[Danknee]

Originally Posted by Willy702

13,000 taxi accidents in a city of 7 million ain't that bad wouldn't you say? Besides 1 in 5 involve a cab, sure seems like more than 1 in 5 cars is a cab in NYC limits at least.

It is too bad statistical data isn't easier to come by (or easier to collect for that matter). I bet the per capita rate of taxi accidents is similar in most major cities. I haven't shared the same experience as the poster that said he has seen tons of LV taxi accidents.

[PinkString]

Originally Posted by mishmom

I just wanted to say that the last taxi driver I had in Vegas was the nicest one ever! He reminded me of my dad -- articulate, friendly without being a creeper, lots of tips about where to eat, what to do... I figured that he must have been in between jobs or something because he seemed to me that he could do much better than being a taxi driver. The most pleasant taxi ride I've ever had.

The last time I was in a taxi in LV, I was with several friends, and I got stuck behind the chain-smoking taxi driver and all the smoke kept going to the back seat where I was. It was terrible. I always vowed to get a non-smoking one in the future.

[Jukesgrrl]

You NY vs. LV guys are comparing apples and oranges. You couldn't possible make a valid comparison except to look at percentage of accidents per cab since there are approx. 13,000 licensed cabs (the yellow cars) in NYC (and 40,000 other "licensed vehicles for hire"), compared to 3,100 taxis in LV (according to the Nevada Taxicab Authority).

As for roadway accidents, the NY cab authority acknowledges that they have increased in the past decade with a recent figure being 12,557 in one year. (One study blamed it on less training for the drivers; another by drivers being on the road too long.) Still, that's less than one accident per cab per year. How many hours could you drive on the streets of Manhattan with less than one accident per year? By the same token, the Nevada Taxicab Authority reported 5,121 accidents in Las Vegas in 2010; and remember they say there are only 3,100 licensed cabs owned among LV's 16 legal cab companies. That makes LV look a lot worse than NYC percentage-wise, but again I suspect we're comparing apples to oranges (amount of traffic on the roads, average speed of vehicles, number of miles driven per driver, etc., etc.).

NYC cabs are highly regulated and everything from a pedestrian on the sidewalk hit by a cab to someone complaining of a finger they hurt on the door handle counts as a "taxi-related injury." The NYC cab authority reported nearly 20,000 injuries (not all wreck-related) in 1996, compared to approximately 98,000 in other types of vehicles. A recent study of taxi-related injuries by Bellevue Hospital in NYC said that the vast majority of them were suffered by riders who could have prevented them wearing their seatbelts, as the most common injury was a nose or head problem caused by the passenger hitting the required-by-law plastic wall that separates the front and back seats. I was unable to find anything about rider injuries in LV, since the NTA doesn't report them publicly.

So this is one argument that can probably never be settled with finality, even by someone as curious about nerdy statistics as yours truly.

[Jukesgrrl]

Originally Posted by PinkString

The last time I was in a taxi in LV, I was with several friends, and I got stuck behind the chain-smoking taxi driver and all the smoke kept going to the back seat where I was. It was terrible. I always vowed to get a non-smoking one in the future.

Supposedly, you shouldn't have "to get a non-smoking one." According to the cab authority "smoking is not permitted by drivers when carrying passengers." You should call them and lodge a complaint if it ever happens to you again. See instructions on Nevada Taxi Cab Authority

[dynimagelv]

many many years ago [in a previous life] I spent nearly 8 years as a Las Vegas Cab Driver.....I LOVED the job and have NEVER made as much money as I did then....remember this was 1972-1979 and i was making [reporting] $38,000 a year

[Jukesgrrl]

Originally Posted by dynimagelv

many many years ago [in a previous life] I spent nearly 8 years as a Las Vegas Cab Driver.....I LOVED the job and have NEVER made as much money as I did then....remember this was 1972-1979 and i was making [reporting] $38,000 a year

Wow, that was REAL money in the seventies!! You must have been livin' large. I lived in Washington, DC, on a $6,500/year salary in 1973. (And I even bought clothes, furniture, marijuana, concert tickets, and at 3 for $10, three new record albums every payday. Them was da days, kiddies.)

[Tiger Beer]

Funny that most people are commenting on the NY taxi cabs

You never know which direction a thread is going to go.

I was actually going to comment on that as well. I lived in NYC for a few years, and seldom took cabs, but the few times I did, they seemed fine.

I think I've taken more cabs in Vegas though, and every single one of them has been a character, to say the least.

Basically, I'd rather take a NYC cab than a Vegas cab, if I were to have my choice

[DavieJ89]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Funny that most people are commenting on the NY taxi cabs

You never know which direction a thread is going to go.

I was actually going to comment on that as well. I lived in NYC for a few years, and seldom took cabs, but the few times I did, they seemed fine.

I think I've taken more cabs in Vegas though, and every single one of them has been a character, to say the least.

Basically, I'd rather take a NYC cab than a Vegas cab, if I were to have my choice

Taxis on and around the strip make driving hell for me. So two can play this game, I drive the same way they do whenever I see one. I'll cut them off, Ill slam on my brakes for no reason, just to see how they like it (evil face)

What gets me even more is ever since gas prices went way up I see a LOT of mopeds around. People use these little toy scooters as if they're an actual mode of transportation most of these people wont go more than 35 mph on their scooters (which impedes traffic), and they selfishly use parking spaces for cars. I'm sorry but a tiny little 150cc moped in a car space is just plain selfish. Park your little toy on the curb and tie it to the bike rack where it belongs! And stay off the roads, didn't their mothers ever tell them to keep their toys in the yard

I swear the next moped I see in a parking space built for a car I'm going to move that moped out of the way and take that space

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by DavieJ89

What gets me even more is ever since gas prices went way up I see a LOT of mopeds around. People use these little toy scooters as if they're an actual mode of transportation most of these people wont go more than 35 mph on their scooters (which impedes traffic), and they selfishly use parking spaces for cars. I'm sorry but a tiny little 150cc moped in a car space is just plain selfish. Park your little toy on the curb and tie it to the bike rack where it belongs! And stay off the roads, didn't their mothers ever tell them to keep their toys in the yard

I swear the next moped I see in a parking space built for a car I'm going to move that moped out of the way and take that space

Speaking of which, what are the laws for parking a scooter/moped in Las Vegas?

Here in Asia, you can pretty much park them anywhere you want

But I have a feeling the U.S. in general would have a gazillion restrictions on something like that. Making me curious.

[DavieJ89]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Speaking of which, what are the laws for parking a scooter/moped in Las Vegas?

Here in Asia, you can pretty much park them anywhere you want

But I have a feeling the U.S. in general would have a gazillion restrictions on something like that. Making me curious.

I dont know what local or national laws are on scooters. Personally I think they should be banned, as they impede traffic and waste parking spaces.

Also the owners of them act like they're something special just because the own a moped that gets 80 mpg.

Im perfectly content with my Altima, and its 32 mpg highway, going almost 600 miles on one tank if Im highway driving

I guess Im a true American if Im so against mopeds lol