§ 19-507 Mandatory penalties.
AC § 19-507
a. The commission or successor agency shall fine any driver, or suspend or revoke the driver's license of any driver, as provided in subdivision b of this section, who shall have been found in violation of any of the following: 1. No driver of a taxicab shall seek to ascertain, without justifiable grounds, the destination of a passenger before such passenger shall be seated in the vehicle.
2.No driver of a taxicab shall refuse, without justifiable grounds, to take any passenger or prospective passenger to any destination within the city.
3.No driver of a vehicle the fares of which are set by the commission or successor agency shall charge or attempt to charge a fare above the fare set by the commission or successor agency.
4.No driver of a for-hire vehicle, other than a driver operating a for-hire vehicle with a valid HAIL license, shall accept passengers unless the passengers have engaged the use of the for-hire vehicle on the basis of telephone contract or prearrangement. b. 1.
(a)Any driver who has been found to have violated a provision of paragraph 1, 2, or 3 of subdivision a of this section, or any combination thereof, shall be fined not less than $200 nor more than $500 for the first offense. Any driver who has been found in violation of any of the provisions of such paragraphs, or any combination thereof, for a second time within a 24 month period shall be fined not less than $350 nor more than $1,000, and the commission may suspend the driver's license of such driver for a period not to exceed 30 days. Any driver who has been found to have violated any of the provisions of such paragraphs, or any combination thereof, three or more times within a 36 month period shall be fined not more than $1,000 for each such third or subsequent offense, and the commission shall revoke the driver's license of such driver.
(b)Any driver who has been found to have violated any of the provisions of paragraph 4 of subdivision a of this section shall be fined not less than $200 nor more than $350 for the first offense. Any driver who has been found in violation of any of the provisions of such paragraph for a second time within a 24 month period shall be fined not less than $350 nor more than $500, and the commission may suspend the driver's license of such driver for a period not to exceed 30 days. The commission shall revoke the driver's license of any driver who has been found to have violated any of the provisions of paragraph 4 of such subdivision three or more times within a 36 month period.
1.Each owner shall make a reasonable good faith effort, by a driver education program or other affirmative measures, to deter the commission of violations of paragraphs one, two and three of subdivision a of this section by drivers of taxicabs for which such owner holds a vehicle license. A finding that a driver has committed a violation of any such paragraph shall create a rebuttable presumption that the owner holding the vehicle license for the taxicab in which such violation was committed has failed to make a reasonable good faith effort to deter the commission of such violation. In any proceeding for a violation of this paragraph, it is an affirmative defense that the owner made a reasonable good faith effort, by a driver education program or other affirmative measures, to deter the commission of violations of paragraphs one, two and three of subdivision a of this section. The commission shall advise an owner in writing of his or her potential liability pursuant to this subdivision upon a finding that a violation of such paragraph was committed in a taxicab for which such owner holds a vehicle license.
