New York taxi drivers angry at law against the use of cell phones or headsets
Well this is certainly something interesting. It seems that the city of New York had a decade-old law which prevented taxi drivers from talking on the phone, not even while using a headset or a handsfree device. But while it existed for quite some time, the fact that cab drivers on the phone are four times more likely to cause an accident has made the NY Taxi and Limousine Commission to demand the law should be applied more thoroughly.
There is a problem though, as up until now, only 1 ticket was issued for every 500,000 taxi rides in the city, and most of the times, the police can’t prove that the driver was even using the headset or phone while driving. “Judges have been dismissing summonses because there’s no proof of conversation,” Matthew W. Daus, the Taxi commissioner said. “The drivers say they were talking to passengers. What are we going to do, subpoena the passenger? It’s crazy.”
The new rules proposed by the commission will forbid taxi drivers to even wear a headset, not to mention texting or use phones like a Blackberry or other PDAs during the taxi run. If they want to contact someone, they will just have to pull over by the curb and talk all they want, reveals the head of the commission.
As you would expect, the cab drivers aren’t the “happiest” bunch, saying that the new rules are outrageous and they don’t even have space to legally put their cars as they will get a ticket for illegal parking. They also claim that the cell phones are their only connection to their loved ones and you don’t know when an emergency can pop up.
On one hand I can understand the cab drivers, but they really should take a look at the numbers. It is dangerous to get distracted while behind the wheel, so you can deny that call for a few minutes until you get to your destination or at a traffic light. Tell us what you think about this matter by leaving a comment.
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If someone told you that by not using your phone whilst driving you’d save the life of at least one child per year; you would – it might just be your kid’s life.
NY cab drivers should stop whining and get on with their job – driving.
Why Taxi and Limousine Commission is not concerned that a NYC taxi driver can not be focused to the driving conditions because he is focused how to find in the next hour a place to legally urinate.Does TLC know that finding a toilet is one of the main challages for a NYC taxi driver?
Does TLC know that it is imposssible to find a free place to park legally in Manhattan?
Did TLC do some research regarding the health effect of the long time exposure of the taxi diver to radiation from the TV monitor installed in the middle of the front seat?
If TLC is concerned about accidents why they don’t give to everybody an exemple and apply for their employees the same strict rules with the same fines, salary suspenssion,etc for talking while driving? Why TLC does not teach first their employees how to park legally their personal cars in NYC .See how they park at the TLC inspection site in Queens.See how they refuel TLC cars inside of this facility without turning off the engines and disregarding the signs.But the difference is in the fact that they have a Union protected job and in the same time they enjoy treating the taxi drivers like second class citizens without any protection.