Extreme Disciplinary Action Part Of Taxi & Limousine Commission's New Approach To Curbing Driver Rudeness
NEW YORK (CBS) ? There are about 45,000 cab drivers on the streets of New York City, but it's those rude few that make a very lasting impression.
One driver was recently fined $1,000 and suspended for cursing.
CBS 2 HD has learned the details on what's being done to make sure your next ride is a pleasant one.
Getting a cab ride in Gotham can be interesting to say the least. Just ask its residents.
"I think they drive like maniacs," said Irene Bremis of Greenwich Village.
"More than once I feel like I have almost died because the driver is like, 'Blah, blah, blah …'" Jackson Heights resident Carolyn Kaylor said.
"They come off with a real harsh attitude and you're like let me just get to my location and leave," Canarsie's Jean Pyronneau said.
Some of the more popular passenger gripes include drivers talking on the phone, not speaking English, not knowing their way around, and also giving passengers a hard time when they want to pay by credit card.
The Taxi & Limousine Commission receives about 20,000 complaints per year and 20 percent of them are about driver rudeness.
"It's a negative reflection on our city when drivers, even when they are stressed out, (are) showing that stress in a very concrete way to visitors and tourists, " said TLC Chairman Matthew Daus.
When cabbie Zbigniew Sobczak got into a verbal altercation with another driver and said the "F" word, he was fined a grand and suspended for 30 days, even though neither cabbie had a passenger at the time.
"He curse me. I put a couple of words to him, but … that's it," Sobczak said. "We not beating each other."
Fair or not, the TLC says the punishment sends the message to drivers that they need to mind their manners.
"We need them to bite their tongue, basically represent the image of the city that it is now," Daus said.
CBS 2 HD went along with the TLC's undercover inspectors recently as they looked for violators. They've been taking covert rides since January. If you have had a bad experience or had to put up with a rude driver, go to the TLC Web site or call 311.
The TLC plans to bring administrative charges against the other cab driver involved in the verbal altercation with Sobczak, because of his use of inappropriate language as well.
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