Mayor de Blasio said on Monday that the Taxi & Limousine Commission has an “aggressive” approach to overworked cabbies like the one who killed an Upper West Side granny — but the agency’s own rules tell a different story.
Drivers are forbidden from working shifts of more than 12 hours, but the clock restarts as soon as a hack takes a break.
There is no minimum break time, meaning that a driver can legally work more than 11 hours, take a quick rest and hit the road for another 12. And those who go over on their shifts are subject to a fine of just $25 — though one has never been issued since the rule was adopted in 1990, officials said.
“The TLC does in fact have a rule on the books prohibiting taxi drivers from driving for more than 12 consecutive hours,” said TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg. “Bear in mind that drivers take breaks throughout their shift to attend to personal needs, which restart the clock.
“We think there needs to be some refinement of the rules to truly address the serious concerns of overtired drivers on our streets, and so the TLC will prioritize revisiting rules on this issue, and seeking and reviewing best practices to see how we can make them most effective across all the industries regulated by the TLC.”
By the time Salifu Abubkar slammed into Luisa Rosario-Tejada at 12:40 am on Sunday morning, he had been working since 9 a.m. the previous day. But because he took two breaks during the day, his marathon shift was not subject to any penalties. Abubkar worked for five hours straight until 2 p.m. He logged in again at 3 p.m. and drove until he took another break from 5:40 p.m. to 7
p.m.
Then he drove straight through the evening, night, and early morning until he ran over Rosario-Tejada, an 88-year-old grandmother, on the corner of Columbus Avenue and West 109th Street.
Despite the lax regulations, de Blasio claimed on Monday, “We have an aggressive approach at the Taxi & Limousine Commission to inhibit anyone from working more hours than they should.”
Rosario-Tejada’s family and friends are angry that Abubkar worked for so many hours, and say they want him to pay for killing their loved one.
“I know he has kids to take care of, but he was negligent for driving that long,” said Louis Inoa, who had known Rosario from when he was a tiny boy and considered her like a grandmother.
“They should revoke his license at least, and if a grand jury says so, charge him with homicide.”
Abubkar’s license remains suspended.