Evening star., 1935-02-26

The All-Powerful Taxi Operators.

In legislating on automobile liability
laws for the District Congress gives
the impression of functioning as
government of taxicab operators, for
taxicab operators and by taXicab oper-
ators. Failure of the House yeSter-
day to take up and pass the automo-
bile liability bill, already passed by
the Senate this year and passed by
the House last session, was attributed
to last minute plea by taXicab oper-
ators that they had not been heard
on the measure. They have certainly
had plenty of opportunity to be heard.
The manner in which a small but
organized minority Of taxicab oper-
ators-not even representing all taxi
cab operators, not to mention all cit
izens of the District-has been able
to stop this and similar legislation in
other years is passing strange.
Last year the present automobile
liability bill, known as the safety re-
sponsibility" measure and drawn in
accordance with the recommendations
of the National Conference on Street
and Highway Safety, was accompanied
by another bill, more drastic in its
provisions and aimed at taxicab oper-
ators. This second bill would have
required taMcab operators to assume
financial liability for damage they may
cause, an obligation that every oper-
ator of common carrier should as
sumo as a matter of course. The Sem
ate passed the taxicab liability meas
ure. but the House committee held it up
and reported favorably on the safety
responsibility bill. This bill applies to
everybody who drives an automobile
and requires liability insurance to re-
gain a permit lost on conviction of GER
tain traffic offenses,
The plea was made at the time, in
behalf of the taxicab operators. that
to make them assume liability insur-
auce would constitute a hardship
regardless of the hardship suffered by
a public unprotected from financially
irresponsible taxi drivers. So the
House passed the general safety re-
sponsibility bill, and the Senate, ap-
parently piqued at the fact that its
taxi liability bill was ditched in the
House. refused to concur and neither
bill was enacted.
This year 1t was decided to press for
passage of the moderate safety re-
sponsibility bill, which would apply to
everybody. The Senate passed 1t as
one of the first bills of the session. 1t
languished in a subcommittee of the
House District Committee without re:
ceiving any attention for nearly two
months and was finally reported after
a brief session and placed on the
House calendar 1t was Withdrawn
from the calendar yesterday on the
astounding plea of some taxicab OPP
orators that they really preferred the
taxicab liability insurance measure
and had not had opportunity to be
heard on the general safety response
bility bill.
It would be interesting to know
how the taxicab operators manage
to make their protests so effective,
overshadowing demands for this legis-
lation that have come from prac-
tically everybody interested in meas
ures which might cut down the alarm
ing traffic toll in deaths and injuries
and damage to private property.
Chairman Norton, it is hoped, will
Immediately take the proper steps to
have the safety responsibility bill re-
ported again and placed on the House
calendar. An objection from taxicab
men resting on the statement that
they would rather have the taxicab
liability bill enacted-when enactment
of that measure was held up on the
complaint of taxicab men that it was
too harsh-should certainly not hold
water with serious minded legislators
Abyssinia has many powerful ad-