NYC cabs are installing new surveillance cameras to make sure you actually pay your fare

There’s a new backseat driver in town—and it’s watching everything.

In an aggressive move to fight fare evasion and staged crashes, 500 New York City taxis are being outfitted with front, rear and interior surveillance cameras as part of a new pilot called Operation Bright Eyes, reports the New York Post. The initiative, launched by the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, is aimed squarely at dismantling what leaders are calling a “billion-dollar fraud machine” that’s been preying on cabbies for years.

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At the heart of the scam are alleged criminal “cartels” that stage phony fender benders, then rope in complicit doctors, lawyers and insurers to cash in on bogus injury claims. Some passengers even bolt without paying or claim injuries after deliberately causing an accident.

“These cartels fabricate car accidents to the tune of 70% of every car accident for livery and black cars are fraudulent,” NYSFTD spokesperson Fernando Mateo told the Post. “They are making billions of dollars on us.”

The cameras, supplied by tech company Displayride, are remarkably low lift. Installation takes just 30 seconds, and the system requires no app—simply press a single button to access footage. Through a partnership with American Transit Insurance and NYAB Brokerage, drivers will get the cameras free for at least the first year.

Eventually, organizers want to scale to 100,000 vehicles across the city.

Drivers say the need is urgent. “A lot of passengers, they want to insult you,” said Bronx-based cabbie Francisco Jorge. “Having a desk camera is very important, because it’s going to be recording everything around you—the front, the back—around you.”

Another driver, Eltayeb Mohamed, shared how a friend got hit with a $24,000 bill after a woman reversed into his car, said everything was fine, then later filed a hit-and-run claim.

Federation president Steven Rivera didn’t mince words, calling the new surveillance push “a declaration of war” against scammers. So, while the new cameras won’t stop traffic headaches or backseat karaoke, they could finally give drivers the backup they’ve long needed.