Skip to main content

Tourists' taxi tale of terror

A group of French tourists found that their recent trip to New York set their pulses racing a little more than they had expected. The tourists boarded a vehicle outside the Air France terminal at New York's JFK airport, unaware that this was an unlicensed cab.
March 1, 2012 Read time: 1 min
A group of French tourists found that their recent trip to New York set their pulses racing a little more than they had expected. The tourists boarded a vehicle outside the Air France terminal at New York's JFK airport, unaware that this was an unlicensed cab. As police attempted to stop the vehicle, it sped off with the tourists onboard. The police then followed in hot pursuit while the terrified tourists made repeated pleas to be let out. The van hit speeds of 100km/h as it raced along crowded residential streets, ran red lights and stop signs in an attempt to outrun the police. When the van finally crashed, the police were able to apprehend the driver and the vehicle's 'tout', while one of the tourists was slightly hurt by the crash. The driver and the tout face serious charges and possible prison sentences of up to seven years.

Related Content

  • Fire red Ferrari fun
    December 14, 2015
    The person who rented a 458 Italia in the UK may wish having paid slightly more for full insurance cover. The sporty red Ferrari, which has a top speed of 323km/h, was driven into a terraced house in the town of Luton, just to the north of London. The car was seriously damaged and had to be written off, much to the chagrin of the rental firm, while the 29 year old driver lost his €7,094.56 deposit. Quite how the driver, who had rented the high performance sportscar for a wedding, managed to crash into a hou
  • Meet Die Autobahn des Bundes
    November 8, 2021
    Only recently has Germany created a central organisation to maintain and develop the nation’s 13,200km of motorways, called autobahns. Moving from 16 state-run operation centres to one lead centre is a challenge but essential, says Gerd Riegelhuth.
  • Cutting speed to cut crashes and boost safety
    February 10, 2021
    Cutting speed can help cut crashes and boost safety.
  • New York unveils 'Midtown in Motion' traffic management system
    February 27, 2012
    New York Mayor Bloomberg has unveiled a new, technology-based traffic management system that allows city traffic engineers to monitor and respond to Midtown Manhattan traffic conditions in real time, improving traffic flow on the city’s most congested streets.