Sun editorial:

Taxicab accidents

It doesn’t make sense that ‘out of luck’ riders must pay for accidents they didn’t cause

Friday, March 21, 2008 | 2:04 a.m.

Visiting from out of town, Kathy Graves hopped into a taxi at McCarran International Airport on New Year’s Day, headed to her parents’ house. She would soon become a victim of a hit-and-run crash and a state law.

As Mike Trask reported in Saturday’s Las Vegas Sun, the cab that Graves was in was hit by a vehicle that ran a red light at Charleston Boulevard and Maryland Parkway.

Graves was left with a fractured finger and needs surgery to be able to bend it again. Because of the injury, Graves has been unable to return to work in the catering business. And she says she has no way to pay for the surgery. She was uninsured, and Yellow Checker Cab Co. has no legal responsibility to pay. Regulators in Nevada do not require taxi companies to carry uninsured driver coverage.

The cab company says the responsible party is the driver of the vehicle that hit its cab who has yet to be found.

“Unfortunately, you’re out of luck,” said John Lucas, the claims manager at Yellow Checker.

When it comes to a taxicab ride, it shouldn’t be about “luck.” Considering the industry is regulated, people who hire a taxi can make a reasonable assumption that the cab is safe to ride in, and they should be able to assume that they will be covered in an accident. Regulators who oversee the taxicab industry should mandate that companies carry uninsured driver coverage.

Such a requirement makes sense for a tourist town in which taxicabs are the backbone of the transportation system. The message Graves’ case will send to tourists is chilling: Who wants to step in a taxi after hearing that?

The bottom line is that it not only makes sense to have such a rule, but it is also good business. And, more important, it is the right thing to do.

Discussion: 1 comment so far…

By skipsdog

3/21/08 at 3:11 p.m.

Suggest removal

This will be remedied very quickly once the word gets out nation-wide and tourism begins to slump.

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