User:Steven Crowell

Steven Warren Crowell (b.1951) is an automobile safety advocate and whistle-blower, primarily engaged in innovation and development of superior interior partitions for use in various automotive applications such as police cruisers, limousines, utility vans and taxis. Steven was born in Boston, MA at the Kenmore Hospital, mother - Jeanne Therese (McMahon) Crowell (daughter of Melanie (Arsenault) McMahon, ret. U.S. Army Nurse Corps WW1 and Henry James McMahon, Purple Heart WW1, father - Donald Warren Crowell, a field service engineer/technician in the northeast US dairy industry, former belly gunner in South Pacific 1945, son of Harold Warren Crowell. Steven is the third of three children, siblings - Donna Jeanne (Crowell) Mazurek (b.1949) and William Warren Crowell (b.1945). Donna is an accomplished educator and registered nurse. William is a veteran of the Vietnam War, a recognized Carnegie Award recipient and hero for once rescuing a car crash victim by pulling him from a car engulfed in flames and also an accomplished field service technician like his father. Steven was one of the first children ever diagnosed as having ADHD in 1960. At the time the trait was called MBD (minimal brain dysfunction). Entered and won Quaker Oats National Young Inventors' Contest at age 9. After doing fairly well in arts and PE, but poorly at acedemics in public school, in Framingham, MA and Parsippany, NJ, for 12 years, he joined the U.S Army in 1969. While intermittently working as a technician in various fields Steven drove taxis in Boston (1970-1990) and New Orleans (1991-2004). In the 1980's he was a sworn Constable for the City of Marlboro, MA. On December 9th 1980 while brainstorming with two other cab drivers during an investigative expedition to NYC while working on starting up a new fleet of cars (which eventually became known as Boston Coach) the partition became the focus of discussion. Mr. Crowell initiated complaints to the USDOT in 1984 which resulted in several official "letters of warning" to partition manufacturers and taxi regulators regarding the need to comply with federal standards. Steven Crowell has been interviewed by newspaper, magazine and television reporters concerning his iconoclastic views on partition use in taxis. Mr. Crowell believes there is culpability on the part of three levels of government for the continued violations. The federal USDOT wrote about trading off passenger safety for allegations of operator protection from assailants, Massachusettts and New York, New York state motor vehicle registries inspect and approve sub-standard, uncertified, non-complying interior partitions and on a municipal level Boston and NYC taxi regulators continue to require, inspect and approve sub-standard, uncertified, non-complying interior partitions in their taxis. Accomplishments; Until the USDOT letters of warning (prompted by Steven) were issued it was common practice to remove shoulder harnesses and head restraints. Until it was announced in 1984 that cab drivers were NOT forbidden from carrying firearms, it was commonly understood and frequently restated by the Hackney Division that cab drivers WERE forbidden tot 'carry'. The following year the assault rate on cab drivers in Boston dropped 50% and another 33% the year after that. The announcement, at a February press conference, was made by the Boston Police Commissioner Joseph Jordon, after a meeting between the Commander of the Hackney Division and Steven. In that meeting - Steven lobbied for second amendment rights to be reinstated for cab drivers. It was. Second amendment rights, since sometime after 1990, have again been denied to Boston cab drivers. This was done with no announcement. The myth was merely reinstated eventually. In 1997, in New Orleans, Steven lobbied the local newspaper to change their editorial emphasis from 'driver vulnerability' to 'armed drivers prevail in incidents'. The murder rate was about 4 each year from 1994-1997. After the change in editorial policy the murder rate was eliminated for New Orleans cab drivers for ten years. Currently, Steven is engaged in lobbying to have Federal Standards enforced for police cruiser partition design and for taxi regulators to delete the partition requirements for taxis in Boston and New York City.