Facts about Taxi-related Accidents

In major California cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco, taxis are popular public transportation among students and workers. However, for the past several years, this type of vehicle has been involved in some high profile traffic accidents, prompting several organizations to conduct comprehensive studies about this.

Here are the highlights of the studies regarding taxi accidents in California:

• There is a strong relationship between a driver’s crash rate and his income. According to a study, the higher the drivers’ incomes, the lower the crash rates are; conversely, when the US hit recession—which has also lowered the incomes of cab drivers—the crash rates have significantly increased.

• Passengers without seatbelts are twice more likely to suffer from fatal or serious injuries compared to belted passengers.

• Even with safety restraints, taxi passengers have higher injury rates compared to car occupants. Experts believe that this trend is linked to the presence of partition in most taxis.

• Driving for more than eight hours a day significantly reduces the response time of drivers. This finding is supported by a study showing that more than 2 million crashes in 2008 were attributed to driver fatigue.

• Texting drivers are 20 times more likely to crash compared to those who are not using any communication device. With this finding, the state of California has recently passed a law that prohibits drivers of commercial vehicles (e.g. taxis, buses, and trucks) to operate any communication device used in sending, writing, reading messages.

• Cab drivers with the least number of crashes and violations generally work full-time and have several years of driving experience. These experienced drivers also have fewer complaints such as refusing passengers, rude treatment to passengers and other motorists, dangerous driving, and overcharging compared to novice and part-time drivers.

• Novice and part-time drivers have the worst driving record; they were also 5.5 times more likely to commit traffic violation compared to experienced, full-time drivers.

• Drivers who own their taxis and drive full-time are more law-abiding motorists compared to drivers who are leasing their cabs.