Taxi drives into crowd at Logan airport

A Recent accident involving a taxi at Logan airport has been described as a “tragic accident” – what should a personal injury claim in a similar situation include?

 

“Tragic accident” at the airport taxi parking lot

On Monday, the 3rd of July, the vast asphalt taxi parking lot located on the outskirts of Boston’s Logan International Airport became the scene of a serious motor vehicle incident that left 10 people with injuries ranging from minor to severe. The tragedy unfolded at a staging area at the head of the lot, where taxi drivers relax while waiting to be signaled into the airport to pick up passengers. According to the police and the reports of witnesses, at about 1:40 pm, one of the taxis jumped the curb and crashed into a group of taxi drivers standing nearby, trapping some of them under the vehicle. The driver of the cab has been identified as a 56-year-old man from Cambridge, MA, although his personal details will not be released unless he is criminally charged. Nevertheless, the man is a well-known figure within the airport taxi drivers community and he seems to enjoy a good reputation with his peers. The police also mentioned at a news conference that the driver did not have a history of violations. The crash is under investigation but has been described as a “tragic accident”.

Odds of injury in a taxi accident

Although comprehensive statistics on motor vehicle accidents involving taxis or other cars providing ride-hailing service are limited, those that are available reveal that chances of being injured in such an accident are high. For example, a study conducted in 1999 on crash rates for taxis operating in one of the biggest American cities revealed that 71% of cab accidents resulted in an injury to passengers and 13% caused severe injuries to pedestrians. Even so, the total number of taxi trips in Boston in 2015 exceeded 5 million. If a person is injured as a result of negligence on the part of a taxicab driver, what action should they take to successfully pursue a personal injury claim? This article will explore available legal options.

Employee or independent contractor?

First of all, the person injured in a taxi-related accident should expect to be able to recover the damages from the company that provided the cab. The burden of proof that the company had a certain kind of employer-employee relationship with the driver, however, lies on the injured party. From the perspective of the law, the existence of such a relationship may not be self-evident as the  company may hold the position that the driver is an independent contractor rather than an employee thus trying to evade liability. There are several ways to prove the relationship between the company and the driver. For example, the driver may be the company’s agent, servant, co-participant in a joint venture, or a regular, contracted employee. If the company operates as a franchise and the driver is the franchisee, this may be sufficient to establish the company’s liability. Also, the vehicle that the driver was operating at the time of the accident may be owned by the taxi company and leased to the driver. In many states, including Massachusetts, the owner of a vehicle can be held responsible for the damages and injuries arising from an accident caused by a third-party who operated the vehicle in question with the owner’s permission, by the virtue of a legal concept called vicarious liability. In addition, even if the company is not the legal owner of the vehicle used to provide the vehicle-for-hire services, it may still hold itself out as the operator of the cab. This would mean that the taxi bears discernible signs, for example, a logo which would indicate to the passenger that the company is employing the driver. Proving that the company is holding itself out as the operator may be sufficient to hold it liable for the damage and injuries sustained in a crash.

 

Proving the damage

As is the case with other motor vehicle accidents, a person injured in a crash involving a taxicab will also need to prove the damage and injuries sustained as well as the negligence on the part of the driver. Although most injuries arising from such crashes are minor, in some cases a person may suffer broken bones, whiplash, spinal injuries, or internal organ damage. Medical bills for treating such injuries and resulting conditions may reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars or even more. The typical amount of injury coverage a taxi driver carries varies between $250,000 and $500,000. This in some cases may be insufficient to cover the financial losses resulting from the costs of medical treatment. In such cases, the injured party may try to make use of the uninsured or underinsured driver coverage of their own policy if it is included the policy’s terms.
Dealing with the physical injuries and other consequences of a taxi-related accident may make it challenging to collect from the insurance company, especially if the cab company takes actions aiming to evade liability. Therefore, the help and counsel of an experienced attorney may be essential in order to effectively pursue justice in the aftermath of a taxi cab accident.

The post Taxi drives into crowd at Logan airport appeared first on Kiley Law Group LLC - Personal Injury & Car Accident Attorneys.