The Taxi and Limousine Commission is considering newly stringent rules about taxi drivers and cell phones, steepening the punishment for their use and even vowing to strip licenses from those who have been busted three times. Additionally, all distracting electronic devices (cameras, iPods, etc.) will also be banned. The new rules are sure to pass, so perhaps the current era of cell-phone abuse (it sounds so extreme when you put it that way) will finally end. From the Post:

Even the most popular ruse — keeping a hands-free device in an ear and claiming it's "turned off" — will also be outlawed under the stringent new laws, said Taxi and Limousine Commissioner Matthew Daus.

Wait a minute. Is that a thing? Taxi drivers talking on Bluetooths and pretending they're off? That's never happened to us. But if it did, we'd probably be pretty freaked out. What if the device was actually off, and they were just ranting and raving to themselves??

Hack crackdown silences cab gab [NYP]