Are Cab Drivers Complying with Cell Phone Ban?

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On Friday the Taxi and Limousine Commission began enforcing more strict rules and penalties for cab drivers who use hands-free cell phones or any electronic device capable of making non-emergency phone calls or texting, as well as music players and GPS locators. To make drivers comply, the TLC put enforcement agents outside Grand Central Terminal to check cabs as they drove past. By yesterday morning, a total of 142 summonses had been issued by TLC agents. Fox 5, on the other hand, sent a reporter on repeated cab rides and didn't find a single driver using an electronic device.

One driver who was caught in the sting, Inderjit Parihar, vented his outrage to the Post: "I'm not even using a cellphone! It's an iPod! They just want to bother us. I wasn't even playing it." Parihar was issued a summons for $200 and is required to take a "refresher course" on the rules. If he's caught using a device while driving again, he'll face a 30-day suspension. A third violation within 15 months will result in the loss of his license.

Hacks have complained bitterly about the new rules, with many insisting the phones are necessary for emergencies. The TLC argues that in the case of an emergency, drivers should pull over to use the phone. TLC chief Matt Daus tells the Post, "We didn't want to hammer the drivers. We wanted to go out in front of it and warn them. It's not about money or numbers."

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By John Del Signore in News on February 1, 2010 12:20 PM

Comments [rss]

CitrineNYC

Let's just say that after the angry cabbie begrudgingly took me to Brooklyn, driving erratically fast to make up for the five minutes he wasn't in Manhattan, I didn't feel like I could tell him to stop barking on his phone.

ed_Extinct

"I'm not even using a cellphone! It's an iPod!

Is this guy serious? Earphones while driving is just as dangerous if not more.

whitecastlerock

These are just awful quality of life problems... I am happy the TLC has dispatched the gestapo to punish these lawbreakers. The city needs the additional revenue and it only makes sense to siphon it from members of the service industry. If only the TLC could send their enforcers to drug plagued neighborhoods and issue summonses to treacherous drug dealers.

Aveais Essex

Fine, I'll say it.

Obvious troll is obvious.

Mr. Know-It-All

Totally uncalled for. whitecastlerock may be a cynic, but he most certainly is not a troll.

whitecastlerock

yeah try commenting on the fucking article troll...

PTG in nyc

Who cares? Although most people who ride in taxis tend not to own cars, it's obvious that most car owners talk and text all they damn well please without being pounced on by the pigs, so leave the damn cabbies alone.

These guys all drive like nuts anyway, and not being allowed to talk to their families back in the Eastern Hemisphere is only going to make them more hostile on the road, regardless of any positive increase in their ability to pay attention to what's going on.

Also, if these guys get bored enough, then they're more likely to talk to me, which makes me cringe. I've never had a conversation with a cabby without getting into an argument, and I sure as shit don't look forward to increasing the frequency of that.

And for gods sake LaliP, it's your right to tip poorly (although cheap), but don't report the guy for breaking the rules, unless for some crazy reason you've never broken any in your entire life.

LaliP

took a cab friday night and the guy talked the entire duration of my 20 minute ride. wanted to ask him had he not heard the new rule but wouldn't shut up long enough for me to ask. i wrote down his info. want to report but he smiled at me even though i gave him a meager tip.

Tower18

In one particular cab ride about 2 weeks ago, the cab driver actually shushed me while I was telling him my destination, so he could finish his cell phone conversation first.

ur doing it rong

was in a cab saturday and dude was talking on the phone

virgilstarkwell

i take a ton of cabs and have never had a cab driver "go nuts on me" for using a credit card.

puppy34

Well, it happens...A lot. I'm happy that you've never experienced it.

infomofo

I was pretty amazed- took 3 cabs this weekend, none of them were using their cell phones, and I paid for 2 of the cab rides with credit cards, and they didn't go nuts on me.