Apparently there is a problem with cabbies in Alexandria that aren’t polite. The Alexandria City Council considered a rule that would have required cabbies to be polite, but that plan was dropped.

From the Washington Examiner:

The Alexandria City Council adopted several changes to the city’s taxicab rules over the weekend but dropped plans to require cabbies to be polite.

The council rejected the rule on cabbie behavior before voting 6-1 to adopt new amendments restricting a cab company’s ability to grow or shrink its business based on the company’s compliance with a dispatch quota set by the city.

The behavior rule originally would have required cabbies to be polite to any city official or member of the public even if they are not passengers in the cab. That language was modified at the request of Mayor Bill Euille so that it applied only when cabbies were on duty or dealing with hack officers with the Alexandria Police Department and officials in the city’s finance office, according to deputy city attorney Chris Spera.

Vice Mayor Kerry Donley pushed for adoption of the amendment, but the council, acting on Euille’s recommendation, rejected it.

“I think that’s overkill on the part of the city, trying to manage the employees of a business,” Euille said.

How would politeness be defined? How would this even be enforced?