Ignoring Signs of Trouble on the Street

H ave you noticed that the thingies that stick up on the tops of taxicabs have "Call 911" on them? What does that mean? If it's lighted up, are we supposed to call 911? I envision calling 911 and saying, "There's a taxi driving down M Street with its 'Call 911' sign lighted up" and the operator being, like, "And . . . ?" I've seen taxis driving around with that part seemingly lighted up, though it's hard to tell. If it's really a way to save drivers from dangerous situations, they should tell people what it means.

Elizabeth Khalil, Washington

This reminds Answer Man of a bit of whimsy he saw on Jay Leno many years ago, back when Answer Man was young and vigorous and able to stay up past 10 p.m.

It was a "Tonight Show" segment taped when those "Baby on Board" signs were popular. Leno walked up to a parked car that had a "Baby on Board" sticker in its window. He looked inside frantically then said something like, "Oh no! The baby must have rolled under the seat!" Finding the doors locked, and fearing for the baby's health in the hot car, he got a baseball bat, smashed a window and rifled around inside the vehicle.

Finding no baby in distress, Leno said something like, "Oh well, can't be too careful."

Are the "Call 911" signs atop District taxicabs a similar sort of false alarm?

They shouldn't be, said Kimberly Lewis, attorney-adviser for the D.C. Taxicab Commission. "It acts as a distress signal to say that something's wrong."

The lights were introduced in 2001 in response to a wave of violence against cabdrivers. Drivers were required to install either a camera, a bulletproof partition or a distress light. Most chose the light, the cheapest of the three options.

The "Call 911" light should not be confused with the light that indicates a cab is available. While the two are often part of the same plastic bubble on the roof of the taxi, the "Call 911" part will flash when activated.

"In the abundance of caution, it would be good for someone to call [911] and say, 'I saw the distress signal,' " Kimberly said. "Get the tag number, and then the police can take it from there."

Cabdrivers give the distress light a mixed verdict.

"Most of the time, I don't think you get a response unless a police officer sees it," said Kinfe Kassa, who drives a cab for Diplomat. "It's supposed to be for security, but I don't think it works that much."

Madison cabdriver Grace Travers said she once had a fare who made her "antsy."

"I saw a police," Grace said. "I put my [Call 911] light on for him. I blew my horn for him. The police kept going. He did not respond." The passenger bolted from Grace's cab without paying.

Another time, she had the light on by accident, "and nobody, absolutely nobody, did anything. . . . Lord knows how long it was on."

Because of the light's shortcomings, the city recently gave drivers a fourth safety device option: a dispatch radio. (Other nearby jurisdictions already require radios and thus don't have the distress lights.)

Goodness knows the poor cabbies need some sort of protection. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, taxi drivers have the highest rate of work-related homicide of any profession. They're also among those with the highest rate of nonfatal assault, exceeded only by police officers and private security guards.

See a light flashing? Call the cops.

Perhaps Answer Man would care to comment on Mark Trail's situation in the Feb. 14 paper. Mark had been eluding sharks because he found a rare and exotic reef or shoal of some sort in the middle of the ocean and has been standing on this reef until a rare and exotic helicopter happens along. In the Feb. 14 strip, we are told, "Minutes before the receding tide exposes Mark to the sharks, a helicopter plucks him from the water."

If the tide is "receding," wouldn't that mean that more of the reef would be out of the water and thus would help Mark, rather than expose him to the sharks?

Richard Skinner, Chevy Chase

As he shares real estate with them, Answer Man takes an interest in the comics, fretting over Spider-man's strained marriage and Baldo's incipient hyperthyroidism. He, too, was confused by Mark Trail's deus ex oyster bar.

For that is what the cartoon naturalist found himself upon: an oyster bar, surrounded by ravenous sharks. In the Feb. 10 strip, Mark said, "The tide's going out. . . . I'm in real trouble with those sharks circling!"

Even in comicland, the tide should work this way: When it goes out, you see more land (or oyster bar). When it comes in, you see less.

"It was an error on my part," "Mark Trail" artist Jack Elrod told Answer Man. "I should have said 'in' instead of 'out.' I appreciate the readers catching that."

The irony is that not only is Jack Elrod a Navy veteran who served in the Pacific in World War II, but Mark Trail is the official "spokescharacter" for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the government agency that, dare we say it, monitors tides.

Julia Feldmeier helped research this column. Send your burning question about the D.C. area to answerman@washpost.com. Or write John Kelly, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071. Please include your name and the town you live in.