Recently, Bob Simon, a long time host of “60 Minutes”, was killed in a taxi crash. When it comes time for the Simon family to consider why Mr. Simon was taken from them, that family might sue the taxi company for negligence. The taxi’s insurance company will likely have to defend against that claim and possibly pay it. How much compensation makes up for Mr. Simon’s life and all that was lost when he died? That is the question in any death and injury case. The answer will be the lawful amount of compensation in that case.

How much insurance do you believe taxis should have to cover the costs of death and destruction that might arise out of the driver’s negligence?

Let me ask a different question. When a Metro-North train crashed into an SUV in Westchester and left 6 dead and 12 injured, how much insurance do you think Metro-North should carry to compensate each innocent victim, if the train was negligent?

If Metro-North caused the crash by its negligence, would you be appalled if the company only had to pay $100,000 per injured or killed person?

Would you say, “that’s not enough for my dead/badly injured [mother, father, brother, sister, son, or daughter]”?

Would you say, “with all the people who ride in and use that service, they need to be able to compensate people who get hurt when things go wrong”?

Would you say, “the government should require that train company to pay more”?

Would you say, “when someone breaks the safety rules, they should be able to pay for the damage they cause”?

Now, back to taxi cabs. Just like mass transit, thousands of people ride taxis every day for their transportation. Just like mass transit, thousands of riders in taxis rely entirely on the driver to be safe. Just like mass transit, taxis are regulated by the government to some extent (e.g. the Taxi and Limousine Commission). But, where the train company may be able to afford to compensate each victim of its negligence, in an amount that approaches fair, taxis only need, at minimum, $100,000 of insurance for each injured person and $300,000 in coverage for total damages.

So after the smoke clears and the family of a dead or injured person asks for fair compensation for that loss, something much less than complete justice is given to them.

One of the most popular insurance companies for taxi cabs in New York is American Transit Insurance Company.

You might say, at this point, “well at least they could pay that amount quickly so the grieving family could begin to heal and restore themselves in other ways.” But that would not be true.

American Transit Insurance Company has battled hard against victims of its insured’s negligence. For example, a year after a vehicle crashed into a toddler’s stroller, American Transit Insurance Company still refused to pay more than a fraction of the medical costs to the injured victim and his family.

You might say, “well, American Transit is just protecting its insured, maybe the driver did nothing wrong.”

American Transit Insurance Company was fined in 2006 for several violations that affected its treatment of its insured. American Transint Insurance Company has shown that it will act even contrary to its policyholder’s interests and thereby needlessly expose its policyholder to legal liability.

You might say, “well the taxi company must have insurance and so if a family member is hurt or killed, then the taxi company has to pay.”

A taxi driver may not work for such a company or may not be an “employee” of one. That cab, though yellow or green like all other taxis in New York, may not actually be an employee, but an independent contractor. Therefore, there may be no company from which to collect.

As more news is printed about Mr. Simon’s death and the Metro-North train crash, we all might consider these questions:

a) How much does it take to compensate the family of a person injured or killed by negligence?

and b) When so much power to hurt people is vested in one person or corporation, how much should its minimum insurance coverage be?