Public Safety Not A Taxi Driver Regulatory Concern
Palm Springs, CA. - The Desert Sun's "Concerns raised over taxi driver hours" piece this morning by reporter Keith Matheny followed his Sunday "Dying for a fare" and other reports of taxi drivers putting in long hours without sleep. An example cited was a recent instance of a cabbie on the job for 17 hours having crashed and died after falling asleep at the wheel. The report revealed the taxi industry is one of the least regulated public transit alternatives and in Coachella Valley there is only one regulatory agency - Sunline Transit Agency - with oversight responsibilities. That agency appears to have no effective program for exercising diligent oversight with respect to the number of hours a taxi driver spends on a driving shift. Economic needs on the part of individual drivers appear to be the determining factor of how many working hours are accumulated before calling it a day (or night).
Local Sunline Transit Agency officials and directors were contacted about the confirmed long taxi driver hours data uncovered by the newspaper. The agency's board chairman responded with a rather lackluster written statement that attempted to pass the buck to the individual cab companies. A Sunline administrator admitted no monitoring of taxi driver hours had taken place. Another official said "The best regulation ultimately may be the drivers' own discretion." A state representative chimed in with a disclaimer that state and federal agencies have better things to do than worry about taxi driving safety. But when it comes to avoidance of an issue, the statement by the agency's taxi subcommittee chairman, "We don't want to overregulate or underregulate," he said. "We're trying to find that fine line of what works for both drivers and the franchises and the safety of the customers", really takes the prize! Absolutely clueless!
This is an issue of public safety - not only for drivers and passengers, but for others they encounter on the roadways. There is no room for secondary considerations such as "overregulate" or "underregulate" - public safety is the issue but it appears no responsible official understands the message! Where is the sense of outrage that a public safety issue of this magnitude exists? Where is the leadership ready to pound the table, promise that pubic safety is the topmost priority, and clearly state everything possible will be done to ensure that complete corrective measures will be implemented in the fastest manner possible?
If there are no politicians on these public agency boards willing to step up to the plate on such an obvious public safety concern, then perhaps the wrong persons are sitting in those seats. The Sunline Transit Agency board and staff need to move swiftly to monitor taxi driver hours and require their compliance with acceptable safety standards. Failing such action will simply confirm they are not proving capable of safeguarding the community in a critical safety area entrusted to their care.
Bond Shands
Palm Springs
Local Sunline Transit Agency officials and directors were contacted about the confirmed long taxi driver hours data uncovered by the newspaper. The agency's board chairman responded with a rather lackluster written statement that attempted to pass the buck to the individual cab companies. A Sunline administrator admitted no monitoring of taxi driver hours had taken place. Another official said "The best regulation ultimately may be the drivers' own discretion." A state representative chimed in with a disclaimer that state and federal agencies have better things to do than worry about taxi driving safety. But when it comes to avoidance of an issue, the statement by the agency's taxi subcommittee chairman, "We don't want to overregulate or underregulate," he said. "We're trying to find that fine line of what works for both drivers and the franchises and the safety of the customers", really takes the prize! Absolutely clueless!
This is an issue of public safety - not only for drivers and passengers, but for others they encounter on the roadways. There is no room for secondary considerations such as "overregulate" or "underregulate" - public safety is the issue but it appears no responsible official understands the message! Where is the sense of outrage that a public safety issue of this magnitude exists? Where is the leadership ready to pound the table, promise that pubic safety is the topmost priority, and clearly state everything possible will be done to ensure that complete corrective measures will be implemented in the fastest manner possible?
If there are no politicians on these public agency boards willing to step up to the plate on such an obvious public safety concern, then perhaps the wrong persons are sitting in those seats. The Sunline Transit Agency board and staff need to move swiftly to monitor taxi driver hours and require their compliance with acceptable safety standards. Failing such action will simply confirm they are not proving capable of safeguarding the community in a critical safety area entrusted to their care.
Bond Shands
Palm Springs
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