While modern rideshare services like Uber and Lyft have become significantly more popular over the past decade, traditional taxi companies still provide transportation services to tens of thousands of Americans every single day. However, just like anyone else driving any other type of vehicle, cab drivers can sometimes be reckless or careless behind the wheel, in ways that put themselves, their passengers, and other people on the road at risk of serious injury.
On top of that, filing civil suit over injuries caused by a taxi accident in Houston can be substantially more complex than you might expect, especially if the cab driver at fault for your crash is an independent contractor as opposed to an employee of the taxi service they work for. Navigating these issues and achieving the best possible resolution from your claim is much easier with support from the experienced auto accident attorneys at Mostyn Law.
Like bus drivers, taxi drivers are typically categorized as “common carriers” under state law, which means—among other things—that they have a legal duty to keep their passengers safe from the moment they get into their cab to the moment they get out. Of course, a taxi driver who causes a passenger to get hurt by causing a traffic accident through their own negligent driving has violated this “duty of care,” so they could be held personally liable for damages stemming from that wreck.
However, as common carriers, taxi drivers are also liable for certain injuries their passengers sustain for reasons other than traffic accidents—for instance, because a taxi did not have functioning seatbelts, or because a cab driver accelerated too quickly and caused a passenger to fall and get hurt while exiting their vehicle. Our attorneys can help pursue comprehensive civil restitution for taxi-related injuries in Houston stemming from both these scenarios and many others.
The question of whether a cab company holds legal liability for injuries caused by an individual cab driver may have different answers depending on the circumstances. Generally, you can only hold a company “vicariously liable” for a worker’s negligence if that worker is classified as an “employee” of that company, a status which many taxi drivers do not have. However, we may be able to help you hold a taxi company liable for corporate-level negligence, such as hiring a driver as an independent contractor who is not properly licensed or who has a history of committing traffic offenses.
Alternatively, some taxi crashes in Houston stem not from any single person’s misconduct, but instead from serious defects in a motor vehicle involved in a wreck or in the road itself. In situations like this, a car accident lawyer from Mostyn Law can help you seek restitution from a manufacturer that produced faulty vehicle parts, a mechanic who failed to identify and fix faulty parts, or even a local government body that failed to maintain public roads in a safe condition.
Taxi drivers are expected to be responsible and careful every time they drive on public roads, whether they have a passenger in their car with them or not. However, when cab drivers are ferrying passengers around, they have an even greater legal obligation to act safely behind the wheel—one which they unfortunately do not always fulfill.
Our team is ready to go above and beyond to ensure the right people are held accountable for the harm you suffered through a taxi accident in Houston. Call today for a confidential consultation.
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