NY Cabbies Call For Penalties Against Drivers Who Don't Clear Snow, Ice Off Cars
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - The brutal winter has made for some tough driving conditions.
But as WCBS 880's Monica Miller reported, Mother Nature isn't the only one who wreaks havoc on the roads.
New York City taxi drivers have called on lawmakers to impose fines for drivers who don't clear snow and ice from the top of their car.
"Trucks, buses, vans, SUVs and cars are basically blowing frozen ice," New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers spokesman Fernando Mateo said. "When you're going 40, 50, 60 miles an hour on a highway and that ice hits your windshield, it could basically cause a fatality."
Mateo said dozens of cabbies have had accidents this winter because of the snow.
He's asking the de Blasio administration and state lawmakers to revisit a bill introduced in 2009 that would impose penalties.
"And $1,000 should just be a warning because if you take someone's life because of your carelessness, you should pay for it," said Mateo. "We don't want to wait until we're burying a few people, we want to do it now."
Mateo said there's a precedent for fining drivers who don't clear snow and ice off their cars.
"Like they have in New Jersey and in Pennsylvania that will fine these drivers up to $1,500," said Mateo.
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