LEAVE THEM ALONE:
Any wonder that large numbers of NYC cabbies are GETTING CITED for using hands-free electronic devices? What the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission fails to understand is that cabbies, like chauffeurs, rely on the devices to communicate and conduct business. The TLC needs to consider THE EVIDENCE THAT HANDS-FREE DEVICES are far safer that MANUAL cell phones and texting devices, which should be banned behind the wheel.
Let's hope common sense prevails at the federal level with pending distracted driving legislation in the U.S. Congress that should allow hands-free electronic devices but ban the manual ones for commercial drivers, a reasonable pro-business position supported by the National Limousine Association. Such a law, however, would need a provision overriding the little local techno-nannies of New York. -- M.R.
Print | posted on Thursday, May 13, 2010 8:33 AM