Passenger safety seems to be the last priority at the Taxi and Limousine Commission
I am a lawyer for an insurance carrier that primarily writes lia
bility insurance coverage for taxicabs in
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?
* 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
The Big City; Knowing What's Best For Cabbies
By JOHN TIERNEY May 10, 2000
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 partitions,'' said Edward McGettigan, the underwriting manager for the American Transit Insurance Company, which insures 6,800 medallion cabs, about half the city's fleet.
Mr. 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 6/22/84 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,
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.
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 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 -
The partition program has worked quite well since being instituted.
4-17-97 McKechnie -
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,
“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
Captain Arthur Cadegan
Boston Police Department Hackney Carriage Division
Inspector of Hackney Carriages
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 (
3) The Mass Dept. of Trans. Fred Salvucci
4)
Above - Partition Sign - found in many
posted on the partitions by Steve Crowell
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.
''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,
Editorial Column from the New York Times
Celeb Messages Make Cabs Safer?
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”?
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
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
''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
“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.
''
''But then some guy in
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
“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,
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
The tawking taxi is going to tawk some more.
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.
“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.
“The voice is already annoying and too loud,” said Lynn Wright, a
Said driver Kulvant Singh: “The New York
Then there’s the question of which voice riders will hear: the female with the heavy
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.
“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
“I would like to see back-seat air bags.”
Dr. Kai Sturmann - Acting Chairman, Emergency Department, Beth Israel
But taxi officials say the new message (pre-recorded cab announcements) could prevent injury.
The
“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
“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.”
“The partition mandate was never withdrawn and has remained consistent.” (1997)
“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
“Even belted passengers will hit their faces on the hard unyielding surface of the partitions in an accident.”
C. Bruce Gambardella, P.E.
“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."
"Every emergency room in
Dr. Arnold Komisar - Associate Chief of the Otolaryngology Department at Lenox Hill, author of a study in The Archives of Otolaryngology
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
“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 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
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
Dr. Lewis Goldfrank, director of emergency medicine at
The experience of
Bruce Schaller – Schaller Consulting
An upper East Side woman died yesterday when the cab she was riding in jumped a curb on
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
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.
"I see not just broken noses, but broken faces," an
“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,
"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
7/27/98, Ernest Tollerson, New York Times - Editor
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
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 -
"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
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
“These cars and the partitions that are in them are 100 percent safe,” Mr. Daus said - NYCTL&C
"If people are hitting a cushioned seat, not Plexiglas, that would probably reduce many of the injuries we see,"
Dr. Lloyd Hoffman -
“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 -
In order to ensure driver safety in the somewhat smaller hybrid vehicles, the
New York Times - 12-14-2007
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 -
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
Dr. Ronald M. Davis - National Institutes of Health
"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
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
“Five years ago (1990) I became the Ombudsman at the Taxi and Limousine Commission in
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
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 -
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
In 1984 Dr. Ronald Malt flagged down my taxi.
July 16, 1985
Ronald A. Malt, M. D.
Dear Dr. Malt:
I am in receipt of your letter to Mayor Raymond Flynn relative to the safety petition in the
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
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
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.
Sincerely,
Captain Arthur Cadegan,
Inspector of Hackney Carriages
CC Linda Jenkins Consumer Affairs
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