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1991 Video Shows NYC Drivers Dealing With 'Kamikaze Pedestrians' & More
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 29, 2016
Modified Aug 29, 2016
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 29, 2016
Modified Aug 29, 2016
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In 1991, the TV news show 48 Hours dedicated about twenty minutes to the perils of driving in NYC: from getting towed, to getting a license to drive a taxi, to driving the taxi, to maneuvering the streets as an ambulance driver. And as one man puts it, there are a lot of obstacles in the streets: "You've got vans cutting in front of you, you've got New Jersey drivers, kamikaze pedestrians jumping out like rabbits all over the place... bikers zooming by, you gotta watch these bikers."
Did Larry—the Russian who only spent 12 hours behind the wheel in his entire life—really become a taxi driver? Did Andre ever get his big break in the comedy world? Was that rich guy's Rolls Royce getting towed really "a travesty of justice"? Did Woody Allen ever put that line in his next picture? We'll never know.
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1990s
48 hours
driving
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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