I just received an email (from SWCrowell) in reference to, among other
things, partitions in taxi cabs...I am taking the liberty of adding my two
cents to the discussion, as one who has driven my yellow mobile conveyance
lounge (my taxi) on the streets of NYC for more than thirty years.
The
partition is worthless and dangerous. Like all things done in relation to
taxicabs in New York City, it was created by the corrupt Taxi and Limousine
Commission here in NYC which is headed by a lady who is a political appointee
who knows absolutely nothing about the industry.
I invite
any one of you to come ride with me in the right front seat of my taxi in the
wee hours of the morning when it is pure terror. The partition is a joke.
Gavin DeBecker,
"Weak security improvements -
including those you might make in your own life - are sometimes worse than
doing nothing at all because they give false peace of mind and convince people
that safety is being addressed when it is not. Poorly designed security fools
everyone...except the attacker."
1985 TLC Regs. for
cabs - page 6 of 11 (New York City Cab
rules)
{DIDN'T YOU CLAIM THAT THE PARTITION REQ. STARTED IN 1996?}
5. SECURITY:
a. Provision
shall be made for installing a partition approved by the TLC which would
isolate the driver from the rear seat passengers.
b. Vehicles
which substantially exceed minimum interior dimensional requirements and come
from the factory already equipped with bullet resistant partitions that meet
the requirements of this specification, may be exempt from this
specification. The request for exemption
must be in writing to the TLC and must be made by the vehicle manufacturer or
his authorized representative.
c. A 0.085 in.
thick plate of ballistic steel capable of stopping a .45 cal. A.C.P. should be
installed inside the back-rest of the front seat. The protective plate shall cover the complete
back-rest area (top to bottom-side to side), which is exposed to the rear seat
compartment.
d. Provision shall be made for installing an approved
lockbox in a location which does not interfere with the driver or occupants.
Dianne McGrath McKechnie - NYTLC Commissioner,
"You are quite correct when you say in your letter that
the issues you raise are more complicated than one may assume at first glance.
My understanding is that the partition program has worked quite well since
being instituted, but if there are issues that may question this view of its
effectiveness, I assure that it can and will be looked at with an analytical
eye.
I am afraid that I do not have the luxury of time to respond
to your rather long correspondence on a point by point basis, but I do wish to
convey our thanks for sharing your concerns with us."
Mrs. McGrath-McKechnie also said - that when it came to avoiding injuries from the
partition the most
important preventative measure was to have passengers wear
their seat belts."
New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial,
"After consultation with the Police Chief and the
District Attorney, I am strongly considering proposing an ordinance to the City
Council as soon as possible to require that all cab owners install protective
shields in their cabs."
New Orleans Criminal Justice Commissioner - Bridget Bane,
"After careful study and deliberation, it is the
conclusion of this task force to recommend to the Honorable Marc H. Morial that
he strongly consider proposing an ordinance to the City Council which will
require that protective shields be installed in taxicabs in New Orleans in
order to help stop the assaults, robberies and murders perpetrated against
cabdrivers in New Orleans."
New Orleans Times-Picayune 8/24/97,
"Looking for reasons why requiring bulletproof shields
in taxis is a bad idea? That's easy. They would block the flow of cool air to
the backseat, leaving passengers wilted in New Orleans heat. They would block
the flow of friendly conversation between drivers and their customers. That
would muzzle some highly entertaining goodwill ambassadors. They're expensive,
which would put a financial burden on drivers.
They aren't an assurance of protection. A determined
assailant could come at a driver through a front-seat window or the windshield.
Those are legitimate arguments against Mayor MoriaI's push
to require the shields. But all of them together can't overcome the best
argument for them: 12 New Orleans cabbies murdered in the past three years;
four this year, and two this month."
Stanley F. Adelman, Chief Counsel, Mass. Dept. of Public
Safety,
"A special case is presented by those taxi cabs where
removal of the shoulder restraint has to install a security partition. It would
not appear that removal of the should a taxi cab partition would run afoul of
the seat belt law. However, the front lap belt equipment would have to remain
to assure at least minimal compliance with the statute."
"Nothing in this memo is intended to diminish or dilute
the requirement that shoulder restraints be used in private cars or in taxis
where the partition does not require removal shoulder restraint."
Frank Armstrong, Motor Vehicle Safety Compliance Enforcement
Section Director, USDOT 6/33/84 letter to partition manufacturers,
"Dear
Sir: It has come to the attention of this office that you may be in violation
of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 by the manner in
which you are installing partitions in taxicabs and/or police cruisers."
Frank Armstrong, Motor Vehicle Safety Compliance Enforcement
Section Director, USDOT 6/33/84 letter to a manufacturer of certified complying
partitions,
A copy of
our letter to those alterers that you listed is enclosed. As explained in the conversation, the only
provable violations at this time, based on information that you have supplied,
is the removal of restraint systems under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) No. 208 and Improper glazing material being sold in violation of FM~~SS
No. 205. Proof of a violation of the
others would require testing by the Government. Because of our limited testing
budget, the number of vehicles involved, and the controversial trade-off of
occupant safety for the safety of the vehicle operator from assailants, we have
no plans to test the involved vehicles for violations of other FMVSS to which
you refer. We are also enclosing a copy
of our letter to Captain Cadegan regarding the subject. We do not anticipate
any further action by this office at this time unless we find continuing
violations after those involved have received our letter.
Frank Armstrong, Motor Vehicle Safety Compliance Enforcement
Section Director, USDOT 6/33/84 letter to the Boston Police Department Hackney
Division Commander, Captain Arthur Cadegan;
It is our
understanding that when the partition is installed, the front restraint systems
(seat belts and/or upper torso restraints) are removed. Although it is conceded
that it is not a violation of Federal law to operate the vehicles without
restraint Systems, it is recommended that consideration be given to requiring
the systems as part of your taxi inspection program.
New York Times 7/20/98 - Chris Drew,
"Four years ago
we were at the height of a crime rate against taxi drivers in New York City,
Since then robberies and murders of cabdrivers have plummeted along with other
crimes. But injuries in taxi accidents have increased in part because riders
have been hurled face first against the partitions with many suffering
concussions or broken bones. Or in some cases jagged disfiguring facial cuts
form the metal hinges and screws that hold the partition in place.
While no statistics are kept on the percentage of passenger
injuries caused by partitions, some doctors, personal injury lawyers and safety
experts are pressing for changes in their design to reduce the risk and
severity of injuries."
New York Post 7/5/1998,
"Of course, hardly anyone took the advice of Joan
Rivers, Jackie Mason or Dr. Ruth seriously and actually wore a seat belt in the
back of a cab. This is unfortunate, because the damage inflicted when a human
face smashes into one of those taxi partitions can be catastrophic. Just ask
any of the ambulance-chasing lawyers who represent injured passengers. The
irony is that seat belts in the back of a cab wouldn't be necessary if it
weren't for the partitions that make riding in many yellow cabs both
uncomfortable and dangerous.
The partitions became mandatory in 1994 after five
yellow-cab drivers were murdered - a wrongheaded regulatory response to a crime
wave. Since the wonders of the crime drop were a few years in the future, the
TLC decided that the solution to violence against cab drivers was to isolate
the drivers behind "bullet-resistant" plastic.
Before this paternalistic regulation, it was up to
individual cab owners whether a divider would be in their best interests. And
there is no convincing evidence that these unsightly, knee-crushing,
not-truly-bulletproof partitions ever made a genuine difference to cab-driver
safety. But they have broken many a nose, fractured jaws and shattered
cheekbones, on the plentiful occasions when drivers had to slam on the brakes.
Now that crime statistics have plummeted, there really is no
reason whatsoever to keep this regulation on the books. And obviously any cab
without a partition should be exempt from the requirement to play annoying
celebrity messages. And that would be an immense improvement in the quality of
life for cabbies and passengers alike."
New York Times 8/28/99,
"An upper East Side woman died yesterday when the cab
she was riding in jumped a curb on E. 42nd St., careened across a sidewalk and
slammed into an office building. Passenger Mara Bitros struck her head on the
taxi's plexiglass partition after the runaway cab hurtled into a stone pillar
at the entrance to 150 E. 42nd St., police said. The driver was seriously
injured. Frightened bystanders dived for their lives at 4:11 p.m. as the
speeding cab knocked a concrete planter off its base and then sent a bench
flying 100 feet down the sidewalk."
Maureen Dowd column dated 3/398,
Rudolph Giuliani, says he' does not like those stupid
celebrity voices in the cabs. But he claims they get more people to buckle up.'
Dr. Seth Manoach, 12/29/98,
"The plexiglas partition that seperates the front and
back of the cab, protruding change dish, and metal border can cause serious
injury in an accident."
"Sit in one of the seats with shoulder and lap belts.
The middle seats don't have them and during a front-end collision, your head is
going to come forward and hit the barrier."
Ernest Tollerson, New York Times Editor 7/27/98
"The bullet-proof partitions between the front and back
seats of most medallion taxis appear to have done wonders for New York's cab
drivers. "
"Lately, most public discussion of how to balance the
driver's security with the passenger's has revolved around how to design a
less-lethal partition. The Taxi and Limousine Commission's belief in the
partition as a crime deterrent, though understandable, has crowded out serious
consideration of experimenting with the technological options favored by cab
companies elsewhere. "
"Taxi riders in New York who have been injured by
partitions rarely make the evening news. Their anonymous suffering should not
relieve the commission of its responsibility to move quickly."
Eugene Rodriguez - NYTLC Ombudsman, 10/31/95,
"No driver has ever been murdered in a cab with a
locked safety shield! In the twenty years that safety have been installed in
the cars of the Metropolitan Taxi Board of Trade, an organization of the largest
fleets in New York City, no driver has been killed!
Nobody in their right mind can argue with this record of
success. Anyone who does is just being penny wise and pound foolish with their
driver's lives. In my opinion, any owner who does not provide a safety shield
for his drivers is at the very least cheap and greedy, and at best, criminally
negligent. I cannot find words strong enough to describe people who oppose the
use of safety shields. Foolish is not strong enough. Negligent is just a little
better. Murder is about as close as I can come. Safety shields save lives and
you can look it up!"
New York Times 6/14/98,
"A 50-year-old Manhattan woman was killed early
yesterday morning after the taxicab she was travelling in was struck head-on by
a drunken driver on Central Park West, the police said.
The woman, Geraldine Clark of 250 West 138th St., was
pronounced dead at the scene, after her body was pulled from the wreckage of
the cab that had been demolished by a 1998 Range Rover."
"It was not clear why Penn, who was sitting in the back
seat, was killed in the head-on crash while the driver suffered
much-less-serious injuries. Initial reports said Penn was trapped beneath the
taxi's plexiglass partition."
Tim Ray, Monee, IL police officer,
" PASSENGER IN YOUR CAR WHO LIKES TO RUN HIS MOUTH, PUT
HIM ON THE PASSENGER SIDE WHERE THE WIRE SCREEN IS, AND WHILE HE IS RUNNING HIS
MOUTH TELL HIM THAT YOU CAN'T HEAR HIM SO HE GETS RIGHT UP TO IT, AND WHEN HIS
FACE GETS RIGHT THERE, SLAM ON YOUR BRAKES, I GUARANTEE IT SHUTS THEM UP EVERY
TIME. OH, IF HE ASKS WHY YOU DID THAT, TELL HIM YOU WERE AVOIDING AN ANIMAL
CROSSING THE ROAD."
Unknown officer,
"So, uh, on the way down there he started raising hell
and beating on the back of the cage, and kicking the cage and kicking the
windows and all this sh**t, so I said "Oh, Goddam, look at that
dog!!" and I slammed on the brakes and that summbich ate half of my
screen.
So, he got outta the jail and he had bruises on his forehead
and bruises on his cheek..."
Boston Globe;
Mayor Raymond L. Flynn, yesterday (1984) reiterated his
opposition to cabbies carrying firearms for their own protection to a group of
Boston cab drivers and cab company representatives.
Promising to do "everything in my power" to
protect the drivers, Flynn, nevertheless, said he was "against the
proliferation of guns or the licensing of guns,"
Frank Armstrong,
" Because of our limited testing budget, the number of
vehicles involved, and the controversial trade-off of occupant safety for the
safety of the vehicle operator from assailants, we have no plans to test the
involved vehicles for violations of other FMVSS to which you refer."
Charles Barry,
"In reviewing your attachments, it appears that federal
enforcement of their safety standards is limited to written notice to alterers,
thus making enforcement, short of court action, seem toothless."
Steve Crowell,
When it is observed that;
Cab driver murders continue to occur with partition use,
Partition use actually offers the assailant unprecedented
protection from driver combativeness,
Partition use in cabs means that assailants will no longer
use less deadly weapons (such as brute force, implied weapons or knives),
With partitions, most robbery attempts are done with a gun.
Guns are much more frequently fatal.
The cab regulators are willfully and knowingly attempting to
lead naïve cab drivers to a feeling of false security - with the claim that the
partition is bulletproof,
In fact the plastic would have to be three times thicker
than the 3/8" material used - in order to be actually bullet resistant.
Even if it was able to stop bullets, assailants rarely shoot at the strongest
window in the car.
Occupant injury is more frequent and more severe with cab
partitions,
Death in those collisions is more frequent,
The USDOT issued letters of warning to partition
manufacturers in 1984,
Violations subsequent to letters of warning may be construed
as criminal violations,
Increased bodily injury losses accompanied by decreases in
property damage losses results in rewards for insurance companies who ignore
the causes of losses,
Then;
The partition manufacturers should be penalized in
accordance with USDOT sanctions for continuing violations. The total in fines
should exceed tens millions of dollars.
Cab regulators should be penalized in accordance with USDOT
sanctions for violations of USDOT law.
Cab regulators should be charged with aiding and abetting
the murder of cab drivers. It is time for some justice regarding the parties
responsible for the deaths of drivers who may have relied on the bullet
resistance of the shield to protect him/her.
Cab regulators should also be charged with depraved
indifference because of the collision deaths that partitions have caused and
reckless endangerment for the injuries that occur from collisions. It is time
for some justice regarding the parties responsible for the collision deaths of
any occupants.
Insurance companies should be charged with RICO statute
violations. Ongoing criminal activity is actually increasing profits for the
insurers of cabs with partitions.
State Inspection Agencies have ignored violations of
occupant safety requirements for years and should be informed.
The report on taxi partition use viability is totally bogus.
The statistics shown in the 1997 STC report by Prof. Stone of NCSU how no
decline in assault and a 200% increase in cab driver murder occurred. However,
the conclusion of the report is that partitions are viable!
There is only one way will cease my pusuit to nail the TLC
and anyone in it for these violations. You had better start a dialogue with me
about partitions!
Comments Submitted on Sun Jun 11 14:37:36 2000
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