NYC cabbies could have cellphone use blocked while driving... but probably not
By Laura June 
posted Apr 14th 2009 8:36PM
posted Apr 14th 2009 8:36PM
The Taxi and Limousine Commission of New York City (also known as the TLC) is considering some changes to the way that taxis and their drivers will operate in the future as part of its "Taxicab Passenger Enhancement Program." Among the wild ideas being floated is one that would "block" anyone in the front seat from using a cellphone -- most notably, of course -- the driver. Driving while using a handset is already illegal in New York, but this measure would apparently kill the ability to use a hands-free device as well. The TLC is trying to have an open discussion with New Yorkers on its website about other possible ways to make taxi rides more... enjoyable "in the future." We're betting this one will never happen but hey -- you never know. Our suggestion? Stop acting like we asked you to cart us to the gates of hell when we tell you we need to go to Brooklyn.
[Via WCBS]
[Via WCBS]
haha
they could also have their body odor blocked by using deodorant...but probably not
I have never been in a cab in NYC when the cabbie was NOT on the phone. BAN THEM
True dat.. I'm in LA and it happens all the time, even when I travel to Chicago or wherever.. It's always "Blah blah blah" in some other language and they have to talk super loud to get their point across it seems. They should be paying me to put up with the shit.
Why don't you try driving around for over 12 hours a day making next to nothing, and see if you feel the same way.
Taxi drivers are just trying to make their boring jobs a little more interesting.
@What a surprise
How about no? Taxi driving is their job. Just because their job is boring doesn't mean they should be allowed to do something rude, annoying and in some (most, at least here in NYC) cases illegal because they're not using a handset.
For comparison, name one other job that allows talking on the phone for non-work-related conversations; that's right, not even the shittiest jobs as a janitor in the zoo would allow it, so why would they allow it when hurtling down a busy street five miles per hour over the speed limit, with a few peoples lives in your hands? It just doesn't make sense. I have no sympathy for rude taxi-drivers. Sometimes I come across one that's nice, and I get to talk to him, learn about him, his country, the family he's supporting. Honestly though, I'm not going to stand for someone being rude, obnoxious and distracted. When a passenger is in the cab, a cab-drivers one and only job is to get them to the location they are going safely, efficiently and comfortable. Hearing a loud, one-sided conversation is unsafe, inefficient and uncomfortable.
So yeah, how about... no?
you want them talking to you instead? Is that better or worse than just dying in a crash...but not being talked to by the cabbie?
@mabhatter: you say that like it isn't a possibility. i was across the street when this happened:
http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1999/08/28/1999-08-28_woman_dies_in_taxi_crash__ca.html
it takes a person's full concentration to drive 80 mph down a crowded street while also intoxicated. they shouldn't be talking on the phone.
@greg
Well I don't like the idea of people on the phone while they drive me around, but to answer your question...
The lady who cleans our research offices and the adjacent areas around the synchrotron talks on her phone all day and it's cool
You mail carrier usually is always on the phone and they don't seem to get reprimanded.
I saw the water meter guy checking meters today on a segway and he was on his phone too.
Now none of these people were driving except for segway guy, but I'm afraid you can't use that argument. Just sayin'...
cab drivers in Boston are on the phone all the damn time too. that shit is just an accident waiting to happen. especially when you get one of those drivers who likes to scream into their headsets, as if talking wasn't enough...
I think not travelling in a taxi where the driver hates their job would be what I'm looking for.
Well then, legalize marihuana.
It's legal in Denver. But that really just means you can't be stopped by a city cop if you have less than 2 ounces, but it's all over if a state cop catches you. At least that's my understanding of the law.
I got another one...PICK UP BLACK PEOPLE.
now that's just crazytalk!
Here Here !! i agree!!! Now imagine a black man living in brooklyn. I just decided to get a car a drive in myself. only smells i have to deal with are coming out of my own orifices !!!!
Aren't Brooklyn and The Gates of Hell synonyms?
You are thinking of the gates of gehenna maybe.
The next stage in the Taxicab Passenger Enhancement Program- ban the color yellow. T_T Hey. it is about as plausible as banning the phones....
Good, that the way it should be. They suck at driving to begin with not to mention they cant speak english. Nothing worse that driving in a taxi with someone who doesn't speak english blabbing away on a cellphone thinking your going to die. BAN THE CELLPHONES!!!!
Apparently you can't speak english either.
What about emergencies?
Well all they have to do is hop in the back seat.
i totally agree, you tell a cab driver you are going any where but within Manhattan and the cab drivers freak or will drive off. It sucks, i have had hundreds of taxi's in my time wiz away when i tell him i am going to queens or brooklyn
I don't know about New York, but in Chicago we tend to get in the Taxi before we tell the cab driver where we want them to go.
Yeah dude, I'm a New Yorker, born and raised... who the hell tells the driver where they want to go _BEFORE_ they get in?!
HAHAHAahA thats funny.. Ive never heard of people asking the driver "are you headed tat direction?"
Heres how its done on earth:
Step 1: Hail cab.
Step 2: Get in said cab.
Step 3: Vocalize your destination to the vehicle operator.
they won't get a good fare back into town, and worse probably stuck in traffic for half their shift.. i.e. not making money.
@mabhatter
So what? Yeah I respect their right to make money, but as a taxi your job is to drive a person to a requested destination within their AO, so why do I have to be sensitive about the fact that they will be stuck in traffic on their way back? It's a little like saying we shouldn't make combat pilots fly over hostile areas because they will be lit up by SAM sites that could potentially ruin their day.
Drive me where I want to go.
This wouldn't be a horrible thing, but I've never minded if my cab driver spoke on the phone
Why don't you try driving around for over 12 hours a day making next to nothing, and see if you feel the same way.
Taxi drivers are just trying to make their boring jobs a little more interesting.
And in other substandard jobs you're allowed to talk on the phone while working the clock? Taxi drivers get away with it because they have no manager around the corner to bust them and the customers who get pissed by it aren't going to do much about it beyond making a phone call.
They should get CB radios and talk to other drivers. That would be much more "interesting".
Who are they even talking to for 9+ hours anyway?
^^
NYC Cab drivers should talk less on the phone, it is all about etiquette. But I don't think banning it from the front of the car is necessary.
The best one has to be not a post, but the day engadget mobile copied t mobile's logo after they complained it looked similar.
I think you're on the wrong post.
Telecommunications stocks plummet and world chaos ensues. Oh wait that's already happening...
Brooklyn ......What about asking them to go to Staten Island i have had them throw me out.
This would hurt Cash Cab.
I have a better way...let drivers keep money because they own a car, licensed yearly to city, as a partnership with a franchise from the city to honor a cashless system of prepaid, reloadable card that customers can access down to seeing a dispatch screen and call their own nearest driver. We launch next week. It is designed with customers first (service) then the drivers (financial and physical). Split after start-up plan to drivers have the streets and gov has control of service through cards. We get out. Reform. Only losers are those that would restrict all technological possibilities to benefit only themselves. Even among the drivers themselves in co-op models. This is straight business screened and monitored primarily by natural market forces and some vehicle safety oversight.
Jebus, these taxi drivers must have unlimited minutes or something. I would hope so, at least.
Put the damn drivers in a fucking faraday cage...
In the Seattle area, it's illegal to talk on the phone while driving without a hands-free headset...
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to apply to the cabbies, who are always babbling in farsi with their phones shoved against their heads while they run red lights, and zip through crowded city streets at mach 8 while completely missing the place you wanted to stop at.
For people whose jobs it is to drive, they do it as wrong as humanly possible.
it's lack of attention, familiarity breeds contempt... cops drive the same way too.
From Wikipedia:
"Taxi drivers are not permitted to use cell phones while transporting passengers, even if they use a hands-free headset."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_New_York_City
Is this not already the law?
It doesn't really matter if it is the law because driving and talking on your phone without being a cabbie is also against the law... but no one follows it.
The fact of the matter is that part of your rights as a passenger are that you can ask the driver to end his phone call among pretty much anything else. You can ask them to stop driving like a lunatic and you can also ask them to turn the radio off. Hell, I once had a cab driver close my window on me "because he had the A/C on" I told him it is not my problem and that he needs to lower the window... he did. They do what you say because they have to, but hell, if it isn't bothering you why should you bother them?
They should have Brooklyn to Manhattan and vice versa cabs... in a different color. And also Queens to Manhattan and vice versa... in a third color. That would be smart.
Brooklyn? Try telling a cabbie you're going to Forest Hills.
I missed the part where there's a switch to re-enable it when there's a crash and the driver needs to call 911...
How about not expecting a tip.
I had a driver who refused to open the trunk containing my luggage until i gave him 5 bucks.