Archives of the Mayor's Press Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: June 21, 1997

Release #371-97

Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958, Allan Fromberg(TLC) 212-840-4895


MAYOR GIULIANI ANNOUNCES CELEBRITY TALKING TAXIS;

STARS ARE IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT FOR CAB SAFETY

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today announced that by August 1, each of the City's 12,053 licensed medallion taxicabs will have the voices of famous New York City-based celebrities to remind passengers to buckle their seat belts for safety.

"The main objective of this initiative is safety – to get people to buckle their seat belts in New York City taxicabs." said Mayor Giuliani, "And how better to help people make this intelligent choice than to have some of New York City's top celebrities do the reminding.

"We appreciate the contributions of these outstanding New Yorkers in helping to keep riders safer and for helping us to do it in such a fun and positive way," the Mayor added.

The celebrities include Placido Domingo, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Jackie Mason, Joe Torre, Judd Hirsch, Joan Rivers and Eartha Kitt. All of the celebrities donated their time and talents to the project, in the hopes that they may persuade taxi riders to buckle up, despite the absence of a State law mandating people to wear the potentially lifesaving devices.

Taxi and Limousine Commission Chairperson Diane McGrath-McKechnie said, "Our ultimate goal is to get cab riders to wear their seat belts. It's our distinct understanding, unfortunately, that the vast majority of riders do not wear their belts now, despite the TLC mandate that seat belts be available and functional, and despite the industry's working hard to comply with this mandate.

The celebrity voices will be rotated several times each year, with new celebrities taking the place of initial participants, and with some of the original stars returning with new messages. In addition to the seat belt reminder message, which will be triggered by the activation of the meter at the beginning of each ride, each taxicab will feature that celebrity reprising the already famous messages reminding people to take their belongings and to get a receipt from the driver at the end of each ride.

Chairperson McGrath-McKechnie also expressed her gratitude to Clever Devices, a Long Island-based audio company, and its president, William Long, for providing services and technical expertise that was instrumental in the success of this project on a pro-bono basis.

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