News Flash: Cabbies Unhappy About Harsher Cell Phone Rules

News Flash: Cabbies Unhappy About Harsher Cell Phone Rules: "

Photograph by dietrich on Flickr

After yesterday's announcement that the TLC will be cracking down on cellphone using cabbies, people on both sides of the plastic partition are not happy. Many drivers insist they use their cellphones responsibly and should not be punished. 'My wife is home with cancer,' one driver tells the New York Times, "If my cellphone rings, I’m going to pick it up." The new rules would forbid drivers from using any device capable of non-emergency phone calls, even if they were to pull over. One driver tells the Daily News 'I understand that we can't talk on the phone while we're driving, but to say we can't pull over to take an emergency call...It's like a form of slavery.'

Surprisingly, many passengers aren't too happy about this new ban either. One commenter told us, 'eh let them talk. I'd rather they be jabbering at someone on their phone, rather than trying to talk to ME,' while another didn't care how much his driver talked, as long as he could drive well. Then again, some regaled the wonderful, eccentric cabbie conversations of yesteryear, saying, 'The ones who talk to me (if I'm in the mood to talk) and have some wacky story to tell get a much bigger tip from me.' If neither option seems appealing, you can always get a ride from this guy (that is, until the TLC cracks down on him too!)

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Fail: Defect reportedly causing NYC car registration stickers to unstick

Fail: Defect reportedly causing NYC car registration stickers to unstick: "

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal

Apparently, there have been some two million vehicle registration stickers and another 2.5 million inspection stickers issued this year in New York. No great shakes there - except for the fact that the stickers aren't living up to their names, as they are refusing to securely affix themselves to car windshields. This, as you might imagine, is a bit of a problem since citations for a missing or improperly stuck sticker can cost up to $100.

According to The New York Times, two separate vendors are responsible for the not-so-sticky stickers, and the affected units are being replaced free of charge. It seems, though, that most drivers are taking matters into their own hands by simply using adhesive tape to get the stickers to stay in place in lieu of filing the paperwork for a new one.

Police in New York are reportedly being instructed to be lenient on offenders as long as sufficient evidence is found that the vehicle's owner was affected by the bad batch of stickers. Happen to be one of the owners in question? Click here for instructions on how to get a new inspection sticker and hit the jump for a press release from the New York DMV explaining the issue.

[Source: The New York Times | Image: woody1778a via C.C. 2.0]

Continue reading Fail: Defect reportedly causing NYC car registration stickers to unstick

Fail: Defect reportedly causing NYC car registration stickers to unstick originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Streetfilms: Drivers Behaving Rudely

Streetfilms: Drivers Behaving Rudely: "

Cars blocking crosswalks, drivers failing to yield to pedestrians, unnecessary honking -- New Yorkers have to contend with these violations every day on nearly every corner in the city.

As Streetsblog publisher Mark Gorton says in this Streetfilm, most drivers are not bad or mean people, but few seem to realize how their conduct behind the wheel inconveniences and endangers pedestrians. It's a level of rudeness and carelessness that we tend not to tolerate in other spheres of life, especially when you consider the risks involved in piloting a multi-ton vehicle. New Yorkers can get brusque or nasty on the subway, but you rarely see straphangers engage in behavior that poses an immediate danger to the people around them. So what is it about driving a car that lets people disregard the safety of others?

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UWS Drivers Will Not Feel Need for Speed

UWS Drivers Will Not Feel Need for Speed: "

Google Street View's look at the 'bow-tie'

New Yorkers, fed up with drivers zipping up and down Broadway at breakneck speeds, have demanded a gentler, calmer Upper West Side, and one politician is more than happy to oblige. Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal has proposed placing speed bumps, or new signage, at the Amsterdam-Broadway "bow tie" (the intersection where Amsterdam crosses over the north and southbound lanes of Broadway on 71st Street—the one where a taxi cab drove into a subway station) to slow traffic down, reports WCBS 2.

The area is considered by some to be the epicenter of a pedestrian nightmare. 'You never know when to cross because there's cars coming from three different directions,' Betsy Alpert told WCBS 2. 'So you kinda like wait for the light to say walk and then run!'

But not everyone feels empathy for amblers and bicyclists. One woman sniffed, 'Making it safer for them? They're already supposed to know what they can do and what they can't do. A lot of times when a cyclist gets hit it's his own fault.'

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MTA Czar To Put Cameras On Buses To Catch Lane Blockers

MTA Czar To Put Cameras On Buses To Catch Lane Blockers: "

MTA CEO Jay Walder says this bus lane deserves the same respect as train tracks.

During his first day on the job, new MTA CEO Jay Walder announced a plan to install cameras on the front of city buses to take photos of any vehicles obstructing bus lanes. Like the city's red-light cameras, tickets will be issued automatically. Walder insists the innovation drastically improved the on-time performance of buses in London, where Walder worked before taking over the MTA. In February, the DOT began video surveillance of the 'high-visibility' terra cotta-colored express-bus lanes on 34th Streets, but this would be the first time buses were used for enforcement.

In an interview with WCBS Monday, Walder said, 'You and I would never think of stopping our car on a train track, but some how the idea of stopping a car in a bus lane seems acceptable. It's not.' Absolutely. Now, can we get these cameras for our bicycles to automatically issue tickets to bike lane blockers? Walder plans to implement other new technology in the transit system, including new E-Z swipe cards to ride buses and subways and more countdown clocks to tell you how much longer your beard will grow as you wait for the G.

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Manhattan Bridge Turns 100!

Manhattan Bridge Turns 100!: "

The 6855-foot-long Manhattan Bridge is turning 100! With a newly reopened archway on the Brooklyn side, it's hardly looking like a centenarian, but the ol' girl's been through a lot, and has a fairly flawed history behind her. The construction for the bridge began in October of 1901, but wasn't open to traffic until December 31, 1909. Once it was put to use, Time Out notes it was realized that designer Leon Moisseiff "didn’t incorporate sufficient support, and placed the subway and streetcar lines on the outer edges of the roadway, putting too much strain on the deck."

While the bridge may sway, it isn't falling down anytime soon. And now that it's at the tail end of a massive reconstruction project, perhaps it's finally time to celebrate it.

This weekend, and through the 11th, you can take part in the celebration through a series of events; including parades, walking and bike tours, and fireworks! Full details can be found here.

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$120 The Going Rate or An Unlicensed Taxi Hell Ride From JFK

$120 The Going Rate or An Unlicensed Taxi Hell Ride From JFK: "

Unlicensed cab drivers are charging tourists $120 a pop for a ride from the airports to Manhattan, and Inside Edition is mad as hell about it. In one of their priceless hidden camera exposés, airing tonight at 6 p.m., the show's muckrakers put their lives on the line to show you what you hopefully already knew: shady individuals are preying on people at the airport.

In June, a group of French tourists got taken on a crazy, high-speed chase when cops moved in on one of the illegal livery van drivers, but that doesn't seem to have deterred the grifter hacks. In the Inside Edition segment, an undercover producer posing as a French tourist is approached by one of the drivers at JFK and offered a ride to Manhattan for $65. (By law, it's supposed to cost $45.) But as they approach Manhattan, the driver announces that the price has gone up to $85, and when they reach the destination, he tells the producer to make it an even $120.

The highlight is when the producer angrily confronts the driver, and the driver promises, "I’m going to stop doing it…'cause it’s against the law." But then they catch him hustling tourists again at the airport the following week! That lifestyle's just too tempting. One producer thought he had a relatively good deal when a JFK hustler offered him a ride to Manhattan for $65, but 'the driver ignored every traffic law imaginable and reached speeds as high as 70 miles an hour on the expressway at the height of rush hour by driving recklessly in the breakdown lane.' Which just shows that you can't skimp on illegal cabs.

According to the report, security guards at the airports don't do anything to stop the drivers from swooping down on tourists 'like vultures.' A new law is awaiting the governor's signature that will make the crime a misdemeanor; as it stands now first-time offenders can only be fined.

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