The tragedy of 9-year-old Cooper Stock, who was killed by a taxi in January on the Upper West Side, presents a call to action.
Together with last year’s high-profile taxicab crash involving British tourist Sian Green, who had her leg amputated, an urgent challenge confronts the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission.
I am hopeful that the priorities of this agency will refocus on its core mission with the advent of Mayor de Blasio’s commitment to “Vision Zero” — and the goal of preventing all taxicab and for-hire vehicle-related fatalities.
While it is hard to say whether both of these horrible crashes could have been prevented, certainly more incidents may be avoided if drivers are held fully accountable for their dangerous driving.
Years ago, the TLC rigorously investigated and prosecuted drivers who engaged in reckless driving, by suspending and revoking their licenses — regardless of whether criminal charges were filed.
In early 1998, a horrible collision between two cab drivers on Lexington Avenue caused severe pedestrian injuries. A woman had her leg severed and a child in a stroller suffered significant injuries. The TLC suspended and revoked the license of the responsible driver for this single crash, which was a primary impetus for the TLC’s historic driver safety reform package.
This consisted of more stringent TLC rules that ultimately led to a taxi strike, many lawsuits (which the TLC won) and a purge of thousands of dangerous drivers from the industry. The TLC’s reforms were lauded and replicated by transportation regulators around the world and made NYC a world leader in safety reform.
Now, 16 years later, the agency claims it does not have the authority to suspend and revoke licenses, like it did in 1998, despite the fact that most of the same rules remain on the books.
I suspect the TLC’s position has something to do with its lawyers being overly concerned about taxi-driver organizations who continue to bring lawsuits in federal court.
One such lawsuit seeks to prevent the TLC from suspending licenses for TLC drivers who are arrested for serious crimes, such as vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and other serious felonies.
It is very sad that such tragedies continue to occur, and this is why the TLC needs clear legal authority and additional resources to remove dangerous drivers from the road.
The TLC’s point system itself does not allow the agency to act quickly enough to prevent dangerous drivers from harming others. If the TLC itself concludes (even without an NYPD investigation) that any TLC licensed driver is a threat to public safety — even for a single reckless-driving violation — their license should be suspended and/or revoked. The point system should be bypassed, where necessary, to protect the public.
We also need to enact Cooper’s Law — which would require an investigation in every case involving a fatality or severe injury, as well as the unquestioned legal authority to immediately suspend and revoke licenses for reckless driving. This will ensure government accountability and transparency, enhance passenger and pedestrian confidence in the system and force drivers to think twice before violating traffic laws — knowing there are real consequences for their actions.
While the vast majority of drivers are safe and responsible, the TLC must be able to swiftly remove those few irresponsible drivers from the road. Yes, drivers do need to be afforded due process and the ability to defend themselves, but passengers and pedestrians also need justice.
I fully support Mayor de Blasio’s “Vision Zero” plan for the TLC, to use technology to increase taxi- and livery-driver safety. In addition to alerting passengers to speeding taxicabs, technology also exists to monitor and record driver speed and behavior.
This reliable data can be legally used to retrain, penalize or stop reckless drivers from endangering the public. An added benefit of this new technology is that it can do most of the work, without requiring many additional staff resources.
Let’s re-reform the TLC to ensure the safety of all passengers and pedestrians. We must do so in memory of Cooper Stock and all the families who have suffered painful and preventable losses of loved ones.
Professor Matthew W. Daus, Esq., is the former chariman of the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission and president of the International Association of Transportation Regulators.