Bill would ban taxi drivers’ use of hand-held cell phones

By Cy Ryan

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008 | 2:53 p.m.

CARSON CITY – The Taxicab Authority’s proposed ban on cell phone use by cabbies while they transport passengers would exclude hands-free cell phones, according to the agency’s administrator.

Taxicab Administrator George Walker said the synopsis of the bill by the Legislative Counsel Bureau wrongly gave the impression that all cell phone use would be banned. It applies only to hand-held devices, he said.

Walker submitted the request for a bill to be drafted by the Legislative Counsel Bureau. Every week the bureau publishes a list of the bill draft requests, giving a one-sentence summary of the content.

Walker said he doesn’t have a list of accidents that might have been caused by drivers using hand-held cell phones. The authority is taking this step for the safety of both the passenger and the driver.

There are about 7,800 taxi drivers in Las Vegas who made 26.6 million trips last year.