New York Post

New bill would make it illegal to flee TLC cops

- Danielle Furfaro and Chris Perez

City cabbies who play “Smokey and the Bandit’’ with Taxi and Limousine Commission agents — waiting for officers who pull them over to get out of their vehicles and then gunning it to escape — are about to be stopped in their tracks.

There is currently no law that prevents motorists other than greencab drivers from ignoring TLC cops.

So Councilman Daneek Miller (DQueens) and other officials are proposing legislatio­n that would finally give the unarmed officers some teeth and make it illegal to flee them.

“I just drive away when they come up behind me. They can’t do anything,” admitted a cabby named Ashraf who works for a car service in Brooklyn.

The proposed law would create penalties of up to $1,000 in fines and 90 days in jail for fleeing TLC offic ers, according to officials.

“There is a whole rogue industry that conducts themselves outside the law and ride recklessly through the streets,” Miller said. “They need the resources to be able to enforce rules.”

In some cases, cabbies have been known to hurl motor oil on their windshield­s to throw them off their tail, sources said.

TLC spokesman Greg Gordon said, “We appreciate any measure that allows our enforcemen­t officers to do their jobs more effectivel­y.”

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