New York v. Kelson/Brown: Round II

About six months ago, Elliott and I were almost run over by a taxi cab. We were crossing W. 12th Street on 7th Avenue, on our way home from a lovely dinner with Laura Jordan and her very talented artist boyfriend Dean Barger. As we started to cross the 6th lane in the intersection, a taxi cab jumped the light and almost ran us over.

Once we calmed down, I called and reported the incident to the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission. The cabs in New York are awful. If you’re in the cab, you’re subjected to the driver’s mumbled cell phone conversation. If you’re out of the cab, the drivers try to hurry you across the street by almost running you over. The cab on 7th Avenue, however, never saw us and legitimately almost hit us.

I went to Taxi Court this morning to plead my case. As the daughter of Laurie Kelson, I knew that it was my civic duty to right the wrong in my community to help make it a safer place. I have never been to court as a plaintiff or a defendant and I had no idea what to expect. Once I signed in, they had me sit in a waiting room where I was delighted to find current, interesting magazines. After a half hour wait, the security guard/bailiff escorted me into an old office occupied by an ancient judge. Judge Sherman was 93. Literally. He asked me to sit next to him and then the driver came in and sat across from him. It was a bit frightening sitting so close to the defendant knowing that the judge could not help me if he suddenly became aggressive.

I gave my testimony into a tape recorder. The taxi driver then gave his testimony, foolishly admitting that his riders often encouraged him to run red lights or else they would file a complaint that he was too slow. It was certainly the evidence I needed for my case.

Ends up this driver had a perfect record. He seemed scared to death that he was going to have to pay a fine with money he didn’t have. All I could think about was the fact that his kids might not get presents for Christmas (or whatever holiday his family celebrates). He genuinely apologized and promised to be more careful. I think being called into court was lesson enough for this guy and didn’t feel like $150 was going to make a big difference to his approach to driving, but would have a very negative impact on this family. I agreed to dismiss the case.

Did I get soft because it was Thanksgiving Eve? Perhaps. Did I do the right thing by reporting the incident (requiring the guy to come into court) and then dismissing the case because this guy seemed to learn his lesson? I hope so. If I made the streets of New York even .001% safer, then I think I did the right thing.

I’ll call this match a tie for Kelson/Brown v. New York.