NEW YORK
 
With taxicab drivers in New York City, the story has been the same for the last couple of years: many are dealing with depression and suicidal thoughts after Uber and Lyft have decimated their industry, rendered their medallions relatively worthless and made it difficult for them to pay bills.

 It’s a story that we have been following in depth over the last couple of years, reporting on an increasing number of drivers who have committed suicide as a result of their livelihood being pulled out from underneath them.

The New York Times followed up on this epidemic recently, profiling cabdrivers like Nicanor Ochisor, who had to be dragged to the doctor by his wife due to his depression in March of this year. But this wasn't enough - he turned out to be one of six cabdrivers who committed suicide over the course of the last year. 

These men feel overwhelmed and often watch their prospects for retirement dissolve right in front of them. Undoubtedly, it can be difficult and lonely behind the wheel of a taxi, especially with the industry under fire.

But now, New York City is trying to step in, placing a cap on Uber and Lyft drivers, as well as urging taxi drivers to seek out help when necessary. New York City is now considering a set of bills that would establish a health fund for taxi drivers, also creating "driver assistance centers" for counseling and financial advice.

One of the bills is set to offer relief to medallion owners who have a significant amount of debt. A council speaker stated that the city was considering a partial bailout or hardship fund for medallion owners who drive their own taxis.

Corey Johnson, the Council speaker, told the NY Times: "For the smaller individual medallion owners, what can we do to help them get out from under this crushing debt? We’re trying to figure out a way to do that."

The rise in suicides and the publicity that they have gotten have forced drivers to speak out about the stresses of their industry with their families. The Times caught up with one driver, Lal Singh, who said that after three years of driving a taxi, he had considered suicide.

He told the Times: "When I hear that somebody did suicide, I was thinking about me. I’m going to be one of them one day.” Singh owes about $6200 per month on the medallion he bought in 2000 and spends his day driving the length of Manhattan, top to bottom, looking for passengers.

"When you have nothing to do, we are suffering. What are you living for?" he continued.

Another driver, Muhammad Anil, who owes more than $500,000 on his medallion, had to have a talk with his children and reassure them that he was OK after they saw the headlines about the suicides.

The drivers that are most vulnerable are people between the ages of 45 and 64, according to Barbara Stanley, psychology professor at Columbia University. She noted that people with past depression issues may be more vulnerable to this stressful environment than others.

Some drivers, like 70 year old Harbans Singh, say they don’t want help from the taxi and limousine commission. He works 12 hour shifts to help pay off his medallion debt. “I don’t trust the T.L.C.,” he said.

Financial assistance is the number one type of assistance sought out by drivers. The city says they find themselves in a difficult position because a buyout of medallion owners could cost billions. The alternative ridesharing apps like Lyft have considered putting together a $100 million hardship fund for drivers. The catch? They want the city to drop the cap on the number of drivers they can have.

Unsurprisingly, cab drivers would rather see Uber and Lyft restricted.

Nicolae Hent, a friend of Nicanor Ochisor's, went to the doctor back in 2005 after he battled with his own anxiety issues. He now takes two anti-depressants and plays tennis regularly to cope. Hent is 62, owes about $130,000 on his medallion and is leading the charge to get the city to assist cab drivers.

He told the Times, "I’m not going to kill myself. I won’t kill nobody. But I’ll fight until I die."
Social Issues

https://goo.gl/SCJieJ 
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 EIRE

A FOREIGN NATIONAL quoted over €17,000 for taxi insurance for a year, was asked to pay nearly €5,000 upfront to keep his car on the road.

The issue of higher taxi insurance comes against the wider backdrop of much higher premiums in recent times, with the government’s working group aiming to tackle these high costs facing difficulties in bringing them down so far

Faced with a choice between not working or paying the insurance, the Dublin-based man said it left him with little option but to pay up the deposit so he could stay on the road.

His situation is one common to a number of taxi drivers looking to get insured on Irish roads, who face difficulty in affording to do so.

The man was involved in one collision on Irish roads in the past three years, although it was not while driving his taxi.

“The car is only worth €20,000,” the taxi driver told TheJournal.ie. “I had a claim against me, after a guy said he had neck pain after an accident with the car. The cost of repairing the car was only a few hundred euro.

Taxi drivers we spoke to after fare increases last year also cited insurance as a cause of complaint. One said: “My insurance went through the roof this year, with no real reason given. It’d put you off getting into this game.”

The figure drivers are quoted however, can range vastly. Another driver we spoke to, with a 10-year-old car, and nine years’ experience as a taxi driver was recently quoted €2,300 to renew his insurance.

Another, with a newer car but with much fewer years in the job, was quoted €4,500.

Jim Waldron, spokesperson from the National Private Hire and Taxi Association, told TheJournal.ie that he’s heard of costs over €10,000 for new people coming into the business, but that it wouldn’t always be the case.

Even for those not paying such costs in this bracket, many taxi drivers are still feeling the pinch in recent years, according to Waldron.

He also said that a company acquiring a number of taxi licence plates in one go is often better placed than an individual to source reasonably-priced insurance, with the individual usually facing a higher premium.

“Overall, the last three years has seen insurance go up year-on-year to about 35% higher,” he said. “As an association, we’ve been trying to bring the cost of insurance down by bringing in more competition, and there are talks going on there.

Someone going in with 50 plates could get a more favourable insurance policy where an individual driver has been crucified for the last few years… It’s a business cost, but there’s only so many hours in a day that a taxi driver can work. The last thing we’d want people to be doing is to work morning, noon and night, and then have to hand what they’ve earned over to the insurance company.

The number of taxis in Ireland has already dropped dramatically in recent years, with the high cost of insurance often cited as a deterrent.

From a high of 47,222 drivers with valid licences in 2009, there were just 26,012 licences last year.

In all, there were 400 less taxi drivers on the streets in 2017 compared to the previous year. The majority of drivers (54%) hold a Dublin licence entitlement.

Earlier this year, the National Transport Authority launched a campaign aimed at recruiting 1,600 taxi drivers.

Its CEO Anne Graham said while having 26,000 drivers licenced “might sound like a lot, but they are not all available all of the time, which means there can be shortages at certain period particularly at peak hours and weekend nights”.

According to NTA research from 2016, the average metered revenue per week for a taxi driver in Dublin was €635, with the high end stretching up to €1,189.

The question of the cost of insurance has been raised in the Oireachtas a number of times in the past year, as the government aims to arrest the cost of car insurance which has skyrocketed in recent years.

In 2015 alone, more than a third of Irish drivers saw their insurance rise by up to 50% – a situation that descended into something of a blame game between insurers and the legal profession

Work has been done to rectify the problem however, starting with the publication of a fresh Book of Quantum in 2016, the first in 12 years, which officially crystallised the level of claims being seen in Ireland.

Furthermore, a recently published report from the Personal Injuries Commission has highlighted the “stark multiples” of compensation payouts in Ireland compared to our European counterparts.

Insurers say it is these payouts that lead to higher premiums, and the report says that taking appropriate action now would help to achieve a “greater level of consistency in Ireland in the assessment of general damages”.

Waldron added that when a taxi driver has had an accident, it can be very difficult to avoid facing a spike in the cost of insurance.

“Absolutely, it shoots up,” he said. “I can understand why it would be that someone would be quoted as high as €17,000 if there’d been a claim. It’s very hard to switch insurers then too because the first thing they ask you on the form is ‘have you had an accident?’.”

Speaking at a Dáil debate last month, Independent TD for Dublin Bay North Tommy Broughan said that every deputy has been contacted “time and again by all kinds of hard-pressed constituents”.

“We have also been contacted by distressed taxi drivers, who are in the public transport mould,” he said. “Due to changes in their training and so on, they have had to come up with vast sums of money.”

‘That is insane’

Newer drivers driving their own vehicle, in particular, face higher costs.

Senator Jennifer Murnane O’Connor told the Seanad in June: “Many of us have stories of our own or have heard stories about the rising cost of insurance.

    This week, I heard about a taxi driver who had been driving as a named driver on his company fleet insurance. He had his test and wanted to get a policy in his own name. He was quoted €11,000 in respect of a vehicle that is valued at €12,000. That is insane.

In a statement to TheJournal.ie, a spokesperson for industry group Insurance Ireland said it couldn’t comment on individual cases, but added that “insurers make decisions on insurance cover based on their underwriting criteria, their risk appetite and their claims history”.

“This will include factors such as the driver’s experience, the type of vehicle, its engine size and its age, but the weighting applied to each factor is a matter for each company,” it said.

Insurance Ireland pointed to the recent report from the Personal Injuries Commission which found that the average compensation issues for soft tissue injuries in Ireland is four times higher than in the UK.

“Insurance Ireland has been very active in advocating for policies to address the cost of claims in the market that affect all motorists and will continue to press for the swift implementation of the recommendations of the Personal Injuries Commission,” it added.

http://www.thejournal.ie/taxi-driver-insurance-4262863-Oct2018/