A 46-year-old Queens man has laid claim to the title of best and safest cabbie in New York City.
Frederick Amoafo, who's been driving a cab for almost 20 years, has topped the Taxi and Limousine Commission's first-ever cabbie honor roll: he has no convictions for traffic violations, has not broken one of TLC's rules and has not been involved in an accident with injuries in the last five years.
"You have to understand that you have people in your car, and they are human beings," said Amoafo, who mortgaged his home to buy his own medallion, number 8A63, in 2007.
Amoafo also has the edge on distance: he's driven 190,000 miles behind the wheel, the most of all cabbies, and enough to circle the globe 7.6 times. His secret to spending all that time negotiating city traffic, he said, is "first and foremost, I think you have to relax."
The cabbie's unblemished record may be threatened. A few months ago, he was ticketed at 37th Street and Sixth Avenue for making a turn from the wrong lane. Amoafo says he's hired a lawyer to fight the ticket.
The TLC said the summons hasn't been adjudicated so he's still point-free. Soon, he and the other 294 honor-roll recipients will be able to display a plaque bearing a logo highlighting their safety record.
