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You'll be forgiven for not realizing that it's actually illegal for NYC cab drivers to use cell phones—even hands-free—because they all do it. This morning the Times takes a look at chatty cabbies as part of an ongoing series of articles called "Driven to Distraction." Surprisingly, a reporter assigned to ride in cabs as research found that only about one third of his 20 taxi rides featured a driver using his or her cell phone. Almost all of them terminated the call when asked—except for one hack who pulled over and grumbled about a stalled engine.
Cabbies caught using cell phones (even for text messaging) can theoretically get hit by a $200 fine, but it's rarely enforced. Only 411 summonses were issued for the offense in 2008, and in the first six months of this year just 232 summonses for cellphone use were issued, or one ticket for every 517,241 cab rides during that period. Another fun fact in the article: The Taxi and Limousine Commission doesn't bother keeping track of any taxicab accidents, so it's hard to say how many are caused by cellphone-distracted drivers. But earlier this year the TLC expressed interest in cell phone blocking technology (for drivers while engaged, but not passengers).
And the online version of the Driven to Distraction series comes with an interactive game to test your driving-while-texting skills. It involves changing lanes while responding to text messages from NYTimes.com, asking you Suzy Homemaker questions such as, "What kind of pie do you want? Do you want whipped cream on that?" While the "game" is so dull it makes Orbitz beach volleyball seem like World of Warcraft, we're excited to see the Times company diversifying into baked goods, and we can't wait to, uh, aggregate some pies from their windowsill.
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I never tip a cabbie who uses his cell phone while driving and I tell him as such. I've been called an asshole a few times in the past few weeks. :(
do you tell them "as such" at the beginning of the trip or the end? because if you only tell them at the end, that is kind of an asshole move.
Why tell them at all? Tipping is for good service...
At the end, of course. If I tell them in the beginning, I might be stuck looking for another cab, and if I'm in a cab in the first place it's because I have to get somewhere in the timely manner. The asshole move is yapping on the phone in violation of T&LC rules that say otherwise.
Good point, I think I'll do that from now on. But first I gotta get a phony nose and glasses mask so they don't recognize me.
I really don't care if they talk while driving as long as they pay attention to the road. Texting on the other hand...seriously, can we just make texting while driving a death penalty offense? How can anyone in their right mind possibly think that is acceptable behavior in any circumstances? Unless you are stuck in a thirty mile long traffic jam that hasn't moved in ages, you have no business even touching that shit.
Talking is almost as risky as texting. It's not dangerous until suddenly it is, and then it's too late!
when they use their cell phones they're not driving... they find a slow car or truck and trail...
Set your own meter ticking: minus $1 from the tip for each minute the driver is cell-chatting.
My friends didn't believe me that it was illegal for cabbies to be on their cell phones. I, too, have been called an asshole for telling a cabbie that. This was also the cabbie who didn't know where I was going, and was annoyed at me because *I* didn't know the road. Suffice to say, he didn't get a tip.
If the cabbie knows more than 5 words of English and the directions to get to my destination, I'm usually too thrilled to give a shit if he's on his phone.
Word up.
Cabbies can shove their phones up their asses for all I care. if you can afford to take a cab, be prepared for the onslaught of body odor, erratic driving, and muddled jibberish. We need more bike lanes!
They really are always on the phone. I always thought about this as their significant others keeping them awake/busy during late night shifts.
Although I am not against their use of cell phones, I AM against it when it distracts them or when they can't hear/don't understand your directions. Those things happen often, wrong turns and disregarding passenger redirects.
I just turn up my voice and make it annoying enough for them to hang up.
Nope, they are negotiation bulk sales of high purity Afghani Heroin while they drive you to your destination.
The cell phones are annoying but I can live with them. When I open the door of a cab, my concern is cleanliness. I've shut the door on many cabs because the odor hits you before you get in. I've done it on rainy days, not knowing how quickly the next one will be there.
This is why cell phone jammers should be legal.
I have one I bought from China. I only take it to movie theaters though. Usually works on people
Sounds awesome - does it work well?
I'd be afraid of being caught by customs, especially since it's a federal crime to possess and use one in the US. I feel like they should be easy to build, though.
What happens if there is an emergency at home and they can't be reached?
I agree that they shouldn't be on the phone while a passenger is in the car, but I don't think a jammer is a right idea.
I remember I had to fight my high school tooth and nail and risked suspension in order to carry my cell phone around (my grandfather who lived with me at the time was on hospice care and my parents needed a way to reach me). Of course there are the IDIOTS that spoil it for people with only good intentions.
"What happens if there is an emergency at home and they can't be reached?"
Their family calls the dispatcher who contacts the driver via radio. The idea that a cell phone is essential for emergency contact is only a few years old. We got along fine without always being directly reachable on a whim for generations before that.
That's the problem; people abuse a privilege and then treat it like a right. If cabbies didn't abuse the cell-phone usage, we wouldn't be having this conversation at all.
Couldn't your parents just call the high school to reach you?
@ jaycjay, I didn't know about the dispatcher. Ok, so dispatch calls the cabbie and tells him his wife is in labor (or whatever), they don't give anymore information. How is he supposed to reach her? I'm not being snarky at all, by the way. :-)
@ Eric Roberts - Nope! The school tried to make that argument too, but what happened if I was in the bathroom, locker room, or out of school grounds for lunch? Also, the intercom didn't work and not all the classes had working phones. What do you expect from a school in Crown Heights?
That guy has good luck, 1/3rd? of 20? I am not sure I have been in 2 cabs in the last 50 that were not on the phone, and of that, I am only sure since they were talking to me. As for asking them to get off...it only makes for a really hostile ride, and usually they are so pissed off that the ride seems almost more dangerous as they drive more erratically and aggressively.
Its a catch 22.
How about a number we could txt when a driver is talking on the phone? Might not fix the situation imediately, but over time as the fines roll out?
Dunno
The two times I've been in cab accidents it's been drivers on the phone. If we could text their cab license ID# to 311 while it's happening that would be AWESOME.
"If we could text their cab license ID# to 311 while it's happening that would be AWESOME."
What would it accomplish, other than to accumulate some statistics? It's an anonymous complaint. No enforcement action could be taken on it, otherwise every time a driver did anything to irritate you, you could text in a cell phone complaint.
You can call 311 and report a cab. Then they will open an investigation and send you a form to fill out and fax/mail to them. After this they schedule a hearing and you must testify against them.
Though this all is obviously way harder than a text, at least you can call in your testification (??) against them.
But then whats to stop the assholes that are either drunk, racist, or just having a bad day from texting a regular cabbie that did his job correctly?
People are always ready to abuse!
non-issue. only tourists and bourgeois knuckleheads take cabs.
I'm a local, I take cabs.
Just as I believe that people should have to pass a test to have children, I think there should be different levels of what drivers are permitted to do based on their skill level and competence.
No, I don't think this is a realistic system or policy to enforce, but the only time I've ever been in an accident in a cab was in Vegas when the guy was driving like a pussy. The more psychotic they drive here, the more likely I am to actually put on the seatbelt, yet at the same time I feel that they are not succumbing to the psychotic roads of NYC and thus they'll be able to get me to my destination safely & dangerously all at once.
When I drive in NYC, it's smooth yet crazy and I expect nothing less of the cabbies. We live in a multitasking world, and while phones pose an unnecessary risk, so do a hundred other things out of our control. The most important factor that is completely out of the passenger's hands is whether or not the driver is an F'ing moron, and that has nothing to do with the celly cell.
Females from Jersey on their cell phones pose a way greater risk to both others drivers and pedestrians, and the only thing keeping them at bay is psychotic cabbies.
Going out on a limb here: You moved here recently, you feel tougher after 1-7 years of living here.
Locals take cabs, Serpico.
Please use mass transit. It's much safer than riding in a taxi in this city. It's also cheaper and more environmentally friendly.