What happens when a New York City utility company can't fix all of its "hot spots"? It hires cab drivers to guard them.

From the AP:

NEW YORK (AP) - Utility crews have discovered so many stray voltage areas where pedestrians walk that Consolidated Edison has hired hundreds of cab drivers to park and stand guard until repairs are done, a company spokesman said.

At least 1,500 hot spots - manholes, grates or other items that can deliver shocks - were found in the first four months of this year as part of a safety program prompted by the 2004 electrocution of a woman walking her dogs.

The utility has been unable to guard all the areas with its own vehicles and has turned to livery cabs for help, company spokesman Chris Olert told the Daily News for a story Thursday.

The drivers park near marked-off danger spots. Placards on their cars explain that the area contains ``an extremely dangerous electrified object or structure,'' and the car is there to guard it from pedestrians.

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