Along the 63rd Drive shopping strip and Queens Boulevard, yellow cabs are a familiar sight: dropping off riders coming home from Manhattan, picking up fares near the subway, heading back toward the Midtown Tunnel or the airports. Rego Park residents use them for late-night returns, airport trips, hospital visits and rainy-day errands. A yellow cab is one of the most regulated vehicles in the country, and yet its design creates injury patterns you do not see in ordinary cars.
The rear partition that protects drivers can injure passengers. The sliding doors on many cabs can open into cyclists. And unbelted passengers on short trips are thrown into hard surfaces. This article, from a yellow cab accident lawyer in Rego Park, looks at those cab-specific injuries and how claims for them work.
The Partition Problem
Many yellow cabs have a partition between the front and rear seats, a safety feature for drivers that often includes a payment screen and a hard frame. In a sudden stop or crash, an unbelted, or even belted, back-seat passenger can be thrown forward into the partition. Common partition injuries include:
- Facial fractures, including the nose, cheekbones and orbital bones.
- Dental injuries and jaw fractures.
- Concussions and other traumatic brain injuries.
- Lacerations requiring stitches, and resulting scars.
- Neck injuries from the whiplash motion combined with impact.
Partition injuries can occur in crashes at modest speeds, and even in hard braking without a collision. Under New York law, a cab driver who brakes suddenly and unnecessarily, or drives too fast for conditions, can be negligent even if no crash occurs.
The Sliding Door and Dooring
Many current yellow cab models, including the Nissan NV200 that the city adopted as its standard “Taxi of Tomorrow,” have sliding rear doors. Sliding doors reduce some dooring risk, but passengers still open doors into cyclists and scooter riders, particularly when cabs stop in travel lanes on Queens Boulevard or 63rd Drive to let riders out. TLC rules and safety stickers remind passengers to look for cyclists, and the driver’s choice of where to stop matters.
Liability: Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 1214 prohibits opening a door into traffic unless it is reasonably safe. A passenger who opens a door into a cyclist may be negligent, and a cab driver who stopped in an unsafe spot or did not warn the passenger may share responsibility. The cab’s insurance often responds to both.
Cab Insurance and Claims
Who insures a yellow cab?
Yellow cabs are operated under medallions and must carry commercial insurance meeting TLC requirements, which exceed New York’s basic auto minimums. The medallion owner (which may be an individual, a fleet or a management company) and the driver are typically the responsible parties.
No-fault first
As a passenger, your reasonable medical bills and part of your lost wages are generally paid through no-fault benefits under the cab’s policy, regardless of fault. File within 30 days. If you were a cyclist or pedestrian hit by a cab, you generally claim no-fault under a household auto policy or, if none, the cab’s policy.
Pain and suffering
If your injury meets the serious injury threshold of Insurance Law Section 5102(d), you can pursue the cab driver and owner for pain and suffering and losses beyond no-fault. Facial fractures and other fractures meet the threshold; significant disfigurement, such as visible facial scarring, is a separate qualifying category.
Other drivers
If another car caused the crash, that driver’s insurer is responsible too. As a passenger, you can pursue both drivers.
Seatbelts in Cabs
New York law requires all occupants to wear seatbelts. Many cab passengers do not on short rides. Failing to wear a seatbelt does not bar your claim, but the defense may argue it increased certain injuries, which can reduce damages for those injuries. It does not change who caused the crash. Be honest with your lawyer about seatbelt use.
Evidence in Yellow Cab Cases
- Medallion number: on the roof light, hood and rear.
- Hack license: the driver’s TLC license, displayed inside.
- Receipt: printed or emailed, with trip time and medallion.
- Trip data: yellow cabs record trip information, including GPS, through their technology systems; the TLC and the cab’s operator maintain records that can be requested.
- Photos of the partition, the interior, your injuries and the scene.
- Police report from the 112th Precinct in Rego Park.
- Witnesses and nearby video along Queens Boulevard.
Common Rego Park Cab Crash Scenarios
- A cab braking hard on Queens Boulevard to pick up a fare, rear-ended by a following car.
- A cab making a sudden U-turn on 63rd Drive and colliding with oncoming traffic.
- A cab driver changing lanes on the LIE without checking, sideswiping another vehicle.
- A passenger opening a door into a cyclist in the Queens Boulevard bike lane.
- A cab striking a pedestrian while turning at a crosswalk.
Complaints to the TLC
You can report reckless driving, refusals or other misconduct to the TLC. A complaint does not compensate you, but it creates a record and can lead to driver discipline. TLC rules prohibit drivers from using handheld phones while driving and set other safety standards.
Deadlines
- No-fault: 30 days.
- Personal injury lawsuit: generally three years.
- Claims involving city vehicles or MTA buses: Notice of Claim within 90 days.
- Wrongful death: two years.
For TLC passenger rights and complaints, see the TLC passenger page. For cyclist dooring safety, see Vision Zero.
Talk to Mushiyev Law
We represent cab passengers, cyclists, pedestrians and drivers injured in yellow cab crashes throughout Queens. We know the TLC system and how cab insurers handle claims. There is no attorney fee unless we recover money for you. Visit our home page or contact us.
Directions From Rego Park to Our Rosedale Office
Mushiyev Law is at 1 Cross Island Plaza, Suite 325, Rosedale, NY 11422, beside the Cross Island Parkway and the Belt Parkway interchange.
From 63rd Drive, take the Van Wyck Expressway south, the Belt Parkway east and the Cross Island Parkway to Rosedale, or ride the E or F to Jamaica and the LIRR.
A Rego Park Cab Ride Gone Wrong
Consider a hypothetical Rego Park resident coming home from a Manhattan theater on a rainy night. She hails a yellow cab, gives her address near 63rd Drive, and does not buckle up for what she expects will be a quick ride. On the Long Island Expressway, the driver, glancing at his phone, realizes he is about to miss the Woodhaven Boulevard exit and swerves across two lanes. A car in the right lane brakes hard, and the cab slams on its brakes. She is thrown into the partition, fracturing her nose and cheekbone and suffering a concussion.
No collision occurred, but she still has a claim. The cab’s no-fault coverage pays her emergency care, the plastic surgeon and the neurologist. Facial fractures meet the serious injury threshold, and the visible scarring after surgery may also qualify as significant disfigurement. Her lawyer obtains the cab’s trip data showing the route and the sudden deceleration, and the driver’s phone records show activity at the moment of the swerve. The defense argues that her failure to buckle up made her injuries worse, which may reduce damages for some injuries, but the driver’s unsafe lane change and phone use are the cause of the event.
Cab Drivers Get Hurt Too
Yellow cab drivers, many of whom live in Queens, are injured by other drivers, by passengers and in crashes on the roads they drive every day. A cab driver hit by another car can generally claim no-fault benefits through the cab’s policy and pursue the at-fault driver if seriously injured. Depending on how the driver works, through a fleet, leasing a medallion or owning one, workers’ compensation or other benefits may also be available. Lost earnings from fares and tips are part of a driver’s claim; keep trip records and tax documents.
Riding Safely in a Yellow Cab
Buckle up, every time, even for a few blocks. Sit back from the partition rather than leaning forward to talk or pay. Exit on the curb side and look for cyclists before opening the door, especially in the Queens Boulevard bike lane. If the driver is speeding or using a phone, ask them to stop, or end the ride somewhere safe. Take a photo of the medallion number when you get in; it takes a second and can make all the difference later.
Common Questions After a Cab Crash
Riders often ask whether they should accept the cab company’s offer to pay a medical bill directly, or whether they can skip filing no-fault for a minor injury. File no-fault regardless, within 30 days, so your coverage is preserved if symptoms worsen. Do not sign anything from the cab’s insurer without understanding it. And if you were hurt by a partition strike, keep photos of your face over time, since swelling, bruising and scarring change and are part of the record of your injury.
Key Takeaways for Rego Park Cab Riders
- Buckle up and sit back from the partition, even on short rides along Queens Boulevard.
- Photograph the medallion number and keep your receipt.
- Get medical care quickly, especially for facial and head injuries from partition strikes.
- File your no-fault application within 30 days through the cab’s insurer.
- Facial fractures and significant scarring can meet New York’s serious injury threshold.
- Cyclists doored by cab passengers may have claims against both the passenger and the driver.
Frequently Asked Questions
What injuries do yellow cab partitions cause?
Back-seat passengers thrown forward can suffer facial fractures, dental injuries, concussions and lacerations from striking the partition.
Who pays if I am hurt in a yellow cab in Rego Park?
The cab’s TLC-required commercial insurance usually pays your no-fault benefits. If your injury is serious, you can pursue the cab driver and owner, and any other at-fault driver.
A cab passenger opened a door into me on my bike. Who is responsible?
The passenger may be negligent for opening the door unsafely, and the cab driver may share responsibility for stopping in an unsafe spot. The cab’s insurance often responds.
Does not wearing a seatbelt in a cab hurt my case?
It does not bar your claim, but may reduce damages for injuries a seatbelt would have prevented.
How much does a yellow cab accident lawyer in Rego Park cost?
Mushiyev Law works on contingency: no attorney fee unless we recover money for you.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.