Uber driver who booted 2 kissing women has license suspended

NEW YORK (AP) — An Uber driver who booted two kissing women out of his car had his livery license suspended today.

The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, which licenses about 180,000 drivers of car services and yellow cabs, called his behavior "ridiculous."

"It's 2018 in New York City, and this isn't the way we live anymore," commission spokesman Allen Fromberg said.

The women, Alex Iovine and Emma Pichl, a couple in their 20s, were on their way from Brooklyn to Manhattan on Saturday when they exchanged what they called a "peck" on the lips. They said driver Ahmad El Boutari, who's 35 and lives in Brooklyn, forced them out and a confrontation ensued.

A cellphone video taken by Pichl shows the driver saying that kissing in an Uber is illegal.

"You can't do this in the car," the driver says.

"Kissing is not illegal," one of the women responds. "Why are we not allowed to kiss in an Uber?"

"It's disrespectful," the driver says.

Fromberg noted the city does not regulate behavior in Uber cars and similar services. But he called what the driver did to the women "an unacceptable and repugnant act that will not be tolerated."