Opinions of Dress Code Not Uniform : Cabbies: Los Angeles’ new code for taxi drivers is resented by some, but others say it will make their colleagues look respectable rather than “ratty.”

San Fernando Valley cab drivers have mixed opinions about the new Los Angeles regulations aimed at making them look better. (And even smell better, if need be.) Some say the rules will shape up colleagues who would otherwise look like “bums”--but others draw the line at mandatory dark socks.

“It’s just another thing that puts pressure on an already pressurized job,” said Jerry Singer as he waited for a fare outside the Marriott Woodland Hills in Warner Center.

“They are talking about requiring dark socks, but they are going to have to fight with me before I wear anything but white socks in my cab.”

“You start telling people what to wear and they resent it,” Frank Hoffman said outside his red and white Valley Cab at the Flyaway Bus Terminal in Van Nuys.

Even drivers who find it hard to accept the regulations adopted two weeks ago by the city Transportation Commission agree that the requirements will help their business.

“It’s going to make cab drivers look respectable instead of like bums,” said Bill Swearingen, as he waited for a fare in his cab in front of the Flyaway Terminal. “If I got off a plane at Los Angeles Airport and saw some of the drivers, I would not get into their cabs. They look ratty.”

“It identifies the cab driver when we go into a restaurant or a bar,” said Singer. “I can see some old lady being afraid of someone who doesn’t look like a cab driver if she’s expecting a cab.”

In the Valley, the new rules primarily affect drivers for Valley Cab, which holds the city taxi franchise for the area and estimates that it provides 95% of licensed taxi business in the Valley. Taxis from other areas of the city can operate in the area, but no others are based in the Valley, a company spokesman said.

Valley Cab can control its drivers’ appearance because it owns its taxis and will not turn over a cab to a driver who shows up at its Van Nuys garage in attire that does not meet the code, a company spokesman said.

In a recent sampling throughout the Valley, seven of the company’s 165 drivers were clean and attired according to the code. An eighth wore stained jeans--violating the cleanliness rule, and pushing up against the regulations’ statement that non-designer jeans are “discouraged.”

The new city code bans shorts, sandals, plaid pants and leisure suits. It requires male drivers to wear long, dark-colored pants. Shirts with tails must be tucked in and no more than two buttons at the neck may be unbuttoned. Skirts for women must be knee length and also must be solid colors. Although it allows them for women, the code specifically prohibits skirts on men.

The regulations call for clothing to be pressed and drivers to be “without objectionable odor.”

To enforce the regulations, the code establishes the city’s first system of fines for misbehavior by cabdrivers, effective May 1. Companies can be fined up to $1,500 per incident for repeated infractions.

The city established the regulations by requiring each of its eight taxicab companies and associations to submit dress codes for approval. Valley Cab presented a proposal for a uniform including red pullover golf shirts, dark trousers and dark socks and shoes. Drivers were also allowed to wear a white shirt and tie.

Several drivers said they were accustomed to complying with the company’s previous dress code--calling for shirts with collars and long, clean pants--so the new regulations would not affect them.

“Nobody wore a tuxedo,” said Manuel Telles as he picked up a rider at Van Nuys and Glenoaks boulevards. “But there wasn’t anybody who wore pants with holes or sandals, so the new rules just made it inconvenient for us. We had to buy a red shirt and a lot of guys did not have dark pants and ended up having to buy them.

“I dress the same, myself. The only difference is I used to wear white tennis shoes.

“It’s all right with me as long as we don’t have to wear a tie,” said Thomas Hughes as he waited outside the Sheraton-Universal Hotel in Universal City. “It’s uncomfortable. We could be out here in the heat all day.”