City Council Backs Bill Requiring Warning Signs About Assaulting Taxi Drivers
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Taxi drivers' advocates on Wednesday lauded the City Council for passing a bill requiring stickers in cabs warning of the penalties for assaults on drivers.
The Taxi Driver Protection Act requires the sticker in all taxis and liveries, reading, "Assaulting a taxi or livery driver is punishable up to 25 years in prison," according to the New York Taxi Workers' Alliance.
The bill will now go for Mayor Bill de Blasio's signature, and to the Taxi and Limousine Commission for implementation and enforcement, the alliance said.
City Council Backs Bill Requiring Warning Signs About Assaulting Taxi Drivers
"We hope this will bring us one step closer to a safe workplace for taxi and livery drivers who labor 60+ hour weeks in complete isolation," alliance executive director Bhairavi Desai said in a news release. "The law should also provide reason for the District Attorneys' offices and NYPD to collaborate on a dedicated investigations and prosecution unit. The level of seriousness has to be established at the top to trickle down to the streets."
"It doesn't mean the crime will go down to zero. But at least if anyone gets into the cab and sees a sign saying 'Assaulting a taxi driver is punishable by up to 25 years in prison,' the person will think twice," added alliance co-founder and onetime assault victim Mamnun Ul Haq in the release.
Under state law, a felony assault conviction carries the addition of five years to the maximum penalty if the victim is a taxi or livery driver, according to a Brooklyn Eagle report.
A Department of Labor study said taxi drivers are 30 times more likely to be killed on the job than the average worker, the publication reported.
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