Making fun of the driving skills of New York City taxi drivers is an easy snark. In NYC, over 80% of taxi drivers are third world men from countries which are not known for their sedate and obedient styles of driving. Since there are large numbers of brown cabbies (in 1999, 40% of cabbies were from the subcontinent, although that number has probably gone down), this easily turns into a joke about desi drivers. You know, a roll of the eyes, a hand gesture to indicate the erratic path a screeching yellow cab took, etc.

What was that address again? Don’t worry, this is just a shortcut, Amber fort is on the way.

It turns out, however, that riding a cab in New York is considerably safer than being in a private vehicle:

according to … [a recent] study… based on state motor vehicle records of accidents and injuries across the city… taxi and livery-cab drivers have crash rates one-third lower than drivers of other vehicles. [Link]

This is very different from what people think, but it makes sense:

The lower crash rates for cabbies are not so surprising given that taxi drivers are far more experienced than other drivers. They are behind the wheel up to 3,000 hours a year. Their driving records are scrutinized by the Taxi and Limousine Commission and auto insurance carriers. They risk losing their livelihood if they have too many crashes or get too many tickets. [Link]

They’ve also gotten safer over time, as a result of both market forces and government regulation:

… crashes declined 12 percent from 2003 to 2004, and 30 percent since 1999. These declines are attributable to the City’s strict ceilings on the number of DMV points drivers can accumulate and improved auto insurance underwriting practices. Cab drivers have also been staying in the industry longer, a significant fact given that less-experienced drivers are more crash-prone. [Link]

Some related facts about taxi driving in the US, all from the same research group that put out the study above:

  • There are almost a quarter million taxi drivers in the united states and roughly one in every eight Americans has taken a taxi or limo in the past month.
  • “In 2000, 38 percent of taxi/limo drivers were immigrants, an increase from 27 percent in 1990 and 8 percent in 1970. Taxi/limo driving now has the third-highest percentage of immigrants, behind only tailors and farm laborers, among occupations with at least 50,000 workers in the U.S.”
  • “Immigrant taxi and limo drivers are primarily from South Asia (6.8 percent of all drivers), the West Indies (6.7 percent) and Africa (6.3 percent).”
  • “The highest proportions of immigrant drivers are found in the New York City area (82 percent of drivers are immigrants), followed by the Washington DC (62 percent), Los Angeles and Chicago (both 59 percent) and San Francisco (57 percent) metro areas.”
  • “Taxi/limo driving is a remarkably large occupational category for some immigrant and gender groups…. 8 percent of Bangladeshi and 7 percent of Pakistani-born employed men in the U.S [were taxi/limo drivers in 2000]. By contrast, only 0.2% of U.S.-born employed men drive a taxi or limousine.”
  • “Within New York City’s medallion taxi industry, Bangladesh has replaced Pakistan is the number one country of origin for first-time cab drivers. Of medallion taxi drivers entering the business in the last two years, 18% were born in Bangladesh, up from 10% in 1991 and 1% in 1984. This increase reflects rapid increases in Bangladeshi immigration to New York City. Fifteen percent of new taxi drivers are from Pakistan and 9 percent are from India.”
  • 14% of drivers have college degrees [Link for all bullets]

My mind boggles. If you meet a random Bangladeshi man anywhere in America, there is a 1 in 12.5 chance that he’s a taxi driver.

UPDATE: I just remembered that my favorite blog banner ever involves 4 Sikh taxi drivers walking away from yellow cabs and a post-apocalyptic burning sky. It’s from Turbanhead’s blog, of course.

Related posts: Taxi-Wallahs of America, Taxi Cab Confessions , You talkin’ to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin’ to …, Cabbie hartal in Naya York, Immigrant Entrepreneurs - Cabbie bids $360K for Medallion