Freewheeling rebels with nothing to lose, de Blasio and his safety cronies are coming for you. If the one thing keeping you in New York is the knowledge that riding shotgun in NYC’s taxis means the cool breeze blowing behind your neck and back, the life-affirming push of your hand against the dashboard during a stop made too short, and best of all, a chance to feel fear again, then you’re not gonna like the mayor’s latest: De Blasio is trying to make it illegal to ride in the front passenger seat of an NYC taxi without a seatbelt.

The NY Daily News has the report:

State law exempts passengers in the front seat, and children younger than 16, from mandatory seat belt use when traveling in a taxi, livery car or other for-hire vehicle. The new legislation would close that little-known loophole, officials said.

“Seat belts save lives and ... this is a common sense approach to expanding their use,” Taxi and Limousine Commission chairwoman Meera Joshi said. “We’ve had a lot of success using high-tech to solve customer-service and safety challenges, but sometimes, going ‘back to the future’ to a lower-tech solution like seat belts is the answer you need.”

De Blasio’s plan—to make it illegal to be seatbelt-free in the front passenger seat, or anywhere in the cab if you are under 16—is part of his Vision Zero program in a push to reduce traffic-related deaths. If cabbies are stopped with unbuckled passengers, the drivers would not be ticketed, but responsible parties would be. A fine could be from $25 to $100, mayoral spokesman Wiley Norvell told NY Daily News, adding that the city is drafting legislation to introduce to the state legislature in Albany.

For now? Enjoy your last moments of recklessness and think of de Blasio while you do it.

Image via AP. Contact the author at dayna@gawker.com.