Stossel Says Give Me a Break to Crackdown on Pedicabs

Aug. 28 -- People in Santa Barbara, Calif., say life is better because of pedicabs. Pedicabs are bicycle rickshaws that young men peddle around, some carrying up to six people in the back.One woman said, "They'll take you anywhere you want to go."Another said, "It saves our feet cause our feet hurt from dancing, so every time we go boogying we take a cab."

Watch Stossel's full report on 20/20 at 10 p.m.

Young men peddle the cabs around, often giving tourists rides. Sometimes they take kids home from the movies, or at night, outside bars, they give rides to people who are too drunk to drive.

"We're taking people all over the place. We're getting them off the street safely," said Seth Tuton, who pedals one of Santa Barbara's pedicabs.

They're not exactly a business. The pedicabbers don't keep a regular schedule and they don't charge a fare for the rides. Passengers are often surprised when they learn that the rides are free.

However, Tuton and his friends do make some money, because many people give them tips. They can make anywhere from $5 to $100 a night.

Everyone we talked to seems to love the pedicabs. And Santa Barbara's mayor, Marty Blum, says the pedicabs are great.

"We really love our pedicabs. They're part of our ambience here; they're part of the transportation system and they do a really good thing," Blum said.

It's a nice way to travel, but the pedicabs may not last long in this town.

They may not last because that same mayor and the city council just passed a law requiring pedicabbers to get a criminal background check, plus a driver's license, a business license, and proof of insurance.

Why?

Blum said, "There were complaints."

But the pedicabs haven't been reckless and running people down, Blum acknowledged.

"Sometimes they run into the side of a car; we've had that happen; even the side of a police car," Blum said.

Once a pedicabber bumped into something, and his passengers, who were pregnant, went to the hospital to be checked out … but it turned out they were fine.