What Passengers of Taxi Cabs and Limos Should Know About Their Safety

When you get into the backseat of a friend’s car, what’s the first thing you do? More than likely, you buckle up. But do you reach for your seat belt when you hop into the backseat of a taxi cab or limo? If you don’t, you’re not alone. Most people assume they are safe in the back of a cab; however, this is “absolutely not true, you’re just as vulnerable,” says Kara Macek, communications director for The Governors Highway Safety Association.

Even though it is a known fact that seat belts save lives, about fifty percent of all traffic deaths in this nation involve passengers and drivers not wearing seat belts, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Although most of these traffic fatalities didn’t occur in taxi cabs, many people have been killed when they fail to buckle up in a taxi that crashes.

Why It’s Important to Buckle Up in the Back Seat of a Taxi Cab or Limo

The recent death of Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Nash is raising awareness about wearing seat belts as a passenger in a taxi cab. Sadly, Nash and his wife were ejected from the cab in which they were riding and it was believed they were not wearing their seat belts, according to ABC news. It’s very common for people to not wear their seat belts in cabs and limos. According to the 2014 Taxicab Factbook of the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission, 62% of taxi passengers fail to buckle up.

When passengers don’t wear their seat belts and a crash occurs, they can be killed or suffer very serious injuries. In fact, facial and head injuries are some of the most common types of injuries taxi passengers suffer from. Since taxi cabs have partitions, unbuckled passengers are likely to be tossed and projected forward into those partitions during traffic accidents. While minor crashes may cause bumps and bruises, higher-impact collisions can result in serious head trauma.

As personal injury lawyers who talk to many people in pain following traffic collisions, we urge all occupants to do their part and buckle up every time they are on the road—even in the backseat of a taxi cab or limo. Please share this blog with your friends and family on Facebook. You never know who you can help with a click of a button.