Police Pull All Taxis Off Streets In Manchester, NH
MANCHESTER, N.H. (CBS) - Cab drivers in Manchester are feverishly making repairs to taxis after all of them lost their medallions following safety inspections.
"These cars have mostly 200,000 miles on them, and of course that's going to be a lot of little things," said cab driver Brian Dragon of Manchester Taxi. "The little things add up."
At Manchester Taxi, cabbies said it has been hard to keep up with all the fixes.
"The cars are running 24/7 and things break," Dragon said. "I don't have a vehicle that's perfect."
Two companies in Manchester run all of the city's 18 taxis. Inspectors failed every one of the vehicles during a routine inspection.
Vehicles were faulted for everything from brake issues to lights not working to cracks in the windshield.
Manchester Police say passengers could have been in danger.
"We have safety inspections for a reason," Manchester Lt. James Flanagan said. "I think that any number of safety concerns could cause problems with the safety of the passengers."
At Queen City Taxi, the owner told WBZ-TV that two of his taxis have gotten their medallions back but he is not sending them on runs because he cannot run a business with just two cabs.
Manchester Taxi has one of its medallions back, but the company is closed until it can get more taxis in service as well.
Both companies say they need about five taxis to return to operations.
The issue does not affect passengers arriving at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport because the airport has a separate taxi system.
