Beaded-Seat Back Industry Takes Massive Hit

The end of beaded-seat backs is nigh:

A longtime city policy requiring vinyl seat covers in taxis to keep them free of the gunk and grime that passengers leave behind may have inadvertently compromised the safety of thousands of cabs.

For decades, the Taxi and Limousine Commission has required all cab owners to install the vinyl covers, which unlike cloth seats do not absorb all manner of stain and stink.

But on newer vehicles, which account for roughly 20 percent of the city’s 13,000-cab fleet, the front seats are equipped with sensors to detect the presence and size of passengers in order to determine whether and how forcefully to deploy the air bags in the event of an accident.

And the vinyl seat covers are pulled so tightly over the seat that they may disable these sensors and cause the air bag not to deploy, the city was recently told by a Nissan employee, who was visiting the TLC’s inspection facility earlier this summer.

“Once we were made aware of the potential problem, the TLC responded quickly with a directive to remove the vinyl seat coverings,” TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg said.

Most taxi owners have already complied, but tomorrow, the agency will make the rule change official, Fromberg said.

The beaded seat backs and other cushions beloved by taxi drivers for themselves as a way to make the job more comfortable also render the side air bags inoperable and will no longer be permitted, Fromberg said.