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Comment by michaelochurch | Hacker News Reader

Another asshole cabbie move is to drive with the "off duty" light on, because a lot of chumps think this gives the driver the right to be selective on what fares he takes (because it's supposedly his last fare of the shift and any fares he takes along the way to his endpoint are "bonus"). So a lot of them drive with the off duty light on constantly.

It doesn't actually matter. Report him if he pulls this shit.

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This is actually allowed. They are allowed to pick one final ride in the direction they are headed at the end of their shift.

That being said, report them anyway and they will have to prove the time and date actually corresponds to the end of their shift. The fines are pretty steep and the drivers almost never prevail against the taxi commission.

How do you tell if he's actually off duty or just dicking around?

If he's pulls over and asks you where you're going, then he's not actually off-duty. If he refuses to take you (either because you don't answer or because he doesn't like your answer) then you should report him.

Authentically off-duty cab drivers will do exactly what you say. They ask you where you are going and don't unlock unless they like your answer. I'm not saying that abuse never happens, but this scenario is perfectly valid for cab drivers on their way home.

Source: http://nycitycab.com/NYC%20Taxi%20Guide.aspx#offduty

The lights.

A NYC cab's lights look like this:

|O|Number|O|

Where "O" is "Off Duty" in smaller letters.

If just the Number is lit, they're available, on the clock.

If Just the Os are lit, they have a fare.

If both are lit, they're available, with destination discretion.

If none are lit, they're not working at all.

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