ambulances are owned by the public sector -0 which is you and me and anyone who bothers paying Council Tax, Income Tax; VAT; and all the other taxes - so why on earth can't one shifty a glorified van thats obstructing the highway? For all we know the taxi driver at his age probably needed a wee.

[Raistlin]

wimps -

ambulances are owned by the public sector -0 which is you and me and anyone who bothers paying Council Tax, Income Tax; VAT; and all the other taxes - so why on earth can't one shifty a glorified van thats obstructing the highway? For all we know the taxi driver at his age probably needed a wee.

A wee what ?

[bothwell_buyer]

wimps -

ambulances are owned by the public sector -0 which is you and me and anyone who bothers paying Council Tax, Income Tax; VAT; and all the other taxes - so why on earth can't one shifty a glorified van thats obstructing the highway? For all we know the taxi driver at his age probably needed a wee.

A wee what ?

the output that goes inta yer nappy

[Jan&tone]

wimps -

ambulances are owned by the public sector -0 which is you and me and anyone who bothers paying Council Tax, Income Tax; VAT; and all the other taxes - so why on earth can't one shifty a glorified van thats obstructing the highway? For all we know the taxi driver at his age probably needed a wee.

Oops! I hadn't thought of that one. :(. Sorry mr taxi driver,.

In all seriousness, when I had my heart attack 6 weeks go the ambulance that came for me was parked across a garage forecourt for the 15 minutes that the paramedics worked on me saving my life, then a 10 minute blues Nd twos dash to the nearest cardiac department.

I hate to think of the consequences if some prat had moved the ambulance!!

[balli hi]

Grumpy, I'm sure you will see this so I'm going to apologize to you in advance 'cos you seem like a nice guy from what I've read on here.. But frankly this article doesn't surprise me. Taxi drivers I've come across seem to be arrogant, spoilt and completely incapable of considering other road users. The worst ones seem to be those driving black cabs in a big city in the south of England when they are either working or on their way into that big city from their mansions in Essex....

Ignoramous buffoon :!Removed!:

[balli hi]

A taxi driver was arrested after he got behind the wheel of an ambulance answering an emergency call and moved it to make way for his own vehicle, police have said.

Officers attended the incident after the ambulance crew reported their vehicle had been driven away from outside an address in Pevensey Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, as they were preparing to take a one-month-old baby to hospital on Sunday.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: "They reported at 12.40am that a taxi driver had objected to the road being temporarily obstructed, so he had just got into their ambulance and drove it a short distance up the road, before driving away in his own taxi.

"The ambulance crew retrieved their vehicle and took the baby to hospital.

"The 64-year-old came to the police station of his own accord a short while later and was arrested on suspicion of taking a vehicle without consent, and obstructing an emergency worker contrary to the Emergency Workers (Obstruction) Act 2006."

He said the man was bailed until August 31 pending further inquiries.

This case had nothing and has nothing to do with London cabbies , whilst i agree that the taxi drivers actions in this case were both selfish and stupid , it does'nt mean that all taxi drivers are bad be it private hire or like myself a london licensed taxi driver ( green Badge ) there's good and bad in every profession , as a london cabbie i spend many hours driving the streets of london and i can honestly say that i see ordinary motorists on a daily basis endangering the lives of others and far worse than i have ever seen from any of my colleagues , i take umbrage to some and in particular to one of the posts on here which i found to be ignorant insulting ill thought out and a complete crock of shxt , its easy for conceited individuals to come on here and spout vitriol about certain professions , generalise and tar all with the same brush without proof or hard facts , i think it would be better to not post than to spout ill thought out diatribe , but justify it by way of posting an apology in ones signature in advance .

[Jamesbelfast]

Yes every profession has both its good and bad elements but in all honesty most road users seem to have a poor opinion of cab drivers. Maybe its just the badly behaved ones that just seem to get noticed which does not bode for a good image - similar to estate agents.:)

[Jan&tone]

Bali-hi

Agreed not all cabbies are selfish a***holes, only the ones Ihave come across in 40 years of working and driving in London, only the one that pushed in front of me in Tesco's Pitsea petrol station because he couldn't wait for 2 minutes and then kicked my car because I asked him why, and the one that cut My wife up on a roundabout on the way to wickford recently because she was sticking to the temporary speed limit in roadworks - all London black cabs, not good ambassadors for your profession

As I say, not all should be tarred with the same brush, but I've not had good experiences of London registered black cabs

[balli hi]

Yes every profession has both its good and bad elements but in all honesty most road users seem to have a poor opinion of cab drivers. Maybe its just the badly behaved ones that just seem to get noticed which does not bode for a good image - similar to estate agents.:)

I agree james , i think you have hit the nail on the head , London cabs are instantly recognisable as are buses post office vans etc , one of the problems i face in my job is stopping where the customer wants me to stop , they don't care that you might be blocking a junction or holding up the traffic , i always do my best to stop-park in a safe and efficient manner , but iv'e lost count of the number of times that i have had a customer bellow or scream at me to stop where they wanted me to , some people can become quite aggressive so you stop only then for other road users to get on the horn , there's a lot more to things than meet the eye , another one is u-turns , customers insist that you make this manouvre straight away cos they will give it to you in the neck if you drive a little further up the road where its safer and can be performed without holding up other road users too much , there are many things that combine to create a negative oppinion in the eyes of the public , but there is a lot more than meets the eye as to the reasons why maybe if all road users were forced to do my job just for one day maybe they would have a better understanding .

[balli hi]

Bali-hi

Agreed not all cabbies are selfish a***holes, only the ones Ihave come across in 40 years of working and driving in London, only the one that pushed in front of me in Tesco's Pitsea petrol station because he couldn't wait for 2 minutes and then kicked my car because I asked him why, and the one that cut My wife up on a roundabout on the way to wickford recently because she was sticking to the temporary speed limit in roadworks - all London black cabs, not good ambassadors for your profession

As I say, not all should be tarred with the same brush, but I've not had good experiences of London registered black cabs

I have people push in front of me at petrol stations all the time , but there's no excuse for kicking your car , i have lost count of the number of times that iv'e been cut up by the ordinary motorist because they had become impatient or otherwise , and i can assure you i don't live in a !Removed! mansion .

Ps

if these instances had been performed by the ordinary motorist you probably would have long since forgotten , plus don't assume just because the cab was a black one with a white pco plate on the back that it was a london one , the chances are that it was a suburban driver ( yellow Badge ) as both instances took place in essex i would have thought that to be the case , unless you know for certain that they were on their way to london to work , but how could you possibly know that .

[Jan&tone]

Normal white plate in both cases, after all I was behind both!!

And yes you are correct, if it had been an ordinary motorist it would have been forgotten, indeed it was until reading of this case at his time - just after I needed an ambulance!

I am probably , in fact most likely, to be wrong in tarring all cabbies with the same brush, but I can only go by my own experiences over a number of years.

[balli hi]

Normal white plate in both cases, after all I was behind both!!

And yes you are correct, if it had been an ordinary motorist it would have been forgotten, indeed it was until reading of this case at his time - just after I needed an ambulance!

I am probably , in fact most likely, to be wrong in tarring all cabbies with the same brush, but I can only go by my own experiences over a number of years.

Like i said , having a white plate on the back does not mean the cab is a london one , all cabs London and suburban are licensed by the public carriage office , the only way to denote whether the driver is a london or suburban driver is by the colour of his Badge , green for all London and yellow for the suburbs , either way if you had noted the white plate number and contacted the pco you could have registered a complaint as kicking your car door is not to be tolerated , the pco are not only there to issue licenses but also have the powers to revoke them when needed .