In New York car crashes involving for-hire vehicles have tripled over the last 2 years

There were 1,672 car accidents involving for-hire vehicles in New York during the month of June this year compared to 534 in June 2014. There were also 5 fatal crashes involving these types of vehicles between the beginning of last May and the end of last June compared to 7 for the entire year of 2015. So far since the beginning of this year no yellow cab has been involved in a fatal vehicle accident. Yellow taxis are statistically safer for passengers.

The increasing popularity of car services like Uber, Lyft or Juno is the main factor for this worrisome increase in for-hire vehicles crashes . Drivers often do not have much experience and are distracted by multiple electronic devices installed in their cars as they are working for several companies at the same time. They are also subject to less vigorous enforcement as they are are blending into other traffic while yellow taxis are immediately recognizable.

Many clients agree that they don’t feel safe in a vehicle where the driver is constantly paying attention to his electronic devices rather than concentrating on the street.

Read more in the NY Post