After a second yellow cab in two days burst into flames in Manhattan Thursday, New Yorkers could be forgiven for thinking that daredevil drivers aren't the most dangerous part of taking a taxi.

The latest blaze happened just after 2 p.m., when a yellow cab caught fire on Eighth Avenue in Times Square, sending ominous plumes of black smoke above Eighth Avenue and melting fixtures at a theater marquee.

On Tuesday, a cab similarly caught fire outside Rockefeller Center. Nobody was injured in either incident.
On Thursday, the driver, who identified himself only as Z. Rahman, said he was just passing the Port Authority Bus Terminal when smoke started filling the cab.

He told his customer to get out, and he then continued for another block before pulling into the bike lane near Laugh Factory, between 42nd and 43rd streets, and running away himself. Moments later the car erupted into flames.

"Can you imagine what kind of traffic mess this would have caused at Port Authority," said Rahamn after the fire was extinguished. "I didn't want to be responsible for that, so I took a chance and drove a little further."

Both his front and back seats were completely charred. Police and passersby marveled at the good fortune that no one was injured.

"If I wasn't paranoid about riding in taxi cabs before, I am now," said David Mims, a visitor from Detroit. "Tourists are weak, you know. We don't have very thick skin."

An FDNY spokesman said such fires are not unusual, and the two blazes this week aren't anything to worry about.

"Taxi cabs are inspected three times a year in the most scrupulous way," said Alan Fromberg, a spokesman for the Taxi and Limousine Commission.

"They are without a doubt among the safest vehicles on any road."

Cops told Rahman that no police report was necessary, but that he should obviously contact his insurance company.

"I'm just glad this happened in a car on land and not in a boat at sea," Rahman said. "At least on land you can run away."

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