Queens Based Amoafo Is NY’s Safest Taxi Driver

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Fred Amoafa

A New York City yellow taxi driver who was crowned the city?s safest cabbie listens to soothing jazz as he dodges pedestrians, cyclists and other cars.?I try to relax,? said Fred Amoafo, 46-year-old. ?You get there when you get there ? don?t force yourself. That is the key.?

Mr. Amoafo, who lives in Queens, found himself ranked highest among his peers on Tuesday for driving the longest distance without injuring passengers in crashes, and without incurring the wrath of authorities.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission, which regulates yellow taxis and other for-hire vehicles, said Mr. Amoafo had driven at least 50,000 passengers more than 190,000 miles without a blemish on his record.

The taxi commission released, for the first time on Tuesday, what it called its ?Safety Honor Roll,? as a way to draw attention to safe driving. Mayor Bill de Blasio?s administration aims to curtail traffic deaths as part of its so-called Vision Zero plan.

The commission, which licenses more than 115,000 operators of taxi, livery and other for-hire vehicles, bestowed safety honors to 295 drivers. The TLC found drivers who it said weren?t involved in a crash resulting in passenger injuries and had records without traffic violations or regulatory missteps.

But Mr. Amoafo said he was cited by police about two months ago for improperly turning on Sixth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. He said he was trying to get around what he thought was a parked car that blocked him turning from the left-most lane. ?Once I was going around him, he started moving,? he said.

(The taxi commission did not know of the ticket because it had not been adjudicated and did not appear on his driving record.)

Other than that, does he ever exceed the legal speed limit? ?Maybe,? he said. ?But I try not to.?

When rushed passengers get antsy, Mr. Amoafo says he tries to accommodate them. ?But you don?t have to kill them and kill yourself,? he said. ?Once you get them [there] safely, that?s when you get a reward.?

A native of Ghana, Mr. Amoafo began driving a taxi in 1995. His most recent collision occurred about eight years ago, when another drive rear-ended him on a snowy street. He recalled a few fender-benders over the years ? none with any injuries, he said.

The father of three said pedestrian safety has hit home: Two years ago, his teenage son was struck by a vehicle outside Brooklyn Technical High School, where he is a student. While his son wasn?t injured, Mr. Amoafo said he was nonetheless alarmed.

?That was very, very scary, ? he said. ?He could have died.?

Written by  John Taggart for The Wall Street Journal

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