2) A Spring Taxi driver (Winnipeg, Manitoba) of 14 years, who didn't want to be named, has had a full shield since October. “I find it makes no difference and it's harder to driver because it reflects, cause it reflects everything that's in front of you when you do shoulder checks. So it's taking away from the actual driving," she said.
3) While some cities require cab drivers be separated from their fares by a protective window, Dennis Lebeau said Roach's Yellow Taxi is not convinced they're (partitions) all that effective.
4) The mere presence of a partition also can be a deterrent, Gregory said. "I think that's a very inspiring symbol to the cab drivers," Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, said.
5) In opposing partitions for the city's 11,787 yellow cabs, veteran driver Gary Fishman, "The next comment after 'Can you speak English?' is invariably, "I'm so glad you don't have that cage, or that jail," he said.
6) "Everything in the taxicab-riding experience has changed except for the partition," said Matthew W. Daus, the TLC's chairman. "It's time for the partition to catch up. It's the last frontier - but an important one."
7) Some cabbies, however, believe the best solution would be to do away with the partitions altogether, a proposal the city agency is not willing to entertain. (NY Times reporter)
Mr. Gambardella, who is the first engineer in the country to analyze and compare safety in both hybrid and conventional taxicabs in New York City, argues that "due to the mandatory vehicle modifications, the TLC has, in effect, created its own vehicle design" and "as such, the TLC has an obligation to crash-test the modified vehicles or require that the automakers crash-test the vehicles as modified."
8) He writes, "it is completely unknown whether these modified cars would pass federal crash tests."
He also opined: "No automaker would put such an inadequately tested vehicle on the road, nor should the public or any federal regulatory agency stand for it."
9) Robert Collins, executive vice president of Checker Taxi Co. and a spokesman for Checker and Yellow, the city's two largest firms, said the idea has been "tried before, and it didn't work."
"In fact, more drivers were shot and harmed when we had partitions than when we didn't," he said. Would-be robbers "just change the method of holding the driver up," Collins said. "They go to the side window."
10) Aly Hens, who owns the taxi he drives, has installed a security camera, which costs more than a partition. He says customers prefer it. "They say they feel like they're in a cage," he says of the partitions.
11) The partitions have been blamed for injuries that disfigure passengers. (Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times)
12) But from the start, the partitions have been controversial. Skeptics questioned their deterrent effect, noting that robbers could point a gun through a side window or even the windshield. (NY Times)
"You should investigate something to see its benefit or harm, examine
whether it is appropriate and suitable or not; then after that you may
carry it out."
- Caotang
13) "The safety partition is a device that's used in taxicabs to provide a degree of safety between the passengers that get in a taxicab and the actual drivers. Of course the easiest way to do that is to prevent them from any knife or, you know, gun attacks and it does it quite effectively."
Steve Georgills - partitions dealer
1984 USDOT Notice to Steven Crowell
14) 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 FMVSS No. 205.
Proof of a violation of the others would require testing by the Goverment.
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.
Frank Armstrong USDOT 1984
“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…”
This ‘trade off’ is more illegal than controversial. Trading off, occupant safety is illegal. Especially when the USDOT is not qualified to assess ‘operator protection from assailants’. This assessment is skewed by the popular but untrue impression that partitions serve well as robbery and/or assault prevention devices. They do not. Even if partitions could perform as desired, IE:prevent someone from shooting the driver, that benefit could not possibly outweigh the drawback of hundreds, or thousands, of head injuries, in NYC alone annually, in the much more frequent collision. It certainly cannot outweigh the drawback of partition impact death totaling 5 -10 annually in NYC. The collision fatality rate is higher than the assault fatality rate.
The first quotes are concerning injury in collisions.
Passenger safety seems to be the last priority at the Taxi and Limousine Commission
15) I am a lawyer for an insurance carrier that primarily writes liability insurance coverage for taxicabs in New York City. After years of adjusting personal injury claims, I find it apparent that a good number of injuries to passengers could be avoided or mitigated … Taxicabs are under no mandate to have any type of seat belt installed. (not true)
The number of neck sprain, back sprain and disk injuries would be greatly reduced by this well-tested device (shoulder harness), which is standard in most passenger automobiles. What has kept the Taxi and Limousine Commission from enacting such a regulation, which is neither costly to the vehicle owner nor inconvenient to the public?
16) * A cushioned partition between the front and rear seat would prevent an injury to the passenger in case the passenger is projected forward. The partitions in use, while made partly of transparent plastic, have metallic borders and other hard surfaces. Cushioning the borders with foam or rubberized materials could prevent concussion and contusion injuries. And the driver's safety from robbery or assault would still be maintained.
Passenger safety seems to be the last priority at the Taxi and Limousine Commission. It is time the Mayor's office, the City Council or the State Legislature stepped in to enact a simple regulation that cannot hurt the taxi industry and can only benefit the public. EUGENE F. HABER New York, June 18, 1988
Intuitively Effective?
17) One of the most intuitively effective, yet controversial countermeasures is a taxi partition or shield. Many taxi drivers, company officials, and transportation professionals believe that taxi shields can counteract the typical taxi assault from behind the driver. Yet, others downplay shields questioning their effectiveness. Drivers are still vulnerable to attacks if the partition is open, if assaults are from side or front windows, or if the driver is out of the vehicle. Anecdotal evidence suggests that while shields may protect drivers they pose a risk for injuries to passengers during taxi accidents (Newman 1998). Furthermore, drivers complain that shields lock the front seat in one position, reduce airflow, driver and passenger comfort, conversation, and tips.
Dr. John Randolph Stone Urban Studies, NCSU 1997
“Intuitively Effective”? Death is something that doesn’t cause a blip on Dr. Stones radar. Death from assault and death from collision are not factored into Dr. Stones’ evaluations. Dr. Stone balanced only the cost of assault injury against the cost of partition installation and upkeep. The cost of assault fatality and collision fatality were factored.
The Big City; Knowing What's Best For Cabbies
By JOHN TIERNEY May 10, 2000
18) Excerpt; The Taxi and Limousine Commission justifies the partitions by pointing to the experience with the yellow cabs with medallions. ''Since we required the partitions in 1994, crime against medallion taxi drivers has dropped drastically,'' said Allan J. Fromberg, the commission's spokesman. ''The foremost reason is that the taxi industry has benefited from the overall drop in crime, but we believe partitions have played a significant roles as well.'' … But the commission hasn't bothered yet to analyze another consequence of the partitions… The underwriting manager for the American Transit Insurance Company, which insures 6,800 medallion cabs, about half the city's fleet, Edward McGettigan, estimated that his company received 750 injury claims annually from passengers hurled against the partitions of those 6,800 cabs. When you consider that the commission's new policy affects some 26,000 livery cabs, you could conservatively extrapolate that the policy would lead to at least 1,000 additional injuries each year.
USDOT 6/33/84 letter to partition manufacturers
19) "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,
20) Robert Collins, executive vice president of Checker Taxi Co. (Chicago) and a spokesman for Checker and Yellow, the city's two largest firms, said the (partition) idea has been "tried before, and it didn't work."
"In fact, more drivers were shot and harmed when we had partitions than when we didn't," he said. Would-be robbers "just change the method of holding the driver up," Collins said. "They go to the side window."
Doctors point out risks of partition impact.
The USDOT points out illegalities.
The fleet owners point out how useless the partition is.
Drivers point out how partitions increase risk of gun assaults
Attorneys point out how dangerous partitions are.
Cabbies Angrily Debate Partitions
Left to Preference
Interestingly, partitions were required for most cabs in the 1970's, and then later left up to owners' preference.
21) Commission officials were not sure why the requirement was allowed to lapse in the late 1970's, though the breakup of the industry into smaller components run by smaller businessmen may have been a factor. Partitions remain in common use for big fleets and are written into some labor agreements.
NY Times
By DOUGLAS MARTIN
Published: December 3, 1993
The fleets could avoid the partition requirement by breaking a large fleet into smaller mini-fleets of four cabs or less, usually four.
22) The partition mandate was never withdrawn and has remained consistent.
I believe our Legal Department is knowledgeable in all areas of legal standards for such devices.
3-28-97 McKechnie - NEW YORK CITY TAXI & LIMOUSINE COMMISSION
"It isn't that they can't see the solution. It is that they can't see the problem." - G.K.Chesterton
"The partition program has worked quite well since being instituted."
4-17-97 McKechnie - NEW YORK CITY TAXI & LIMOUSINE COMMISSION
23) Since the partitions act as a second windshield, back seat passengers fall victim to the same type of injuries as people in the front passenger position, the "suicide seat,"
Dr. Geoffrey Doughlin – E.R. director, Jamaica Hospital, Queens.
24) “This Department has not been put on notice that any children riding in the rear compartment of our taxicabs have suffered any facial injuries.
We are in constant communication with attorneys involved in civil litigation with members of the Boston Taxi industry.”
Captain Arthur Cadegan
Boston Police Department Hackney Carriage Division
Inspector of Hackney Carriages
Partition Sign - found in many Boston cabs in the 1980’s
Text of notice posted on many Boston taxi partitions;
Please – Do Not Strike Taxi Partition with your face – Failure to comply will result in the driver disclaiming any responsibility for your safety.
Incidentally, this partition is required, designed and installed in violation of Federal and State motor vehicle laws. GET ACTIVE –
COMPLAIN!!
TO;
1) The Boston Police Department Hackney Carriage Division Captain
2) The Secretary of Public Safety (Mass.) Chas. Barry
3) The Mass Dept. of Trans. Fred Salvucci
4) U.S. Dept of Trans. Dianne Steed
25) Smacking the taxi partition in an accident is akin to hitting the windshield, and it happens with increasing frequency. A total of 15,183 accidents involved taxis in 1995, the latest numbers available, up from 10,418 in 1990, according to the State Department of Motor Vehicles. (The Taxi and Limousine Commission does not keep such records.) The accidents in 1995 killed 3 drivers and 2 passengers and injured nearly 11,000.
26) ''People feel like they are protected in a cocoon when they are in the back of a cab,'' ''But you can't do this kind of work without being impressed that the partition breaks a lot of noses, a lot of lips, a lot of chins.''
Dr. Gregg Husk, Chairman of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Medical Center.
Editorial Column from the New York Times
Celeb Messages Make Cabs Safer?
27) I Don’t Think So
Many of the city’s 12,187 cabs have partitions to protect drivers from assault. But the partitions also reduce passenger space, making taxi rides terribly uncomfortable for virtually all adults.
More importantly, injuries are sustained by passengers striking the partition in short stops or other accidents.
I’ve asked Diane McGrath-McKechnie, chairwoman of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, if the agency knows “how many passengers in the last four years have suffered injuries to their faces and/or heads as a result of striking the partition,” and if the agency has issued a request for proposals for new taxis “setting standards for greater passenger comfort and safety”?
28) Her reply is no. She adds: “I am happy to report that, through the creation of our Celebrity Talking Taxi program and other educational efforts, more and more passengers are today taking advantage of their seat belts, difficulty or no.”
I doubt it.
A Letter to the Editor – New York Times
29) It is unclear how many people are actually prompted to excavate the belts. A random survey suggests that few riders, even those who feel like shirkers because of the recordings, actually buckle up. Behind all the palaver is a serious problem, however.
Smacking the taxi partition in an accident is akin to hitting the windshield, and it happens with increasing frequency. A total of 15,183 accidents involved taxis in 1995, the latest numbers available, up from 10,418 in 1990, according to the State Department of Motor Vehicles. (The Taxi and Limousine Commission does not keep such records.)
The accidents in 1995 killed 3 drivers and 2 passengers and injured nearly 11,000.
Cabdrivers seem to be one group keenly aware of it. If you think drivers negotiate traffic now as if possessed, wait until hordes of them are forced to spend 12 hours listening to the likes of Joan Rivers.
NEIL MACFARQUHAR - NY Times
On March 28th, 1997 New York City Taxi & Limousine Commissioner Dianne
McGrath-McKechnie wrote…
30) "Yes, we are well aware of the potential dangers of passengers ('who are'
sic,) not wearing their seat belts hitting partitions in short stop circumstances.
In fact, we are currently in the process of mandating that each cab's
Talking Taxi Box include a message reminding passengers to buckle up.
We are confident that this will raise seat belt awareness and use, and
will significantly reduce this potential danger." - Dianne McGrath-McKechnie
''I don't know who is Joan Rivers; I know her only as the big mouth lady,. ''Sixty times a day I hear it. Every time a passenger gets in and out. It makes me crazy.''
Mohammed Elizzah
31) “Several times a week for the last few months, I have treated New Yorkers and visitors who have dared to ride in the city's licensed yellow taxicabs. The results are uniformly disastrous: patients with head wounds from dividers, fractured noses, lacerations and worse. Last month I saw two patients die from taxi-related injuries.”
"I've become fixated on this cab thing," Dr. Sherman, a plastic surgeon, said. "I've been looking at this over the last year because we've become overwhelmed with these severe facial injuries."
Dr. Sherman even called car dealers and manufacturers to discuss safety measures. But he said they refused to cooperate.
But Dr. John E. Sherman, an assistant clinical professor of surgery at New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical College and a vocal critic of the partitions, said some of the blame rests with the commission, which he noted has specifications for the design, placement and padding of the partition so vague that the partitions vary greatly from cab to cab.
Some are so close to the back seat or have so many protruding parts, he said, that even passengers who wear seat belts -- and few riders do -- are sometimes thrown into them. In an afternoon, he said, the mechanic who installs the partition can undo 30 years of advances in automotive safety.
''Detroit has gone through a million crash-dummy studies, and when the car arrives from the factory at a cab company in Queens, it's safe at any speed,'' he said.
''But then some guy in Astoria throws in a Plexiglas divider that no one has tested, and there's nothing standardized about it.''
32) Some of the findings set off alarm bells about passenger safety. When cabs are involved in accidents the passengers are about twice as likely to suffer serious injuries than the passengers of private cars, the study concluded.
It documented one of the reasons: Relatively few taxi riders wear seat belts, and are under no requirement to do so by state law or city rules. Another reason for the serious injuries is the partitions in taxis, which are designed to protect drivers from passenger attacks, but can cause head and upper body injuries to passengers when the cabs crash or stop suddenly.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/28/nyregion/28cabs.html?_r=1
33) “Many of the worst injuries could be avoided simply by moving the partition's change tray -- which is held in place with metal hinges and screws and often sticks out.”
New York Times on - DR. JOHN E. SHERMAN, M.D. - Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery, New York Hospital, New York City
34) The growing public awareness of the dangers of the partition and of the increase in accidents may also be spurring more passengers to buckle up. David M. Grant, the president of a Manhattan public relations firm, LVM Group Inc., who was not wearing a seat belt when a cab he was riding in, in 1996, struck another and he slammed into the partition, breaking six bones in his neck, said he never gets in a cab without putting on a belt now. ''The divider is solid as concrete,'' he said.
David M. Grant - President of Manhattan P.R. firm, LVM Group Inc.
Talking Taxis
To Hail Belts, Too
By LISA REIN Daily News Staff Writer
The tawking taxi is going to tawk some more.
35) Starting Feb. 1, the recorded message that reminds riders to take their belongings and ask for a receipt will add a new announcement, this time when the meter turns on:
“Please remember to buckle up your seatbelt for safety.”
The message will boom from speakers inside 12,000 yellow taxis, under new Taxi and Limousine Commission rules to be voted on in December.
Talking taxis have been on the road for four months, bringing some cheers but lots of jeers from New Yorkers, who see it as another form of noise pollution.
But taxi officials say the new message could prevent injury by nudging The NEW YORK CITY TAXI & LIMOUSINE COMMISSION, which does not mandate seatbelt use in cabs, said too few riders use belts, and passengers are smashing their faces against the bulletproof partition when drivers stop short.
36) “This is stepped-up awareness,” said Allan Fromberg, spokesman for taxi chief Diane McGrath-McKechnie. “It’s not a legal mandate that riders wear belts, but we want them to do it anyway.”
Drivers have to make riders to buckle up. sure the belts are visible and functional, or risk fines of up to $250, Fromberg said.
The idea of a safer ride appealed to drivers and riders, but several questioned whether a recorded voice could really change the behavior of people on the run.
37) “The voice is already annoying and too loud,” said Lynn Wright, a Manhattan lawyer, hailing a cab near Penn Station. “The cabs aren’t all that clean. I’m not sure I want to put a seatbelt around me.”
38) Said driver Kulvant Singh: “The New York people know everything already. Many people just put the buckle back in the seat. Many times they are only traveling 10 or 15 blocks.”
Then there’s the question of which voice riders will hear: the female with the heavy Queens accent or the softer, generic voice now used in some cabs.
The choice, said taxi officials, belongs to the two dozen meter shops that install meters and recording devices.
But sources said the agency is considering soliciting and then rotating celebrity voices for the safety message.
“39) Why not add a little shtick to it?” said Michael Higgins, publisher of Taxi Talk magazine.
Take Us There, Or Else . . . NEW YORK CITY TAXI & LIMOUSINE COMMISSION finds and fines hacks who won’t go.
By LISA REIN and ANNE E. KORNBLUT – NEW YORK TIMES
On the subject of the 'Talking Taxi Box' required in all N.Y. medallion
cabs Maureen Dowd writes -
40) he (the mayor) does not "like those stupid celebrity voices in the cabs."
But he claims they get more people to buckle up.
41) We should all think about who is ultimately responsible for the safety of a taxi driver. Is it the driver? The company or taxi owner? Or a regulatory agency? Should the taxi industry take care of its own? Or should a regulatory agency adopt a "parental" approach to the welfare of taxi drivers. If a regulatory agency mandates safety equipment, it accepts some responsibility, and companion liability if a safety device fails to protect a driver. And unfortunately no safety device or method guarantees full protection.
Dr. John R. Stone
42) As Gavin DeBecker (three time presidential appointee for predicting violence) has said in his book "The Gift Of Fear" ---P.12
"Just as we look to government and experts, we also look to technology for
solutions to our problems, but you will see that your personal solution to
violence will not come from technology. It will come from an even grander
resource that was there all the while, within you. That resource is
intuition."
"Weak security improvements - including those you might make in your own
life - are sometimes worse than doing nothing 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."
- Gavin DeBecker
43) “I would like to see back-seat air bags.”
Dr. Kai Sturmann - Acting Chairman, Emergency Department, Beth Israel
44) But taxi officials say the new message (pre-recorded cab announcements) could prevent injury.
The NEW YORK CITY TAXI & LIMOUSINE COMMISSION does not mandate seatbelt use in cabs, but said too few riders use belts, and passengers are smashing their faces against the bulletproof partition when drivers stop short.
“This is stepped-up awareness,”
Allan Fromberg - NYT&LC spokesman - under Taxi Chief - Diane McGrath-McKechnie
“The Taxi and Limousine Commission is aware of the allegations raised in your letter that partitions contribute to passenger injury.”
“Although there have been incidents of passengers injured in taxicabs as a result of contact with a partition, most serious injuries have occurred when the passenger has failed to use a seat belt.”
”When it comes to avoiding injuries from the partitions, the most important preventive measure was to have passengers wear their seat belts.”
“While passenger safety is also a legitimate concern of the Commission, passenger seat belt use would substantially reduce the risk of injury to passengers.”
“In your message your raised concerns about passenger and driver safety resulting from the NEW YORK CITY TAXI & LIMOUSINE COMMISSION requirement for the mandatory installation of partitions in most taxicabs.”
“Numerous studies have demonstrated that the mandatory installation of partitions in taxicabs has a positive affect on driver safety.”
“ Studies conducted as recently as 1999, both in New York City and in other localities where partitions have been mandated, have demonstrated conclusively that the mandatory use of partitions has caused a significant reduction in the number of assaults against taxicab drivers.”
45) “The partition mandate was never withdrawn and has remained consistent.” (1997)
46) “If you are asking how many crimes-in-progress were specifically thwarted by the partition, I am afraid I do not have such an answer”.
Ms. Dianne McGrath-McKechnie – NYCT&LC
47) “Even belted passengers will hit their faces on the hard unyielding surface of the partitions in an accident.”
C. Bruce Gambardella, P.E.
48) “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.
7/20/98 - New York Times - Chris Drew
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."
49) "Every emergency room in New York is seeing patients injured in taxicabs: three here, four there, six at another hospital, so it's easy to underestimate the problem,"
Dr. Arnold Komisar - Associate Chief of the Otolaryngology Department at Lenox Hill, author of a study in The Archives of Otolaryngology
50) Drivers have to make riders to buckle up, make sure the belts are visible and functional, or risk fines of up to $25.”
Alan Fromberg – NYCTL&C
51) “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.”
New York Post - 7/5/1998
52) THE anecdotal evidence is so convincing that emergency room doctors want to start keeping records, insurance premiums are going up and the relevant city commissioner says there ought to be a law.
The cause of concern is the bulletproof panels behind the front seats in yellow cabs.
In a classic case of unanticipated consequences, the panels required in most city taxicabs since 1994 to shield drivers from bullets and blades, are smashing the faces and breaking the noses of riders.
It's a daily problem," said Dr. Lewis Goldfrank, director of emergency medicine at Bellevue Hospital and New York University Medical Center. "People don't put their seat belts on and there are too many accidents, terribly debilitating facial injuries from hitting the divider or its metal component."
The problem has become so severe that he and his colleagues have talked about collecting their own statistics to arouse the city. They are not alone. Emergency room doctors at New York Hospital and Beth Israel Medical Center independently came up with the same idea. So far, no hospital or government agency has gathered enough statistics to confirm the threat.
Dr. Lewis Goldfrank, director of emergency medicine at Bellevue Hospital and New York University Medical Center.
53) The experience of New York City absolutely does not support the notion that partitions have increased the number of passenger injuries. Indeed, NYC regulators have moved confidently to expand their successful safety strategy to the much larger fleet of liveries as well.
Bruce Schaller – Schaller Consulting
54) 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.
New York Times 8/28/99
55) As doctors see it, the problem is twofold -- the reckless driving of many cabdrivers and the public's ignorance of the dangers. Thanks to laws and public education campaigns, most people now routinely buckle up when riding in the front seats of private cars but not in the rear seats. In New York cabs, that is a serious mistake because the partitions are the equivalent of a second windshield: inflexible, often framed in metal and projecting a sharp-edged money drawer.
With most owners of gas-conserving hybrid taxis opting for security cameras rather than plastic partitions, some doctors expect to see a decline in craniofacial injuries, often caused when passengers slam into the bullet-resistant shields.
56) "I see not just broken noses, but broken faces," an Upper East Side plastic surgeon, Paul Lorenc, said, referring to partition-related injuries.
“Crushed noses, fractured cheekbones and eye sockets, and ‘stellate,’ or burst lacerations, are among the most common injuries suffered when a passenger is hurled into the clear partition.”
Dr. Paul Lorenc, Upper East Side, NY, Plastic Surgeon
57) "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.”
"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."
7/27/98, Ernest Tollerson, New York Times - Editor
58) A March 2, 2001 article in the New York Times states: "The most obvious explanation for the injuries is the hard plastic partition..."
Bruce Schaller – Schaller Consulting
59) Gaping soft tissue injuries are also prevalent, since an edge of a partition's sliding door or its metal track can tear the skin. In the most severe instances, this causes "almost an avulsion" of the nose.
Dr. Steven Pearlman - Upper East Side, NY Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon
60) "However, we believe that the most important safety precaution that can be given to them to save the lives of livery drivers is to install a bullet-resistant partition in every cab."
Pol. Sup. NYC
61) In accidents, yellow cab passengers wearing seatbelts are twice as likely to sustain serious or fatal injuries as seatbelt-wearing riders of other vehicles, according to a 2006 city-commissioned study by Brooklyn-based Schaller Consulting. This gap, which is even wider among non-restrained passengers, could be "linked to the presence of partitions in most medallion cabs, which introduce a very hard surface in an otherwise cushioned environment," the study said.
Among those seriously injured in an accident, 68% of yellow cab passengers experienced head or face trauma, compared to 49% of those riding in liveries and 35% in other vehicles, another Schaller Consulting study released last year showed.
In an interview, the principal of said partitions create "a very real safety hazard."
Bruce Schaller - Schaller Consulting
62) “These cars and the partitions that are in them are 100 percent safe,” Mr. Daus said - NYCTL&C
63) "If people are hitting a cushioned seat, not Plexiglas, that would probably reduce many of the injuries we see,"
Dr. Lloyd Hoffman - Upper East Side, NY, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon
64) “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!"
10/31/95 - Eugene Rodriguez - NYNEW YORK CITY TAXI & LIMOUSINE COMMISSION Ombudsman
In order to ensure driver safety in the somewhat smaller hybrid vehicles, the NEW YORK CITY TAXI & LIMOUSINE COMMISSION recently fostered the development of an "L-shaped" partition that will allow for maximum passenger and driver comfort, while still affording maximum protective abilities. As a result, the new regulations also remove the previously existing exemption from the partition requirement that had existed since the initial introduction of hybrid taxicabs in October 2005.
New York Times - 12-14-2007
65) The partitions should be cushioned. In 2005, one of his passengers hit the partition with such force that her teeth went through her bottom lip.
Harun Rashi - New York City Taxi Driver
In a survey published in The American Journal of Public Health in 1989, Dr. Ronald M. Davis of the National Institutes of Health checked more than two dozen taxis in each of eight different cities to see if their back seat belts were readily available. Nationally, the percentage was just over half in the survey. In New York City, the fraction was a paltry 16 percent.
Dr. Ronald M. Davis - National Institutes of Health
66) "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."
Frank Armstrong - USDOT
Robberies and murders of cabdrivers have plummeted, along with other crimes since four years ago (1994), when at the height of a crime wave against taxi drivers in New York City, regulators voted to require a seemingly simple precaution: a partition of bulletproof plastic between the front and back seats in most yellow cabs.
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 from the metal hinges and screws that hold the partitions 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.
ANDY NEWMAN - New York Times
67) “Five years ago (1990) I became the Ombudsman at the Taxi and Limousine Commission in New York City. During my first three years here, murders went from 32 in 1990 to 30 in 1992, to 43 in 1993.
In one particularly bad period during ' 93 ', four drivers were killed in four days and the City was gripped with the fear that there was a serial killer on the loose who preyed on cab drivers.”
“No driver has ever been murdered in a cab with a locked safety shield!”
Mr. Eugene Rodriguez - Ombudsman – NYCT&LC
68) The Plexiglas partition that separates the front and back of the cab, protruding change dish, and metal border can cause serious injury in an accident.
He urged taxi passengers to buckle up: ''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.''
Dr. Seth Manoach -
Robert Deniro as Travis Bickle did a disservice to 'cab driver self defense'.
69) “Someone (who) really wants to rob a driver can shoot through a Plexiglas safety shield,” said Oakland police officer James Gordon, who works in the taxi detail,
(A) law requires cab companies with at least three taxicabs to ensure that one-third of their cars have a "safety shield" separating drivers from passengers.
Even though the laws are effective deterrents against violence, criminals can still get around them, Gordon said. If someone really wants to rob a driver, they can shoot through a Plexiglas safety shield
Article from: Oakland Tribune Article date: July 8, 2003 Author: Shadi Rahimi
70) I just received an email in reference to partitions in taxi cabs. I am taking the liberty of adding my two cents to the discussion as one who has driven 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 to 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.
Peter Franklin, AKA - the gabby cabby, NYC
(12/1997 Chicago) despite having seen six of their own killed on the job this year, many of Chicago's 5,700 cab drivers oppose a new ordinance that will require shields in all new cabs registered with the city after Jan. 1. (6 in one year 1997) In New York, shields went up in 1994 in "medallion" cabs
In 1984 Dr. Ronald Malt flagged down my taxi.
July 16, 1985
Ronald A. Malt, M. D.
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts 02114
Dear Dr. Malt:
I am in receipt of your letter to Mayor Raymond Flynn relative to the safety petition in the Boston taxicabs. The issue of safety petitions was addressed by the Police Commissioner's Office and became mandatory for all Boston taxicabs on June 1, 1969. At this time, the metal shield was adopted to protect the torso of the driver and a plastic material, with a sliding door on the right side, was mandated for the area above the back seat to the roof of the taxicab.
The reason for the safety factors mentioned above was to protect the taxi drivers from some of their customers who used knives and clubs to effectuate robberies. The plastic section of the partition was initially made of plexiglass but changed to 3/8" Lexon in 1982 after the death of a driver from a bullet wound inflicted by his passenger. The Lexon material has been tested by the Police Department Ballistics Unit to determine its bullet resistant capability. The tests proved that the material will stop a .22 cal, .38 cal. and .45 cal. round fired from the rear compartment of the taxicab. In late 1984, one taxicab operator had the unfortunate experience of being subjected to a passenger attempting to rob him and firing a .38 cal. round at said partition. The round was deflected by the Lexon material and located on the rear shelf of the vehicle behind the rear seat.
Captain Arthur Cadegan, Hackney Carriage Inspector, has been the recipient of several written communications from officials of the U.S. Department of Transportation plus follow-up telephone calls from these officials. The subject matter of these communications dealt with the Lexon partition, not the metal shielding. The metal sheathing is similar to the New York Taxi & Limousine Commission specifications for their leased taxicabs. The purpose of this shield is to stop a .45 cal. bullet fired from the rear seat at the driver of the taxicab. This Department has not been put on notice that any children riding in the rear compartment of our taxicabs have suffered any facial injuries. We are in constant communication with attorneys involved in civil litigation with members of the Boston Taxi industry.
An investigation by this office disclosed that a Boston taxicab driver and former owner of a Boston taxicab has been posting notices on the back of the Lexon partition stating that the partition does not conform to DOT standards. He is the same person who raised the issue about two years ago with DOT officials. His primary reason for this crusade was due to the rejection by the Hackney Carriage Unit of a modified Lexon partition which he installed in a few Boston taxicabs. His partition was deemed to be less safe for the taxicab drivers than the currently authorized partition.
The Department specifications for the cash-transfer device require a Lexon-hinged unit, not a rigid unit. The Boston Cab Association taxicab, medallion #209 will be recalled for police inspection to determine whether the change device is metal or Lexon and hinged or rigid.
If metal,
the owner will be ordered to remove it and if rigid, whatever its composition, it must be replaced. Unless the passenger or driver is placing currency in this device, the device must not project in the direction of the passenger. Thus, no part of the device would be a danger to the passenger.
A notice will be sent out to the owners to insure that the change transfer device is Lexon and hinged.
One should conclude from the above that the protective partition is mandated for the protection of the drivers.
The Police Department's decision to require the installation of the partitions, including the metal shields, came about after a series of public hearings with the Boston taxi drivers and owners.
Some of the letters complained of the additional cost factors, but the drivers were strongly supportive. Each instance wherein a driver is killed or seriously injured by a passenger, the majority of the drivers demand more protective measures. Why taxicab drivers from cities with a greater number of personal violence crimes do not demand some protective partitions, including protective shields to protect their backs, may be explained by psychiatrists. They are either macho-types, like the thrill of Russian roulette or some similar personality trait. Boston has endeavored to protect passengers and drivers alike.
Sincerely,
Captain Arthur Cadegan,
Inspector of Hackney Carriages
CC Linda Jenkins Consumer Affairs
"Customer service means taking a system that was so tied up in its own red
tape that it seemed to prioritize serving itself more than serving the public."
New York City Taxi & Limousine Commissioner - Dianne McGrathMcKechnie – as quoted in “Black Car News”
"There are costs and risks to a program of action, but they are far less
than the long range risks and costs of comfortable inaction." - John F. Kennedy
