[Christ]

Actually, cabs and city bus drivers do flaunt the law. I took public transport for a length of time in every major city I lived in, including Manhattan, Boston, Baltimore, Harrisburg, Binghamton, and a few others. The buses hardly ever pull off the road to let passengers on or off at stops, they just stop. Same with school buses. They might pull over slightly, but they're not off the road ever. They have light signaling devices for exactly that reason.

Also, in NYC, whens the last time anyone saw a cab pull off the road? You'd sit in that cab for half an hour trying to get back into traffic in many cases, and the meter runs from the time you tell 'em where you're going.

The thought that no other company practices these ways is just ridiculous. They park in the street (according to UPS/Overnight drivers) because backing those trucks up is just stupid. They don't steer well, are heavy, and don't have clearance windows. Ask a truck driver why they'd rather pull in than back in, you get the same answer, even when they're not pulling a trailer.

In addition to that, it does take a substantial amount of time to slide into a parking spot and get out, then look, signal, etc and pull back into (potentially non-existent) traffic.