50 Cab Crashes Per Day

By PETE DONOHUE

With an average of nearly 50 crashes a day, taxi and livery cab mayhem injures thousands of people and kills dozens more each year.

The remains of a car hit by livery cab in 1996 sits on traffic island on Grand Concourse, the Bronx. The accident killed a 2-week-old boy and injured four people.

That's the alarming conclusion of a study released yesterday that found more than 130,000 accidents involving such vehicles from 1989 to 1999.

During that period, there were more than 45,000 accidents involving yellow medallion cabs and more than 89,000 involving livery cars, according to the report by Schaller Consulting, headed by former Taxi and Limousine Commission policy director Bruce Schaller.

That's an increase of 65% during the 10-year period, and it represents scores of broken bones, concussions and other injuries, as well as 303 deaths. More than half of those killed were pedestrians.

The casualties are everywhere, and some are quick to blame drivers.

"They drive out of control, like they are driving sports cars," said Jevar Springer, 20, of Brooklyn, who was a passenger in a livery cab that crashed after speeding through a yellow light in Queens in 1999.

"I was thrown across the intersection," said Jon Howard, recalling a 1998 accident when a cab jumped a curb on Fifth Ave. and slammed into him and two other pedestrians.

This cab jumped the sidewalk on 5th Ave. and 71st. Street, hitting three people, a traffic light and a building in 1998.

Howard suffered a fractured skull, brain damage and a hand injury; he was in a coma for a week and hospitalized for about six.

"It's been a long struggle to regain my health, but I'm finally returned to normal," said Howard, president of an electronics corporation.

Schaller, who based his report on records of the state Department of Motor Vehicle, said the number of livery accidents was particularly troubling because the cars generally travel short distances.

His report did not assess liability but suggested that the TLC improve training for livery drivers.

The number of smashups with injuries involving livery vehicles jumped more than 100%, from 5,114 in 1990 to 10,290 in 1999, according to the report.

One factor behind the increase, Schaller said, is more livery vehicles on the streets: 33,700 in 1990 and about 45,000 in 1999.

The number of medallion cabs has remained relatively constant around 12,000 but taxicab crashes involving injuries or fatalities declined for five straight years in the second half of the decade.

For medallion and livery cabs combined, the number of fatalities averaged about 30 a year but dropped from a high of 44 in 1990 to 29 in 1999.

Schaller also found evidence that passengers might play a significant role in their own injuries:

Despite recorded announcements urging taxi passengers to use seat belts, only 17% of rear-seat fares in taxis involved in accidents in 1999 did so. For livery cabs, that figure was 35%; for rear-seat passengers in other vehicles involved in taxi-livery crashes, the figure was 61%.

In an analysis of accident victims, Schaller found that medallion passengers were three times more likely to suffer severe injuries than those in other vehicles.

Maureen Connelly, spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Taxi Board of Trade, representing medallion fleets, said the report shows that regulations and enforcement efforts unfairly target yellow cab drivers over livery drivers.

"Livery drivers drive all year round in all types of conditions," said Fernando Mateo, president of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, a livery group. "They drive 12- to 15-hour shifts daily and are prone to get into more accidents than other motorists."

He also blamed the increase in accidents on "con artists" who stage accidents with livery cars to sue for insurance.

TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg said the agency would review the report but had questions about its methodology. "The TLC has implemented sweeping reforms to the taxi and livery industry to enhance safety, and we believe they are working," he said.

With Jennifer Weil