Sacramento cab drivers upset over proposed hygiene and dress code requirements

Sacramento cab drivers are saying a new proposal that would install hygiene and dress code requirements stinks to high heaven.

The city is considering installing new rules, including:

- Making sure vehicles are no more than 8 years old and are equipped to accept credit cards. - A policy requiring drivers to be “hygienically clean” and dress in a collared shirt and slacks.

“That’s very insulting for me, and for all drivers,” driver Ahmid Mahmoud told CBS 13. “We don’t have rent to pay? We don’t have bills to pay...I was insulted by the word the lawyer used, about us cleaning ourselves.”

The proposal about the changes to the city’s taxicab service passed through a committee hearing at City Hall on Tuesday afternoon. “When I get into a car, I want it to be clean and safe," said council member Darrell Fong at a meeting of the Law and Legislative Committee.

If the proposal passes, drivers will also be forced to take a test measuring their English language skills. “You don’t tell them after 25 years or 10 years you need to take a test,” Mahmoud said.

Despite complaints, the full City Council will now be examining the proposal.

"We are law abiding. And these people are here and they have families and kids here. If they're compelled to go through this test, maybe they have to go home," Kazman Zaidi, the president of the Sacramento Taxi Drivers Union, told KCRA.

[CBS 13] [KCRA]