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City to crack down on pedi-cabs after crash.


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Less than a week after a pedicab crash on the Williamsburg Bridge seriously injured two people, City Hall yesterday announced new regulations requiring the three-wheeled vehicles to be licensed, have insurance and provide seatbelts for passengers.

 

The new rules also resurrect a ban prohibiting pedicabs from using bridges, tunnels or bike lanes, and require them to be equipped with waterproof brakes and lights.

 

"We've been asking for it for years," said pedicab driver John Allen, 55.

 

He believes stricter rules will force unsafe drivers off the road and create more business for law-abiding pedal-pushers.

 

"We're incredibly enthusiastic about it," said Chad Marlow, lawyer for the NYC Pedicab Owners' Association.

 

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced she'll quickly introduce the new legislation, and Mayor Bloomberg has pledged to sign it into law.

 

It's a marked change from 2007, when the mayor and the council squabbled over how many licenses to dole out to the growing industry.

 

Once the bill is passed, pedicab drivers will have two months to apply for licenses and pass a safety test. After that, the licensing process will be closed for 18 months.

 

Previously, the council voted to issue only 325 licenses. Bloomberg sided with the pedicab owners, who argued that it was an arbitrary number that would put people out of work.

 

When the council overrode Bloomberg's veto and enacted the regulations -- including the 325-license cap -- the pedicab owners sued the city.

 

The owners won their fight to have the caps removed in April, but during the prolonged legal battle, the other pedicab regulations were left in limbo.

 

A police source said that cops were told to "leave the pedicabs alone" while the litigation was hashed out in the courts.

 

"Not nearly as many summonses were given out as should have been," said the source.

 

Last Wednesday, a pedicab carrying three passengers crashed in Brooklyn right after it came off the Williamsburg Bridge.

 

Additional reporting by Larry Celona

 

jennifer.fermino@nypost.com

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What kind of crazy people would allow a pedicab to go over a bridge?:eek:

 

Just because you folks aren't into pedicabs doesn't mean they should go away. As someone from somewhere else looking in, I can tell you the pedicabs are a draw for tourists and help NYC remain competative in the tourist market. What next, close the pedestrian walkways on all the bridges too? Please keep things in perspective!

 

- A

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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

 

What kind of crazy people would allow a pedicab to go over a bridge?:eek:

 

Just because you folks aren't into pedicabs doesn't mean they should go away. As someone from somewhere else looking in, I can tell you the pedicabs are a draw for tourists and help NYC remain competative in the tourist market. What next, close the pedestrian walkways on all the bridges too? Please keep things in perspective!

 

- A

 

I highly doubt pedicabs are a reason tourist come to NYC, thats totally unrealistic. Tourists come to NYC because they see it on TV and in Movies and they get this image in their minds of crime, subway craziness and bright lights. Stuff like the Empire state building and the statue of liberty is what helps draw tourists not pedicabs. Pedicabs are a recent addition to NYC and they are a nuissence.

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I highly doubt pedicabs are a reason tourist come to NYC, thats totally unrealistic. Tourists come to NYC because they see it on TV and in Movies and they get this image in their minds of crime, subway craziness and bright lights. Stuff like the Empire state building and the statue of liberty is what helps draw tourists not pedicabs. Pedicabs are a recent addition to NYC and they are a nuissence.

 

I didn't say they are the reason people come. I said they add something to attract more people. They've been around for over 4 years now. Bright lights and crime? No one i've ever met or talked to has ever stated any such thing, and i talk to people all over the world. The statue has been closed since 2001, so that isn't true either. I'm a tour guide, i give yours in NYC, people can't process all the information NYC has to offer, so they end up doing familiar & typical things. I aim to change that by educating folks on my tours, so they leave with correct and interesting info to tell others. I took 2 rides in a pedicab, one in 2005 and one in 2006, both rides were fun relaxing enjoyable and i never felt in danger once, and i'm a bike rider, i don't own a car, so for me to feel at ease as i was is a sign that the person knows what they are doing.

 

Don't you ride the subway? How would you even know about the pedicabs, they only operate in manhattan... why the hostility? :confused:

 

Anything (within reason of course) to increase enjoyability & decrease pollution is a good thing. Pedicabs do both. :tup:

 

- A

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I didn't say they are the reason people come. I said they add something to attract more people. They've been around for over 4 years now. Bright lights and crime? No one i've ever met or talked to has ever stated any such thing, and i talk to people all over the world. The statue has been closed since 2001, so that isn't true either. I'm a tour guide, i give yours in NYC, people can't process all the information NYC has to offer, so they end up doing familiar & typical things. I aim to change that by educating folks on my tours, so they leave with correct and interesting info to tell others. I took 2 rides in a pedicab, one in 2005 and one in 2006, both rides were fun relaxing enjoyable and i never felt in danger once, and i'm a bike rider, i don't own a car, so for me to feel at ease as i was is a sign that the person knows what they are doing.

 

Don't you ride the subway? How would you even know about the pedicabs, they only operate in manhattan... why the hostility? :confused:

 

Anything (within reason of course) to increase enjoyability & decrease pollution is a good thing. Pedicabs do both. :tup:

 

- A

 

I'm speaking as a driver having those things pull infront of you in your lane. I personally just don't like them in an over crowded city where the ratio of people to land is way off.

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Maybe you shouldn't drive in a city with bus rail and subway? *shrug* I can never figure out why people drove both in manhattan and to/from manhattan.

 

You know what's a menace are poor drivers.

 

- A

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Maybe you shouldn't drive in a city with bus rail and subway? *shrug* I can never figure out why people drove both in manhattan and to/from manhattan.

 

You know what's a menace are poor drivers.

 

- A

 

There are many places in the city that you can't get to by time in a timely manor. My mother works in Newark and she needs to drive every day even though she could take the train but it would be to expensive and take along time. Not everyone has the time to take the bus or subway and many people just dont want to. I dislike the pedi cabs because they weave in and out of traffic and I have almost been hit by several of them too. To say that they are a tourist attraction is well, not true since they are very new and not something NYC is known for. They are better suited for areas were the traffic is not as dense or is mostly other pedi cabs and people on scooters much like cities in Thailand or Vietnam.

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If I was running one of these pedicabs, i'd definitely only settle for disc brakes. They're "more waterproof" than rim brakes and have greatly increased stopping power even compared to well-tuned V-brakes. A tricycle loaded with three people has a lot of momentum going down a hill...

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Now that I remember wher I saw them first, these things are really a novelty more than anything. They are great in places like Atlantic city where they are used to take people from one end of the boardwalk to the other. They shouldnt be sharing roads with automobiles, its too hazardous.

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These pedicabs should be banned first off they jump right in front of me mind you I'm in (A) MCI and that don't fly with me they wanna act like we ain't there so push those roaches to the side or into another menace those damn taxi-cabs they also can't drive .Watch and wait somebody is gonna get killed then they will ban those pedi-roaches I really gotta laugh when they drive those things they have no care in the world <4>us B/O .As for tourist let them ride at their own risk.Let the city widen those bike lanes so ALL BIKES can share the lane and if they deviate then give em a ticket. do you realize how many I (C) on the phone .City better do something before something seroius happens (K)<R> out

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There are many places in the city that you can't get to by time in a timely manor. My mother works in Newark and she needs to drive every day even though she could take the train but it would be to expensive and take along time. Not everyone has the time to take the bus or subway and many people just dont want to. I dislike the pedi cabs because they weave in and out of traffic and I have almost been hit by several of them too. To say that they are a tourist attraction is well, not true since they are very new and not something NYC is known for. They are better suited for areas were the traffic is not as dense or is mostly other pedi cabs and people on scooters much like cities in Thailand or Vietnam.

 

I concur.......these are better suited for areas were the traffic is not as dense.....Thailand.......

 

Now that I remember wher I saw them first, these things are really a novelty more than anything. They are great in places like Atlantic city where they are used to take people from one end of the boardwalk to the other. They shouldnt be sharing roads with automobiles, its too hazardous.

 

Do you know how many of these cut me off while driving the MCI?? alot.....how many of them have a helmet on?? none!!! We should ticket everyone of them....if they have the right to be on the road.....they should obey the rules of the road!!!

 

a 40,000lb bus and rickshaw......if an accident happens which one would you want to be in??

 

and the pax should have a helmet!!! I could go on and on with this one....

 

 

this is another case of dumb.....real dumb!!!!

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Disc brakes, lights & reflecting stripes. Visible proof of legitimacy such as badge and photo id type system.

 

If you're going to ban pedicabs ban "car" cabs too, they are far more dangerous and often are the cause of collision or injury. i was hit by one in 2005 going through a red light, i somehow managed to slide across the hood and keep running across the crosswalk, i normally would have been furious & so on but i had a train to catch or else spend 2 nights in a row in the city with no money and nowhere to go. People were all staring at me, it was surreal, but hey i had to go, if i didn't that guy would be in jail i'd have some settlement $ and who knows what else woulda happened, all i know is motor vehicles don't respect bikes (or pedestrians, the red arrow means STOP, not edge into or pull through a "man" crosswalk sign), and i think that is a major issue.

 

Bike lanes are for casual riders, not pedicabs & messengers. They ride in traffic because they are performing a service. Messengers use the bike lanes from time to time, but typically they seem to prefer the faster & more uniform flow of motor traffic, managed by the traffic lights vs someone else's judgement & unknown level of riding experience. I think people should be required to attend 5 weeks of traffic school and pass 3 different driving tests with 3 different instructor and 3 different routes before any kind of license is issued. Also, make the permit age 18, license age 21, renew with driving test each year till 25. That should keep the maniacs off the roads.

 

- A

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Disc brakes, lights & reflecting stripes. Visible proof of legitimacy such as badge and photo id type system.

 

If you're going to ban pedicabs ban "car" cabs too, they are far more dangerous and often are the cause of collision or injury. i was hit by one in 2005 going through a red light, i somehow managed to slide across the hood and keep running across the crosswalk, i normally would have been furious & so on but i had a train to catch or else spend 2 nights in a row in the city with no money and nowhere to go. People were all staring at me, it was surreal, but hey i had to go, if i didn't that guy would be in jail i'd have some settlement $ and who knows what else woulda happened, all i know is motor vehicles don't respect bikes (or pedestrians, the red arrow means STOP, not edge into or pull through a "man" crosswalk sign), and i think that is a major issue.

 

Bike lanes are for casual riders, not pedicabs & messengers. They ride in traffic because they are performing a service. Messengers use the bike lanes from time to time, but typically they seem to prefer the faster & more uniform flow of motor traffic, managed by the traffic lights vs someone else's judgement & unknown level of riding experience. I think people should be required to attend 5 weeks of traffic school and pass 3 different driving tests with 3 different instructor and 3 different routes before any kind of license is issued. Also, make the permit age 18, license age 21, renew with driving test each year till 25. That should keep the maniacs off the roads.

 

- A

 

All of this still doesn't change the fact that these guys just pull their pedicabs right infront of traffic taking over the whole lane without any regard what so ever. You can license them, put what ever brakes and insurances you want but it wont change anything or make them safer. See the comments above about the bus drviers dealing with the same issue. All of these pedicab drivers act like they are driving an SUV the way they just pull into traffic.

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A tricycle loaded with three people has a lot of momentum going down a hill...

 

No brakes, no brakes!!!! Tuck and roll........

 

These pedicabs should be banned first off they jump right in front of me mind you I'm in (A) MCI and that don't fly with me they wanna act like we ain't there so push those roaches to the side or into another menace those damn taxi-cabs they also can't drive .Watch and wait somebody is gonna get killed then they will ban those pedi-roaches I really gotta laugh when they drive those things they have no care in the world <4>us B/O .As for tourist let them ride at their own risk.Let the city widen those bike lanes so ALL BIKES can share the lane and if they deviate then give em a ticket. do you realize how many I (C) on the phone .City better do something before something seroius happens (K)<R> out

 

Do you know how many of these cut me off while driving the MCI?? alot.....how many of them have a helmet on?? none!!! We should ticket everyone of them....if they have the right to be on the road.....they should obey the rules of the road!!!

 

a 40,000lb bus and rickshaw......if an accident happens which one would you want to be in??

 

and the pax should have a helmet!!! I could go on and on with this one....

 

 

this is another case of dumb.....real dumb!!!!

 

Don't you two just love driving a bus in NYC? It's great going home with headaches at times isn't it? That's why I had to get out, especially with homicidal thoughts of squashing one of those pedi, gypsy (for hire), or yellow cabs......

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