A recent poster on the Cleveland Park Listserv reported on a bad experience in a DC taxicab, which led her to look up her rights as a passenger. Here's what she found:
I had a scary experience coming home from Union Station with 1) a forced rideshare and 2) a continuously running meter overcharging passengers by leaving the meter running during all four drop offs.
I just looked up the relevant laws and thought I should share this information as it would have been very useful to me at the time:
1) If I refuse a cab share the driver can not add riders.
2) The person who gets in the cab first can demand to be dropped off first and 3) the meter should be reset after each passenger exits so there is a fare benefit to passengers for ride sharing.
The exact wording can be found at http://1.usa.gov/mN742g and is as follows:
Title 31 DCMR §801.7: Whenever a passenger gets out, the fare shall be paid, the meter shall be reset, and the last passenger shall pay the remaining fee;
Title 31 DCMR §808(c): In the event any questions arise as to the order of arrival at any destination, the question shall be resolved in favor of the passenger who entered the taxicab first. (d) Passengers have the right to refuse shared riding.
Thanks for posting. After being forced to share a taxi today, I questioned my taxi driver as to why he did not reset the meter every time. He replied (lying, obviously) that Union Station fares are the only place where cabs can legally do what they're doing.
ReplyDeleteLesson: force them to reset the meter when anyone gets out, if you're forced to share a cab. Ugh.