Highly Illogical

The following appeared in the Tue. 9/9/08 Waste News e-mail.

Taxicab group claims switch to hybrid vehicles is unsafe

Sept. 9 -- A trade group representing taxicab fleets in New York City claims a switch to hybrid vehicles is unsafe for drivers and passengers.

The Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, which represents 27 fleets and more than 3,500 taxis in the city, alleged hybrid vehicles are "unsafe and incompatible with the rigorous demands of New York City taxicabs."

A report commissioned by the association claims hybrids are not designed to hold partitions that are mandated by the city Taxi and Limousine Commission. These partitions, which keep drivers safe, allegedly block side-curtain airbags, become easily dislodged in accidents and prevent drivers from safely keeping away from front airbags. The partitions also limit backseat legroom, the association alleged.

The group filed a lawsuit this week in U.S. District Court urging that hybrids not be used in the city.

I have a big problem with the logic behind the lawsuit. "Hybrid" refers to the vehicle's engine, which has no effect on the design of a taxi chassis (you like that?). The partition problem sounds like an issue with the make and model of car, not its power source. If there's a conflict between partitions and airbags, cab companies either need to redesign the partitions to make them compatible with side airbags, or decide whose safety is more important: the driver's (remove the airbags, keep the partitions) or the passengers' (remove the partition, keep the airbags). Moreover, why wouldn't the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade just tell its members not to purchase incompatible vehicles? It sounds like an issue of individual business decisions, not a lawsuit.

Also, I don't see how the taxi group can prohibit all hybrid vehicles from New York City, but I think that's probably an issue with a poorly worded sentence by the writer and not an accurate description of the lawsuit.