The meter is ticking on Chicago’s dangerous taxi drivers. Come this summer, taxicab companies that allow careless drivers to use their vehicles will be held more accountable. Hopefully, the move will prevent taxicab accidents that could lead to serious injuries and even death.

The Emanuel administration is focusing on a new ordinance that they say will be easier to enforce than the current one. It will hold cab companies accountable for repeat offenders.

Imagine this: a taxicab driver who has been cited by city regulators 46 times in five years and found liable in 33 cases, yet he is still allowed to drive. It happened without any citations to the company that owned the taxi he drove. Since 2008, city regulators have imposed fines on only two cab companies for hiring repeat offenders, even though scores of companies could have been cited.

Some people in the cab industry say taxi companies shouldn’t be held liable for drivers’ actions – at least under the current code. The problem, the owners say, is a shortage of drivers who are willing to work the long hours for relatively low pay. Complicating the problem: there’s no easy way for someone to check a driver’s history of citations.

The cab companies don’t actually employ taxi drivers but work as independent contractors. Their training and oversight are actually overseen by the city, which regularly cuts plea deals for repeat offenders by allowing them to stay behind the wheel. The new law is expected to change that.

A 2000 provision requires taxi companies to be fined for leasing one of their vehicles to a driver who has committed an offense. A 1997 provision to the code actually requires the city to revoke the medallion of a cab when its drivers have committed violations at least five times in a year.  Here’s the problem: neither provision has been enforced.

The city says it doesn’t have the personnel or computer systems necessary to track cases in a way that would enable it to enforce certain provisions. Some believe that if they did, there would be little payoff. So, instead of focusing on dangerous drivers, regulators focus on penalizing cab companies for things like having dirty vehicles or vehicles that are in disrepair. The use of salvaged vehicles, for example, resulted in a sting in 2010 that netted more than $1 million in fines.

The current administration claims the new law will resolve all this. In July, lists will be created and posted online naming cab drivers who’ve had at least two offenses in the past two years. If a taxi company leases to an offender and the driver commits another infraction, the company itself can also be cited.

The bottom line is safety. Who can argue that what we all want is a safer and more efficient taxicab system? Let’s hope we get it with the new law.