Assembly Members Want Attacks On Taxi Drivers To Be Felonies
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Following a brutal attack on a taxi driver, members of the Assembly are pushing for a new law that will make such assaults a felony.
The Taxi Driver Protection Act was introduced after Key Chun Kim, 53 was beaten by a passenger in Brooklyn on New Year's Day.
He remains in a coma at Kings County Hospital.
The suspect is free on $10,000 bail.
"We demand real protection on this job," said Bhairavi Desai of the Taxi Workers' Alliance. "We're sick and tired of the hospital visits. We're sick and tired of these tragedies. Drivers deserve better, and Albany can provide it."
Assemblymen Ron Kim, Ed Braunstein and Walter Mosley said they want to see the same felony assault penalties that protect nurses, transit and sanitation workers extended to cab drivers.
Unless the case is brought before a grand jury, the suspect can only be charged with misdemeanors and violations.