Columnist Jeff German: Clear up the taxicab sound issue

Wednesday, June 8, 2005 | 11 a.m.

Who didn't see this coming?

The Legislature has formally taken the Nevada Taxicab Authority board to task for enacting a sloppy camera regulation that failed to impose safeguards over the use of sound recordings.

Not only did lawmakers pass a resolution this week declaring the regulation dead, but the chairmen of the transportation committees in both houses sent the Taxicab Authority a strongly written letter telling it how to fix the regulation.

The action backed the Interim Legislative Commission, which rejected the regulation in January because of privacy concerns.

The regulation has been in limbo since then, and the Taxicab Authority board has done little to clear up the confusion it has created within the industry. Some companies have installed still digital cameras, the minimum requirement under the regulation. Others have taken the extra step of putting in video cameras with sound. And still others, about half the industry, have done nothing at all.

But maybe now, after wasting all of this time, the board will finally get the picture and write a regulation that spells out exactly what the companies should be doing. This would be a regulation that protects both the drivers and the privacy of their passengers.

That's what the two transportation committee chairmen, Sen. Dennis Nolan, R-Las Vegas, and Assemblyman John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, are hoping will happen.

"Obviously, protecting the riding public and the taxicab drivers from harm is our first concern, but we are also committed to maintaining personal privacy and respecting the rights of individuals," they said in their letter.

"There must be no doubt that any recording, be it a still photograph, video or sound, may be made for the wrong reason, seen and heard by the wrong person, used for the wrong purpose or stored unnecessarily.

"Therefore it is of the utmost importance that the regulation be revised to clearly prohibit any inappropriate use of such recordings."

Nolan and Oceguera said the regulation should do more than just require companies to slap a decal on a taxicab window warning passengers that they are being recorded.

The new regulation, the lawmakers wrote, should explain:

All of this is just common sense -- something the board should have exercised long ago.

The only downside to tossing out the current regulation is that it buys more time for greedy companies, such as the five owned by Charlie Frias, to avoid putting in cameras altogether.

Nolan and Oceguera urged the Taxicab Authority board to incorporate their suggestions in the new regulation and bring it back to the Legislative Commission for approval within the next two months.

But before that can happen, it's going to mean another round of public hearings for the board and more chances for Frias and friends to stall the regulation at the expense of the safety of the drivers.

Hopefully this time, however, the board won't let itself be bullied by the companies.