Jun 10, 2009 7:10 pm US/Eastern
Pedicab Crash Leads To Calls For New Regulations
3 People Injured After Accident In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
-
-
At least two people were seriously injured after this pedicab was involved in an accident with a taxi in Brooklyn.
CBS
Questions are mounting about pedicab drivers after a serious accident sent two people to the hospital on Wednesday. The collision has led to an increase in calls for pedicab rules to be enforced.
A pedicab driver and two passengers were injured when it crashed into a taxi cab around 7:30 Wednesday morning as it came off a ramp of the Williamsburgh Bridge. According to people at the scene, the pedicab came down the ramp that is open to bikes and pedestrians onto Bedford Street, when it came into the path of an oncoming taxi.
The driver and one passenger were knocked unconscious after the pedicab either didn't stop or couldn't stop.
"I'm guessing somebody's brakes failed," said Laramie Flick, who drives a pedicab himself. He said there is a law that regulates pedicabs, but is not being enforced.
"Right now, because the law's not enforced, it's the wild west out there," said Chad Marlow of the NYC Pedicab Owners' Association.
Marlow, a lobbyist for pedicab owners, said the city council passed pedicab regulations but the Department of Consumer Affairs and police will not enforce them.
"Some of those laws include that it is illegal to ride on a bridge; that you have to have top-notch, inspected brakes on your pedicab; that you have to have seatbelts on your pedicab, and you have to maintain insurance," he said.
A spokeswoman for Consumer Affairs told CBS 2 there's no enforcement at this time because the rules are being reformulated. But the drivers who pedal the contraptions, perhaps surprisingly, said they welcome the regulations.
"It's good because we all have to abide by the rules," said pedicab driver Giovanni Pacheco.
The pedicab association predicts there will be more accidents and lawsuits against the city until the rules are enforced. The last set of regulations were passed by the City Council two years ago. There are an estimated 1,000 pedicabs on the streets of New York.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
2009 Celebrity Deaths
Click to enlarge
Germany To Send Trial Observer To NY 42 mins ago 
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments