Rules ban all driver phone calls
The city is dropping the hammer on gabby cabbies.
Defiant hacks glued to their cellphones and other distracting devices are about to get slapped by a sweeping overhaul of TLC rules, which will forbid the use of all electronics while cabs are in motion, The Post has learned.
Even the most popular ruse — keeping a hands-free device in an ear and claiming it’s “turned off” — will also be outlawed under the stringent new laws, said Taxi and Limousine Commissioner Matthew Daus.
The ramped-up regulations will come with skyrocketed fines and a three-strikes-and-yer-out system in which repeat offenders will have their licenses revoked, the TLC will propose at a meeting today.
Approval is a near-certainty, and the rules will go into effect by the end of the year, officials said.
“The time has come to put an end to cellphone abuse once and for all,” Daus said, adding the rules will ensure that “all drivers keep their eyes on the road and their hands upon the wheel.”
Current laws only ban talking on cellphones.
They will now be expanded to include any technology capable of making non-emergency phone calls, texting, playing music, taking pictures or distracting the driver in any manner while the cab is moving. GPS units are exempt if they are voice activated.
Even a cab stopped at a red light will be subject to the rules, which require that the vehicle be parked before such devices can be used. The regulations will apply to all TLC drivers, including taxis, liveries, limousines and commuter vans.
“Every driver will be prohibited from even wearing a Bluetooth device on their ears and after three strikes will be out of our industry and off the road,” Daus said.
The penalties for violators will get harsher each time they’re caught and convicted within a 15-month time frame.
Strike one results in a fine much higher than the current $200 plus a mandatory TLC “refresher” course.
Strike two will result in a suspended license, an even higher fine and another refresher course. Strike three and they’re out. Licenses will be revoked and drivers will receive the highest fine yet.
There will be a public hearing on the new rules before they go to a vote by the TLC board in November or December.
Passengers will be reminded in a new campaign that they can demand that drivers hang up or notify authorities.
Riders around the city said the sweeping reform was long overdue.
“It pisses me off when a cabdriver’s on his cellphone. I wonder if he’s driving safely,” said Joe Weinberg, 57, an accountant.
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lwilliams 10.16.09 at 2:46 pm
This is really unfair! I usually don’t talk on my cell phone, but when I have passengers who are chatty, or are engaged in lloooooonng boring conversations, I usually put my Ipod on to drown them out. I don’t know what I will do now. Having to hear my passengers conversations is stressful for me, and I find that I will speed to get them to their destinations quicker.
What can we do as drivers to get that Pr*ck Daus out of office?? He is making one bad choice after another.
anon 10.17.09 at 2:11 pm
FINALLY! I have had so many scary trips because drivers weren’t paying attention.
thupten 10.17.09 at 3:44 pm
Why only cab driver. If it is about safety passenger should not use their cell while they are riding cab because they distrace drivers too. what about regular car? If it i bout safety. To be honest this is just to harrast cab driver andmake money. thats all. tlc is most crul and corupt. We the cab driver hate Tlc. they are our worse enmy. they never do anything to help our bussiness. they are looter. they want our hard earn money free
gurjit 10.17.09 at 4:30 pm
I been driving my cab for about 4 years and never received a fine from the tlc or the police. I think this new rule is important because lets face it we the cab drivers get bored all day driving and its worst if the its slow and then we turn to the phone all day bla bla bla guys put down the phones and theipods and think about the road.
CreditCardCabbie 10.17.09 at 9:07 pm
Who cares about cabdrivers? Anyway, are more serious issues out there, than drivers talking on the cell phones. Spot the cabdriver with the headphone set, and give him 200 dollar fines are pretty easy and profitable. There is 4 times more drivers than available taxi cabs to lease. So if you wanted to drive a cab with the phone, you may give up your job to the next new cabbie, and that makes the industry more profitable! They reward you with more rules and heavier fines every year! I wonder how any cabdriver can fully function, and keep up with these new rules in the air tight, partitioned small hybrid taxis for 12 hours a day and listen to that annoying Cab-TV! This environment in your cab is well designed for one thing, and that is to make more money. The poor cabdriver who just got the summons, racing like a hell to grab the next passenger, to pay the ever increasing bills or became homeless. Again, who cares about cabdrivers! We should, and this is OUR JOB to let the TLC know, there is an a lot more problem than drivers on the phone when they drive. Drivers need their phone, but in some cases, we should be able to use it, without fines! Specially, in emergency, or when someone forgot their phone and the phone rings in the cab, and the driver must answer that phone, to return it to the rightful passenger!
lwilliams 10.19.09 at 5:48 pm
Good point CreditCardCabbie:
This new rule will get rid of a lot of gabby drivers, and will leave room for those of us who know what we’re doing and know how to behave in a professional manner.
dabeer 10.19.09 at 11:19 pm
Let’s just face it because of stupid people every 1 else gets screwed too. I am
Driving a cab fro 5 years , I am always on the phone ,I still to date thank god
Have no accident. I can not drive a cab without the phone it gets so boring
And I am sure it is not good mentally. Think about it mr williams. You must not
Have any 1 to talk too. Hey all I know is I feel bad for a guy coming to work dissconnected from friends ans family thinking about making the lease money. then the money for himself and the gas ,a guy like this will definately go crazy. Dude you don’t want to do it don’t but don’t make it hard for every1 else. If it is so dangerous why not bann this for regular cars too. They are way more the the cabs. Please write about this to the mayor. Let him know how you feel. Why all this for cab drivers? Are we not humans? Law should be same for all drivers.
CreditCardCabbie 10.20.09 at 8:46 pm
Today, about 12:30 PM driving down on 5th Ave, I show my sign to a fellow cabdriver to listen to 91.5 FM! I noticed he was on the cell phone, talking steadily while he had a passenger in the back! The traffic signal changed and we both heading down on 5th Ave. At 40th street the light changed into red, but the talking cabbie ran true that red light!!! I see this type of driving behavior with the cell phones every day! His medallion number was 3Y31 !
RadioFreeTaxi 10.24.09 at 6:38 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtBWlwCV1i8&feature=channel
Driver 11 10.25.09 at 11:18 am
Bluetooth head set prevent radiation
RadioFreeTaxi 10.25.09 at 3:55 pm
Driver 11! It sounds good for the company who sells bluetooth head set, but not for me. Drivers who listen to Gary Null on 91.5 FM, they’re ahead of the curve! When you drive “prevent” yourself from the radiation, and the HEAVY FINES, the bluetooth won’t save you!
billa bakra 10.27.09 at 8:25 pm
i think this is totally bullshit…….nobody treat cab driver as a human being which is so wrong. Bloomberg and Matthew daus are only making strategies to harass cabbies and make more money for themselves. 95% OF OUR PASSENGER ARE ON PHONE DISCUSSING THEIR WORK ISSUES AND PRIVATE LIFES WHICH IS BELIEVE IS DISTRACTINGFOR A CAB DRIVER SO THERE SHD BE EQUAL RULE FOR EVERYBODY……
Driver 11 10.28.09 at 12:00 pm
Gary Null is full of hocus pocus and there is more than 5 times the cell phone radiation coming from the taxi gps!
RadioFreeTaxi 10.28.09 at 7:49 pm
Driver 11, you’re absolutely right, yes there is EMR from the (GPS) cab-TV, and should be magnetically shielded! And of course from the satellite antenna, that seats almost top of the drivers head! They couldn’t find a safer area on top of the cab.
RadioFreeTaxi 10.28.09 at 8:01 pm
About Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR)
http://www.nzine.co.nz/features/neilcherry.html
ambulette drvr 10.29.09 at 1:38 pm
All of you people are talking about taxis. How about ambulette drivers who depend on their nextel radios all the time? This is rediculous. If I’m driving on the highway and there is a problem, according to the new law I need to PARK and then talk on the radio. Unfortunately not all highways have rest stops. I can’t just stop on the emergency lane and usew the radio because I’m STANDING, NOT PARKED. Aslo I need to report to the dispatcher that I am free or picked up a patient, 80 % of the time there is no parking whether I drop off or pick somebody up. Usually I drive elderly people and if something happens, first I need to find parking, then report it over the radio and then try to help myself. What if a person dies and will not be able sleep at night, will Bloomberg and TL&C pay the moral damages to me? I know I am exaggerating, so are TLC withthis law.
P.S. Oh, almost forgot, will tlc reimburse me for my $100 bluetooth that I bought in case I get an emergency call for ex. from my mom or dad, or my elderly grandfather? I can imagine how many lawsuites will be against tlc when unanswered call lead to a fatality.
Driver 11 10.31.09 at 10:57 pm
About Gary Null
http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/null.html
aamir 11.03.09 at 3:01 am
hi dear readers, I drive Cab for about 9 yrs or so, I have notice that most to my passanger get into my cab they start talking on the PHONE when they geting out they HANG UP. They talk bullshit mostly and talk LOUD.
DEAR DRIVERS keep your Partition CLOSE all the time, Treat your passangers like Prisoners, DONT Talk to them, DONT answer their stupied questions, Example: when they ask you How you much you make ?
Your answer: Not enough cuz people dont pay tips,
Example #2: when passager ask how much is the F—ing fare to JFK ?
Your answer: It’s on the door ,get the F— off the cab and read it.
Naver wait for passanger, always tell them it’s illegal to wait on NO PARKING ZONE, BRING LAW in your conversation ALWAYS
DONT TALK TO ANY F—ing passanger, passanger who talk they are cheap,
good luck
CreditCardCabbie 11.08.09 at 4:15 pm
You must see this video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MhR_iRMvpc
Jimmy 01.31.10 at 1:00 am
” “It pisses me off when a cabdriver’s on his cellphone. I wonder if he’s driving safely,” said Joe Weinberg, 57, an accountant.”
So, you are talking on your phone and not paying attention to him??? ROFL
marc wojak 04.14.10 at 12:21 am
You as a driver consumer are a slave extraordinare. You as a passenger consumer are held captive, not by the driver, but by the very city officials that protect and profit from the taxi racket. The very people you complain to. It’s really kind of funny watching you New Yorkers, that think you know it all, whine to the fox that is watching the hen house! You stupid, stupid people. Before you de-regulate, understand what regulatory is. Think about it on your own. You will discover that it is not a regulated industry in the first place. It’s a legalized racket. And, the worse off the taxi industry is the better a “limo” looks. Often for the same price if not less! Think about it!