The Need for Taxi Regulation

The fatal crash of a taxi into a motorcycle in Huntington Beach on the Fourth of July and the disclosure that the driver’s company had not registered with the county underlines the importance of having and enforcing safety standards for cabs.

Last January, Orange County launched the Taxi Administration Program, which is operated by the Orange County Transportation Authority. The program’s objective was a good one, to make it easier for cities, cab drivers and taxi companies to give and receive licenses.

California law requires cities to regulate taxi companies. Before January, the companies required business licenses from each city in which they picked up customers. For a small company with one or two cabs that operated in only one or two cities, that wasn’t too much of a problem. But bigger firms were required to garner numerous permits. Cities found it troublesome to do their own inspections and issue their own permits.

OCTA estimates that about 550 taxis operate in the county and all 16 cab companies have applied for permits except for the California Yellow Taxi Cab Co., of Huntington Beach.

One of the company’s 31 taxis was being driven by Michelle Marchman last month when it struck Adam “A.J.” Summers’ motorcycle, stopped at a traffic light. Summers, a popular and well-known lifeguard, was killed. No charges have been filed in the incident.

County officials reported that the California Yellow Taxi Cab Co. had not replied to requests for proof of insurance for its fleet weeks before the crash. A Huntington Beach police officer who monitors the licensing of local cab companies said the firm would not return his calls. After the accident, the company’s owner said he planned to apply soon for a county taxi business permit. However, there’s a lesson for the county in this sequence of events. It should not be in the position of hoping for compliance from cab companies. It ought to demand that standards be met as a condition of operation.

Cabs are not as commonplace in Southern California as in places like San Francisco or Manhattan. But Orange County’s taxi program is important. The vehicles are important to senior citizens who no longer drive, to tourists and to those here for conventions. In the county program, drivers are tested to ensure they don’t use drugs; they are fingerprinted and are checked to see if they have criminal records. Taxi companies are required to have high amounts of insurance; the vehicles are inspected for safety.

OCTA officials rightly say they want people hopping into a taxi to have confidence that the vehicle is safe and operated by a good driver. The way to do that is to see that companies live up to the rules. Rather than complying with regulations from a host of cities, companies can meet one standard and do business in the county’s biggest cities. No firm should be allowed to cut corners.