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November 5, 2009
Mrs. B Side-Swiped In The Heights
A few minutes ago Mrs. B was side-swiped on Pierrepont Street in a hit-and-run by a yellow cab with medallion number 3Y65; there were three small children in the back of the car. No one was hurt but we're out a side view mirror. We reported it to TLC but don't have a lot of faith they'll do anything about it. It will be interesting to watch the slow wheels of bureaucracy turn though. Anyone have any relevant experiences to share?
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Comments
Nice job getting the taxi number. Just document everything with photographs, etc.
Posted by: Frederick Law Homestead at November 5, 2009 3:40 PM
How about reporting it to the Police as well. It's a hit and run.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at November 5, 2009 3:43 PM
You will probably have to go to the hearing if you want to get the cabbie in trouble. Otherwise he will not be punsihed by the TLC, you'll just get a letter thanking you for taking the time to complain. Good luck and sorry to hear about this.
Posted by: Cobblehillbaby at November 5, 2009 3:43 PM
Glad everyone is OK, Mr. B
Posted by: CarrollGardened at November 5, 2009 3:43 PM
Become a nag at TLC and give it lots of press. Was it parked or was she driving? That makes a big difference with getting your insurance company to follow-up: No-fault versus their fault.
I'm glad to hear that everyone is alright. Maybe, with any luck, there were passengers in the taxi who don't succumb to the TLC "no snitching" idea.
Posted by: bestviewinbrooklyn at November 5, 2009 3:45 PM
i had a minor taxi accident and had to report it. i received a notice for a court date about a month later. definitely call the TLC and give them as many details as possible. very helpful that you have the medallion number.
sorry to hear about the accident, that is scary stuff. hopefully everyone is ok. if you call the TLC and report it, you should be able to get somewhere. probably wouldn't hurt to call the local police precinct as well.
Posted by: CG_ups at November 5, 2009 3:45 PM
glad everyone is ok
i would call the cops and bypass that whole TLC crap, as they make you go down to rector street at 8am in the middle of the week to testify.
i hate cab drivers
Posted by: dirty_hipster at November 5, 2009 3:45 PM
Call the cops, as DIBS said.
Posted by: Pigeon at November 5, 2009 3:46 PM
Oh yeah, definitely call the cops. You need a police report anyway.
Posted by: bestviewinbrooklyn at November 5, 2009 3:47 PM
Report it to the precinct, it's a leaving the scene of an accident. Plus you'll need an accident report to file for insurance, and probably to take to the TLC.
Posted by: denton at November 5, 2009 3:47 PM
You will want to make a police report and attend the TLC hearing. With the medallion number, you should also be able to identify the owner of the cab and find out its insurance company. It is a lucky thing that no one was hurt, for obvious reasons, but also because some taxi owners do not carry more than the state minimum liability insurance.
Posted by: Parklife at November 5, 2009 3:47 PM
A cab side-swiped my body about 5 years ago on 2nd Avenue in Manhattan--actually, it slowly backed up into me and didn't stop despite my shrieking and some witnesses yelling. The driver was using someone else's medallion. I reported it to the TLC and they did call and investigate pretty quickly, but I never pressed charges. The time it takes to call is probably dependent on how bad the damages are.
Posted by: tiptoe at November 5, 2009 3:54 PM
Ive had good luck with TLC... a cabdriver punched me and when I complained they held a prompt hearing and yanked his license for a while.
Posted by: PresidentStreeter at November 5, 2009 3:58 PM
There's a crossing guard cop every day at the corner of Clinton and Pierrepont at St. Ann's, beginning at 3pm - if it happened there you may have a witness.
Posted by: buttermilk channel at November 5, 2009 4:02 PM
Ive had good luck with TLC... a cabdriver punched me and when I complained they held a prompt hearing and yanked his license for a while.
Posted by: PresidentStreeter at November 5, 2009 3:58 PM
Piano wire would have been handy then.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at November 5, 2009 4:02 PM
Call 311 and they will send you all the paperwork to get your complaint logged. And yeah - nice job in getting the cab #!
If it's just your sideview mirror - talk to Joe at Fifteenth Street Auto - he has replaced mine on several hit-and-run occasions (yes, several, >>sigh<<). A standard black one will cost you about $85 w/labor (don't know how much if you want it painted or the one matching your car's make/model) but it isn't even worth going through insurance cause it's prob less than the deductable.
Joe is AWESOME, friendly and always does a good, honest job.
Glad to hear no one is hurt...
Posted by: Bklynight at November 5, 2009 4:06 PM
Zoicks, glad to hear that nobody was hurt. Following up with NYPD sounds like a good idea.
Posted by: DitmasSnark at November 5, 2009 4:07 PM
Yeah, we're not really interested in insurance--wouldn't mind the guy getting a slap on the wrist and being forced to apologize to the wife though!
Posted by: brownstoner at November 5, 2009 4:11 PM
I'm also glad no one was hurt. Sounds like you got some good advice. A lot of cabbies really hate driving to Brooklyn, and when they get here, don't know where they are going, not even in Brooklyn Hts. He was probably like a rat in a maze, looking to get out. That's no excuse, of course, and he should have been more careful.
Posted by: Montrose Morris at November 5, 2009 4:32 PM
Glad to hear that all are okay. Definitely call 311 as well as report to police. Rear quarterpanel of my car was destroyed by a taxi many years ago, when cab pulled away from curb without looking. Everyone who saw the damage (police, insurance company, etc.) said it was obvious that damage could only have occurred as reported. Nevertheless, my memory is that it took many months of wasted time to accomplish very little Taxi Commission-wise. My impression from posts above is that complaint process may have been revised since then and that Commission is now more responsive. Hope that's the case.
Posted by: vinca at November 5, 2009 4:33 PM
I think I'm the only one thinking the cabby may not have necessarily been 100% aware even that he hit your wife's mirror. I say this b/c I once got my mirror hit by a passing car (while I was in mine) and between the road noise and radio, I didn't even realize it right away, thought it was some other noise (road crap, construction bang), and mine was a very quiet car inside versus those loud rattling taxis. Believe me, I hate cabbies and would err on the side of thinking they're always guilty, but in this case, meh. Either way, TLC was VERY quick/responsive to my past complaint.
Posted by: BSD at November 5, 2009 4:38 PM
Almost every cab in the city is monitored by satellite at one or two central stations. Call 800-nyc-taxi.
I left a piece of luggage in a cab in manhattan and they tracked it from a central station in Chicago(!?) Got the guy and my bag back to where I was in about 20 minutes.
Point is they will be able to corroborate the medallion number with the location of the accident and the driver at the time.
Good luck.
Posted by: guywithahouse at November 5, 2009 4:45 PM
Thank goodness everyone is ok. good luck with the TLC. I've heard a lot of horror stories but maybe they've improved.
Posted by: bxgrl at November 5, 2009 4:52 PM
BSD, Mrs. B chased him for a couple of blocks honking her horn so we're pretty sure he was aware!
Posted by: brownstoner at November 5, 2009 5:01 PM
Mr. B, sorry this happened to you but glad to hear you are all ok.
Did I mention I'm a lawyer :-) If you wanna hold your neck and your back (soft tissue injuries are almost impossible to disprove) I could be of use to you! Just kidding! Glad to hear you are fine. Seriously, call the cops and report the bastard.
Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at November 5, 2009 5:07 PM
And I'm glad you busted out the driver by posting his taxi number.
YO TAXI #3Y65: YOU ARE A FIRST CLASS DILLWEED!
Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at November 5, 2009 5:10 PM
I like the vision of Mrs. B. chasing him and beeping her horn! But seriously, glad everyone's ok, and definitely follow-up with the police and TLC, not just here on your site.
Posted by: Minmin at November 5, 2009 5:29 PM
was she in the st ann's 3pm pick-up lane? I find that whole pierrepont/clinton corner nuts around that time. there is a safety guard but I find kids (and parents) just jaywalk around her. then there are the pick-up parents in cars who are double parked, etc. and the cabs rushing down clinton. the whole situation is not good. glad nobody was hurt.
Posted by: Ringo at November 5, 2009 5:33 PM
Happy nothing serious and nobody hurt.
Posted by: mopar at November 5, 2009 5:36 PM
thanks for the well-wishes
Posted by: brownstoner at November 5, 2009 5:36 PM
Glad there were no injuries! And lucky it was only a busted mirror.
This reminded me of two tiny taxi stories-
Some years ago I was taking a taxi in the Lower East Side. The driveer was clearly lost and my sister sharply said to him that he should really learn his way around if he was going to keep doing this for a job. Well his face scrunched up and he just burst into tears.
And in a completely unrelated incident, in fact having nothing to do with taxicab drivers, but the cab itself...
I've always been interested in going into buildings that appear abandoned. So, when someone asked me to go with them to scope out the old hospital or monastary on Throop Ave. in Bed Stuy, I said sure. We went in, saw lots of water damage and some great potential and an entire yellow cab, medallion and all.
Posted by: bessie2 at November 5, 2009 5:56 PM
Mr.B, in that case, you should seriously run that p.o.s. through the ringer. Another case to support my disdain for cabbies and their 3rd world driving mentality.
Posted by: BSD at November 5, 2009 6:02 PM
That's too bad. I can say that I complained about a guy who wouldn't drive me to Brooklyn one day from downtown Manhattan. I was sick that day and the guy was so nasty. I got mad, reported him and I got a date. You have no choice on the date though; they give it to you. In the end, I wound up not being able to go. But they do follow up. In the bad old days, cabbies could be as mad as hatters and do anything they wanted but now it's really different; the whip has been cracked. If anything, the TLC doesn't give them an inch.
Posted by: maewest at November 5, 2009 6:17 PM
The TLC might surprise you. About 10 years ago, I reported an asshole cab driver and they actually fined him $500 and suspended his license until he contacted them (he was a "no show" at the hearing). As long as you're willing to go in and testify, you probably have a good chance of winning.
Posted by: Big Jugs at November 5, 2009 6:28 PM
I was once at the corner of Baxter and Hester (1 block north of Canal St.; between Broadway and Bowery). Got into a cab and asked the driver to take me to Brooklyn via the Manhattan Bridge and he had absolutely no idea where the bridge was.
Posted by: rf at November 5, 2009 6:28 PM
Mr. B, sorry to hear this story but glad that Mrs. B and the children are all alright. Since you have the cab#, by all means report it and good luck with getting a result! And, even if you don't ever hear anything, rest assured that what goes around comes around. The cabbie will get his for sure.
Bklynight, like you, we seem to have an invisible banner on our car that says "hit me!" Just got sideswiped (for the 3rd time) only last week and lost our mirror as well. Car was parked though and we have no idea who did it. Wish we had known of Joe before going for a replacement. Ordered an OEM, painted side view mirror from our mechanic. Replacement cost + labor came to $229 and the car's been sitting at the shop for close to a week!
BSD -- I haven't read anything in this thread which indicates the nationality of the cab driver so why bother to bring "3rd world driving mentality" into the discussion? We've been to Paris and Rome and have feared for our lives when attempting to cross certain streets and intersections. Irresponsible, rude, just plain bad driving behavior comes in all flavors.
Posted by: Brooklynista at November 5, 2009 6:31 PM
Mr. and Mrs. B -- so sorry about the side-swipe with 3 kids in the car. Once I was side-swiped by an enormous truck when I was in a small car (waiting at the intersection). The truck driver was horrified to have hit my small car as his vehicle slid sideways somehow. It smashed my passenger side door with a light touch and I was completely unharmed. That seemed like a miracle. The truck company was most helpful with insurance. Even when one is unharmed, it can shake one up quite a bit.
Posted by: BklynSoFar at November 5, 2009 6:41 PM
The TLC crushes taxi drivers. If you can show up at a hearing to testify, the driver will almost certainly be punished.
Posted by: Leo at November 5, 2009 7:23 PM
Wow. Glad everyone is ok.
Posted by: livinthedream at November 5, 2009 8:52 PM
Good to hear no one was hurt.
Posted by: East New York at November 6, 2009 9:44 AM
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