A taxi accident lawyer in New York is pretty common. Anyone who ever visits New York City sees first hand how many taxi cabs roam the streets picking up passengers. And now that we have the “outer borough” cabs – the green taxicabs – the likelihood of being a passenger who is injured in an accident has gone up considerably.
Licensed taxicabs in the City of New York are closely monitored by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. The Taxi and Limousine Commission has a requirement that all licensed taxi cabs – and licensed car services as well – carry minimum liability insurance of $100,000/$300,000. A taxi accident lawyer can explain that means that there is a minimum of $100,000 in coverage per person with a maximum of $300,000 in coverage per accident available to collect on if you are injured. So if you were alone in the cab and injured you would be able to collect up to $100,000 for your injuries. If there were four of you in the cab and you were all injured there would be a maximum of $300,000 per accident available for compensation for injuries sustained in the accident. In other words, the four of you would have to share the $300,000 available.
There is also a minimum amount of coverage required for No-Fault benefits. New York is a no-fault state. This means that an injured party can collect for what is called “basic economic loss” – medical bills and loss of earnings from work. Your taxi accident lawyer can explain that this is not compensation for your injuries. When you are in a car accident as a passenger in a taxi the cab’s no-fault coverage is completely responsible for payment of your basic economic loss. So you do not have to worry about making a claim under your private health insurance.
As for a taxi accident lawyer bringing a lawsuit for your injuries (also called non-economic loss), you will need to meet the requirements of a “serious injury” in New York also known as “threshold.” This law is found under section 5102(d) of the New York State Insurance Law and lists 7 categories as “serious injuries”:
- Death
- Fracture
- Dismemberment
- Loss of a fetus
- Significant disfigurement
- Significant limitation of use of a body function or system
- Permanent consequential limitation of a body organ or member
- Permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function or system
- Medically determined injury or impairment of a non-permanent nature which prevents the injured person from performing substantially all of the material acts which constitute such person’s usual and customary daily activities for not less than 90 days during the 180 days immediately following the occurrence of the injury or impairment.
If in fact you meet threshold then you would be able to sue the taxi cab driver – as well as the driver of the other vehicle – for your injuries. We here at the Platta Law Firm are experienced Taxi Accident Lawyers. Contact us now, we are here to help.
