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There's an interesting case surrounding dollar vans in Brooklyn right now. Last week, a dollar van (aka a commuter van - check out this definition) hit a 56 year old woman, and the driver did get out, but left after seeing her in the street (the woman suffered a broken pelvis, legs, and ribs). And in the course of the police investigation, the police found a posting on craigslist seemingly written by one of the passengers on the van, saying the passengers wouldn't reveal anything about the incident, - the driver is unlicensed, he doesn't want to be thrown in jail. So now the police are blitzing dollar vans with tickets in order to find out more about the hit-and-run. Van companies are saying that they are being targeted because they are immigrant businesses and police know they are "helpless," but given the police's aggressiveness to bike riders, is this kind of ticket biltz so surprising when they are trying to find a hit-and-run driver?
Most drivers are immigrants and many riders are people who need to get to places subways and buses may not or find themselves waiting too long for buses, so they do provide employment and a service. The problem can be that, yes, the some drivers are unlicensed and many vans are uninsured or uninspected, since the city doesn't regulate all of them. Here's a 2004 article about dollar van extortion in Chinatown - these vans flourish in immigrant communities.
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Finally!
I was wondering how long it would take the cops to crack down on this. The way those guys drive down Flatbush is criminal! Speeding, running red lights, swerving recklessly, and cutting through several lanes of traffic to pull up to the curb. It's too bad one of those guys mangled a woman before the cops started to crack down. On the other hand, like so much in NYC, the cops will crack down for a few days, and then things will go back to normal (well, until the next person gets maimed or killed by a reckless van).
I see a future L&O script!
"The way those guys drive down Flatbush is criminal!"
Maybe so, but they are indeed efficient and fast. I’d pick them over the regular buses anyday.
Dollar vans ( or cabs ) have been around for a very long time. When I lived in the Bronx you'd find them all over. They even stretched into neighborhing Mount Vernon, NY. Need a ride from Pathmark to your house? There was always a dollar van ( cab ) around.
Even some cab companies have unlicensed cars and drivers. You'll know you're in one when the cab driver asks you to sit in the front of the cab.
This was still the case back in 02 ( I don't know what it's like now ). I feel that those who skirt the law make it hard on those who are licensed and are trying to comply.
I firmly believe that while these businesses should exist, they must be regulated and licensed. There's a reason for wanting these sort of things under regulation. There's all sorts of insurance issues at stake.
Either get legal, or get out!
FYI- dollar vans should be referred to as 'jitneys'
this is great! i've been waiting on this crackdown for years. those vans have got to be the most dangerous thing on flatbush.
Way too many of those vans on drive dangerously on Flatbush Ave. They clearly fill an important need, but there needs to be more safety enforcement and ticketing of dangerous driving.
JT
Yeh Ok They do Drive a little Reckless sometimes and it sometimes isnt call for but what most of these people dont understand is everybodies tryin to get a dollar n these police the main reason they crack down on the van drivers is because there head officers tell them go harass these drivers because there not making any tax money off these vans ... i firmly believe that the issue they should be cracking down on is the reckless driving but they are all competing for a dollar n all these people should let these dollar vans breathe .