Taxi drivers: Diversion proposal may be ineffective

Friday, March 22, 2002 | 11:15 a.m.

Las Vegas cab drivers are split over the potential effectiveness of a planned crackdown by the Nevada Taxicab Authority on illegal passenger diversions.

The reason: Cab drivers are wise to how much they can say before they can be accused of persuading customers to go to a competitor instead of the place they originally were asked to be taken.

A Nellis Cab. Co. driver said he won't divert customers, but he knows what he can say to make them change their minds and still stay within the bounds of state regulations. The driver, who asked not to be identified, said the Taxicab Authority's sting operation crackdown won't solve the diversion problem because it will make drivers more wary and careful about how they answer questions from customers.

The five-member Taxicab Authority disciplined six cab drivers Wednesday, revoking one driver's license, suspending another's for five days and fining four more drivers with amounts ranging from $100 to $370. Four other drivers asked for legal representation and will have hearings next month.

John Plunkett, administrator of the Taxicab Authority, which regulates 15 taxi companies and their 1,500 cabs in Clark County, said undercover officers in one day took 51 rides with drivers and spotted 28 violations, including 11 for diversions or attempted diversions.

Officers also caught drivers steering customers to alleged solicitations for prostitution, taking customers on longer routes than necessary, meter violations and permit obstruction violations, he said.

Drivers can't accept tips from anyone but a customer who pays a fare under existing state law. But that practice is routinely ignored by drivers and business people who know tourists routinely ask cabbies for advice on restaurants, bars and local shows.

The issue has come to a head over the past three months when the owner of a topless club complained that cab drivers are diverting customers from his club to small all-nude clubs that pay drivers higher tips.

Pete Eliades, who also is a partner in Yellow-Checker-Star, the city's largest cab company, complained that regulators were ignoring the tipping rule.

Earlier this year topless clubs Crazy Horse Too, Club Paradise, Cheetah's and Olympic Garden filed suit against their smaller competitors, accusing them of conspiring with cab drivers to siphon off business. The case will be heard next month by Judge Sally Loehrer, who in January issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting clubs from paying gratuities.

Even before the injunction was filed, Plunkett said his agency hadn't received a complaint from the public involving diversion, but club owners have continued to raise the issue.

Plunkett said the cab sting rides were taken randomly without consideration for any particular cab company or driver. The 10 drivers who were disciplined or had hearings set in April represent nine different companies.

In the sting rides, Plunkett said undercover officers specifically asked to be taken to Olympic Garden, since that club has been at the center of the issue.

Drivers who suggested going to a different club or who made false statements about the Olympic Garden were cited for attempted diversion. Others who offered admission tickets to other clubs at a discount price were cited for diversion.

Plunkett said he was surprised that diversion was attempted in one in five of the sting rides, particularly since there have been no complaints from the public.

"We'll handle these cases as they develop," Plunkett said. "It's taken a lot of time and resources, but we'll continue doing it until the problem stops."

Bill Shranko, director of operations for Yellow-Checker-Star Cab Co., said owners are welcoming the stepped-up enforcement.

"We are delighted that the Taxicab Authority has undertaken this major enforcement effort," Shranko said. "There is nothing that discourages visitors to Las Vegas more than to be ripped off by unscrupulous drivers."

Shranko said he believes active enforcement operations like the sting "will absolutely solve the problem" of diversion.

Three of the disciplinary actions involved drivers from the three affiliated Yellow-Checker-Star companies.

Craig Harris, a Yellow-Checker-Star driver who also edits Trip Sheet magazine read by cabbies, said "drivers are their own worst enemy in this case" and he welcomed the Taxicab Authority crackdown.

"These guys have been warned for years," said Harris. "They've been warned in my magazine, they've been warned by at least two administrators, the unions and the driver's association and it still happens. That's why the unions and the drivers organizations are not contesting diversion. If a driver knowlingly and willingly diverts, they should be subject to citation and disciplinary action."

Harris said most cab drivers are honest and don't divert customers and he thinks the definition of diversion may need to be tightened to give drivers some leeway in their dealings with their customers.

"I think legitimate comments are well within reason," Harris said. "But if you're asked to go somewhere and you (falsely) tell the customer the place burned down last night, that crosses the line."

The Nellis Cab driver said when a customer asks to be taken somewhere, he may make a comment like, "OK, if that's where you want to go," which often opens the door for the customer to solicit the driver's opinion. When that door is opened, the driver said he won't hesitate to give his opinion -- but still won't take the customer to a place unless directed to do so by the person paying the fare.

Paying the price for illegally diverting a customer is too steep, the driver said, since in a good week, a five-day suspension could result in $1,000 in lost wages.