Survey says few cabdrivers 'click it'

Ninety-three percent of Boston cabdrivers don't wear their seat belts, putting themselves at serious risk of injury, according to a report being released today.

The report, undertaken by emergency room doctors, urges that the state's seat belt law be changed to eliminate the exemption for cabdrivers.

''It just doesn't make sense to exempt taxicab drivers from safety belt laws," said Dr. William G. Fernandez, an emergency room physician at Boston Medical Center, which has New England's largest and busiest trauma center. ''Their occupation obviously puts them at higher potential risk of injuries from a motor vehicle collision."

Published in today's Annals of Emergency Medicine, the survey by Fernandez and other BMC emergency room doctors found that of 250 taxi drivers observed during a four-day period last June, only 17 were properly belted in. The doctors stationed observers throughout the city where cabs are common, to note and record whether the driver was wearing a seat belt.

Industry lobbyists pushed for the exclusion from the seat belt law back in the late 1980s, saying that being strapped in was inconvenient for cabdrivers, who frequently get in and out of their vehicle.

Larry Meister, vice president of the Independent Taxi Operators Association, ticked off the hassles of wearing seat belts: ''You're in and out of the cab 10 to 15 times per hour, and typically most drivers work a 12-hour shift. You go to Logan. A good driver wants to get a good tip, so -- click! -- he gets out to load the luggage -- click! -- drives to the hotel -- click! -- gets out to unload the luggage -- click! -- go to the supermarket and -- click! -- help with the bundles there . . . I've strangled myself forgetting I put on my seat belt."

Meister also argued yesterday that mandating seat belts for cabdrivers isn't necessary. ''Seeing as most cab hours are spent in the inner city and are driving under 30 miles per hour . . . you're not going to get tossed around or thrown out of the vehicle if you get into an accident at that rate of speed."

Boston police said they had no current statistics available on how many accidents in the city involve taxis.

Loul Hagos, a Metro Cab driver since 1987, said he believes that the survey overstates the number who buckle up. ''It's got to be lower," he said.

One of the first things Hagos did after buying his Ford Crown Victoria cab last year was to stretch the shoulder belt across the back of the front seat, so it's out of his way.

''It's just laziness, really," said the father of four. ''But if you tell me to do it, I will do it. I will put the seat belt on. But once you get out of the cab, it's over and I take it off."

State law exempts ''anyone involved in the operation of taxis, liveries, tractors, trucks with a gross weight of 18,000 pounds or over, buses, and passengers of authorized emergency vehicles" from having to wear seat belts. Massachusetts is one of 12 states to exempt cabdrivers.

By contrast, in Washington, D.C., where cabdrivers can be docked points on their driver's license if found unbuckled, taxis have a 74 percent compliance rate.

In New York City, where cabdrivers are also exempt from wearing seat belts, cabs were involved in 16 percent of all motor vehicle crashes in the city, with fewer than half of drivers buckled up, Fernandez said.

In the early 1990s in Boston, the number of injuries from wrecks involving taxicabs was on the rise, from 200 in 1984 to 567 in 1993.

Massachusetts drivers in general don't like wearing seat belts. The Bay State compliance rate of 63.3 percent ranks 48th in the nation.

State law requires use of seat belts by all drivers, but police can cite a driver for noncompliance only if the vehicle is pulled over for another infraction, unlike the law in many other states.

Mac Daniel can be reached at mdaniel@globe.com.