NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission Considering Having Cab Drivers Get Annual Physicals

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission is considering mandatory annual physicals for all of their cab drivers.

CBS2's Elise Finch reported it is in response to an increased number of accidents where a driver injured or killed someone behind the wheel.

One incident happened last week near New York University when an out-of-control cab struck and pinned a pedestrian after the driver reportedly suffered a medical emergency.

These type of accidents are becoming common as an infirmed driver injures, or even kills, a passenger or pedestrian while operating their vehicle.

Critics said it's because drivers sit for eight hours a day or more making them susceptible to a number of health problems.

Unlike Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus drivers and train engineers who must take physicals annually, taxi drivers are only required to submit to a physical exam at the time they apply for a license with the commission.

A commission spokesperson said they they've moved to a longer licensing period and now that driver licensees has swelled to more than 150,000 they're "looking at a host of mandatory requirements to see what needs to be updated or enhanced."

Annual physicals are being considered, but some drivers disagreed on whether they're necessary.

"I think it's a great idea," one driver said. "It could help make the streets a lot safer."

Another driver said, "Not really."

Cab riders, though, felt it was a good idea.

"There are so many decisions that they have to make quickly while driving and there seems like twice as many cabs as there are buses, so there's a lot more people out there that they can affect," Carrie Sullivan, of Saratoga, said.

Mount Vernon resident Aaron Clark said, "I think it's very important and I think it's almost like the fault of the city if they don't do it and something happens."

Health care providers said it's a fact that sitting for long periods of time disrupts the body's metabolism, making people like cab drivers more prone to heart attacks, diabetes, blood clots, and even cancer.

"It's said that sitting is the new smoking and that sitting more than five hours a day shortens your life span," Dr. Len Horovitz, of Lenox Hill Hospital, said. "Circulation is really not optimal when you're sitting. The return to the heart is obstructed."

Doctors said annual physicals, coupled with behavioral changes, can save lives of both passengers and drivers.

"Going for a checkup is an important part of your health care, however, it's what I would call necessary but not sufficient," Dr. Steven Lamm, of NYU Langone Medical Center, said. "You have to figure out what you can do within their framework. Certainly getting out of the cab and walking around, having a pedometer that measures that you're going to do 5,000 to 10,000 steps per day, being aware of your diet. And sleep. Sleep, I think, is extremely important."

The commission is close to implementing a new policy on driver fatigue.

There is no word on if or when they'll make a decision about more frequent physicals for their drivers.