Insurance Discount Program Offered to Taxi Fleets Using DriveCam; 10% Premium Discount Due to DriveCam’s Ability to Reduce Collisions and Control Losses
Business Editors and High-Tech Writers
SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May 29, 2002
DriveCam Video Systems, an innovator in vehicle safety systems, today announced that the London American General Agency has initiated a 10 percent premium discount with Scottsdale Insurance Company for taxi fleets that use the DriveCam Driving Feedback System.
The insurance discount program is offered through the Radio Dispatched Public Livery Association, a federal risk purchasing group for independent fleets. Using video technology to improve driving habits, DriveCam’s Driving Feedback System has been proven to reduce the frequency and severity of collisions.
“Fleets using DriveCam benefit by having a reliable method to control losses from collisions, which lowers the cost of insuring them,” said Ed Maucere, president of London American. “DriveCam also counters insurance fraud, for which livery services such as taxis and limousines are frequently a target. These cost savings prompted us to provide a discounted premium to taxi fleets using DriveCam.”
DriveCam uses advanced video technology to record what drivers see and hear during unusual driving incidents. This allows fleet managers to counsel drivers on actual driving experiences. It also provides information critical to determining fault in an accident claim and speeds claim processing. Thousands of commercial vehicles, including utility fleets, passenger transportation, and service/delivery vans, are currently using DriveCam’s Driving Feedback System and have experienced reductions in the frequency and severity of collisions of 30 percent to 50 percent.
“DriveCam has worked closely with insurance carriers to document the effects of its products on reducing losses and lowering insurance costs,” said Ed Andrew, president of DriveCam. “Because of these efforts, fleets using DriveCam can now demonstrate to their insurance carrier that they are taking steps to control their losses. By improving driving performance, DriveCam also reduces fleet operation and maintenance costs.”
The complete Driving Feedback System includes the DriveCam video event data recorder, HindSight 20/20 software for tracking and evaluating driving events, a manager’s guide, driver guide, and instructional videotape. The DriveCam video recorder measures G-forces caused by activities such as hard braking, acceleration, harsh cornering or collisions, which trigger it to save a driving event for later viewing.
About DriveCam Video Systems
DriveCam Video Systems is an innovator in the development of vehicle safety products that improve driving performance for commercial fleets. Based in San Diego, the company’s Driving Feedback System is the only product on the market that records actual driving experiences to reduce erratic driving and decrease the frequency and severity of collisions by 30 percent to 50 percent. The insurance industry has endorsed the Driving Feedback System and has offered credits on insurance premiums due to its ability to control losses. Additional information is available at www.drivecam.com.
Statement by John P. LaWare, member, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, before the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions Supervision, Regulation and Deposit Insurance of the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives, October 6, 1994 - Statements to the Congress - Transcript
I am here this morning to discuss the availability of credit to small and minority-owned businesses and to comment on the data collection proposed in H.R.918.
Small businesses play an essential role in the health of our economy, in the creation of jobs, in the generation of new ideas, and in the competitive process that is so important to a free-enterprise economy. Of the 21 million entities that filed business tax returns in 1992, all but 14,000 were small businesses–using the Small Business Administration’s guidelines that define a small business as one with fewer than 500 employees. In fact, the great majority of these enterprises had fewer than 20 employees.
Minority-and women-owned businesses are a growing share of this small business community. In 1987, the latest year for which data are available, it is estimated that there were 1.2 million minority-owned businesses and more than 4 million women-owned businesses, an increase of more than 64 percent and 57 percent respectively from five years earlier.
More significant than the number of small businesses is the contribution that these firms make to economic growth and employment. The Small Business Administration estimates that small businesses account for more than half of private employment and about half of private-sector output. There is no doubt that a vibrant small business community is an essential ingredient for the economic health of our nation, both in urban centers and rural communities.
BANKS AND SMALL BUSINESSES
Commercial banks historically have had a crucial relationship with small businesses. The Federal Reserve’s 1989 National Survey of Small Business Financing revealed that local commercial banks are the primary suppliers of most financial products used by established small firms. In addition to commercial loans, banks supply other types of credit and lease financing and a wide range of deposit, brokerage, and trust services. The lending relationship is especially important to small firms whose access to public capital markets is limited. Data from the 1989 survey indicated that almost half of the external debt financing of small businesses came from commercial banks. In addition, small firms rely on credit from nonbank depository institutions and finance companies, on trade credit, and on loans from family and friends.
Just a few years ago, when the banking industry was under severe stress from problems in real estate and agricultural loans, and lingering problems on loans to developing countries, there were very real concerns about the negative implications for financing small businesses. Commercial bank failures rose sharply in the last half of the 1980s and remained high during the 1990–91 recession; the cost of these failures prompted the Congress and the regulatory agencies to adopt new, more stringent regulatory standards. Many banks undertook major programs to bolster the quality of their assets, restructure their balance sheets, and reduce operating losses, with the result that new lending–especially business loans secured by real estate–slowed dramatically. Many long-time customers of banks were unable to renew loans or had credit lines reduced. The severity of the so-called “credit crunch” prompted questions about the longer-term direction the banking system was taking and raised concern about financing for small businesses.
Fortunately, the credit crunch had a relatively short life span. Since 1991, efforts by banks to strengthen operating efficiency and build capital positions have paid off. Over the past couple of years, banks have earned record profits; the industry’s rate of return on assets in 1993 was the highest in decades and has declined only a bit this year. Both large and small banks have substantially strengthened their capital ratios; for the industry as a whole, the ratio of equity capital to assets, at 7.8 percent, and the total risk-based capital ratio of 13.2 percent this year are well above regulatory minimums. Only thirty-six commercial banks in the United States failed to meet the minimum capital standards in June of this year, and only eleven banks have failed to meet the standard in the past nine months.
The net result is that the credit crunch is no longer the issue. Banks are in good shape to lend and in the past year have experienced a surge in business loan growth, partly as a result of competitive solicitation. Over the first six months of 1994, business loans in the aggregate expanded at an annual rate of 8.5 percent, and growth was even stronger in July and August. The pickup has been apparent at thousands of smaller banks whose loans are made almost exclusively to small businesses, as well as at large domestic and foreign banks. The banks are helping to meet the increased demand for loans as the pace of economic activity accelerated. In addition, the Board’s survey of senior loan officers has revealed a fairly general easing of standards and terms for commercial and industrial loans to both small and large businesses over the past year and one-half. Surveys by the National Federation of Independent Business report that credit availability has not been a concern for its members. Its most recent surveys also suggest that borrowing activity has picked up considerably. Thus, when we speak today about the availability of credit to small businesses, it is with a much different–and a much more positive one–than two or three years ago.
McFall General Agency Inc.
What began as Bob R McFall’s startup venture in Portland, Oregon, nearly 25 years ago has evolved into one of the Pacific Northwest’s premier wholesale general insurance agencies.
Still headquartered in Portland, McFall General Agency, Inc., has expanded its operations into Washington and Idaho, has increased its staff of employees to 40, and has seen its book of business grow to a projected $20 million-plus by the end of 2005. The agency attributes its continuing success to strict attention to solid underwriting principles:
1. Partnering with financially sturdy companies that offer quality programs.
2. Contracting with retail agents who demonstrate both a level of knowledge of insurance and a level of knowledge of their customers.
3. Retaining a managerial team and in-house underwriters with experience, and who value service and underwriting profit.
4. Hiring and training a support staff that’s knowledgeable and driven to provide superior customer service.
McFall General Agency provides preferred, standard, specialty and surplus lines markets that otherwise might be unavailable to its contracted retail agents. Its comprehensive range of coverages includes liquor liability; products liability on industrial equipment, cosmetics, and other products; day care operations; earthquake and DIC coverage; commercial truck liability and physical damage; garage liability; pollution; detective and security guards; taxi cabs; and other exclusive and non-exclusive programs and coverage.
To continue to build on its strong position in the Northwest, McFall actively maintains a Web site, www.mcfallgeneral.com. This site supplies contracted retail agents with access to applications, e-mail addresses, phone numbers and other key information vital to helping them write business.
Technology has also aided in bridging the employee “location gap.” McFaII has established remote access for experienced staff professionals who do not reside in the Portland area. By utilizing this latest technology, McFall’s policy production is done by remote access. Contracts are thus printed and issued immediately from the McFall General Agency home office.
McFall General, continually updating its technology, transmits policies electronically. Retail agents will receive their clients’ policies online through McFall’s Web site, www.mcfallgeneral.com, or receive the policy on disk. This assists paperless retail agencies with their input and enhances non-paperless agencies’ ability to manage business within their agency. Expansion of technology will include uploading policy information. And, for agents who do not yet have full technological access, McFall provides a CD to help enhance efficiency.
In mid-2004 McFall General Agency went “live” on a new agency management program which provides updated information and service to all contracted agents. The program is named AIM (Agency Information Manager). AIM can:
1. Log in the initial application.
2. Complete the assigning of the underwriter.
3. Acknowledge receipt of submission from the contracted retail agency.
4. Document the notification of the underwriter handling the application. Policy information is maintained for the term of the insurance contract and is readily available for review during the policy term.
The motto announced by McFaII when he opened his agency in 1981 remains the company’s recipe for respect:
“Provide contracted retail agents with the best coverage available through some of the finest insurance companies in the industry. Provide represented companies with underwriting expertise and profit every year. Develop long-term relationships based on mutual faith and trust. Provide knowledge of the insurance industry as a whole to customers.”
It’s a philosophy that continues to guide the McFall General Agency. As Bob R McFall proudly stated recently in saluting his own staff and his outside business associates: “The road that led us to 2005, and that’s moving us forward beyond another two dozen years, is paved with stable companies, quality agents, dedicated employees, and a responsive management staff.”
Two Unanswered Questions
Byline: Dan Froomkin
Two pretty basic questions are throwing President Bush and his top aides for a loop as they push their ambitious reconstruction plan for the Gulf Coast:
1) What will it cost?
2) Who is going to pay for it?
For a White House that normally has a smooth comeback at the ready for even the most caustic queries, the response to these two straightforward questions has been notably fumbling.
Bush, who has not held a regular press conference in more than three and a half months, made a brief public appearance with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. That gave Associated Press reporter Terence Hunt the chance to ask the obvious:
Who will pay?
Bush wouldn’t say.
“[Y]ou bet, it’s going to cost money,” he said. “But I’m confident we can handle it and I’m confident we can handle our other priorities. It’s going to mean that we’re going to have to make sure we cut unnecessary spending. It’s going to mean we don’t do — we’ve got to maintain economic growth, and therefore we should not raise taxes.”
And what will it cost?
“Well, it’s going to cost whatever it costs.”
Earlier Friday morning, press secretary Scott McClellan made chief domestic policy adviser Claude Allen and chief economic adviser Al Hubbard available for reporters’ questions. Here’s the transcript. Here’s a heavily boiled down version:
“Q Al, where’s the money coming from for this?
“DIRECTOR HUBBARD: Where’s the money coming from? It’s coming from the American taxpayer.
“Q Right, but you’re already spending more than you take in, so how much more is there to –
“DIRECTOR HUBBARD: Well, if you want to know the –
“Q Are we going to have to borrow it, or are you going to raise taxes? I mean, if it’s coming from the taxpayer that suggests maybe you’re going to have to raise taxes.
“DIRECTOR HUBBARD: . . . [T]he last thing in the world we need to do is raise taxes and retard economic growth.
“Q So where does the money come from? Obviously, you’ve got to borrow it or [make] offsets in the budget, what?
“DIRECTOR HUBBARD: Well, again, the money is going to come from the federal government, it’s going to come from the federal taxpayer. . . .
“Q Allan, can I just clear this up? So the money will be borrowed, so it will add to the deficit, right?
“DIRECTOR HUBBARD: Well, there’s no question that this — the recovery will be paid for by the federal taxpayer and it will add to the deficit. That’s right. . . .
“Q Claude, do you — can you name any specific programs that will be cut or eliminated already in order to make room without adding too much to the deficit in order to pay for Katrina relief?
“MR. ALLEN: No, I cannot name any programs that will be cut. In fact, we did not focus on that.”
Michael A. Fletcher and Jonathan Weisman write in Saturday’s Washington Post: “Amid growing concern among congressional Republicans about the huge cost of the planned reconstruction effort, Bush said the federal government can foot the bill without resorting to a tax increase. ‘You bet it’s going to cost money. But I’m confident we can handle it,’ Bush said. ‘It’s going to mean that we’re going to have to cut unnecessary spending.’. . . .
“Bush pledged to find some spending cuts. But he offered no specifics, and his chief economic aide, Allan B. Hubbard, dismissed the rebuilding effort’s impact on the longer-term effort to reduce the budget deficit. ‘This in no way will adversely impact his commitment to cut the deficit in half by 2009,’ he said.”
Richard Wolf and Judy Keen write in USA Today that “the economic and political questions raised by Katrina’s price tag are complex. The recovery effort is likely to increase the federal budget deficit, intensify pressure on Bush to raise taxes and delay some of his priorities, such as overhauling Social Security. It also is exposing the extent to which the budget already has been squeezed to pay for the Iraq war and calls into question Bush’s commitment to the Republican tenet of small government.”
William Neikirk writes in the Chicago Tribune that the “massive reconstruction plan, complete with tax incentives to help businesses reinvest in the devastated city, will drive the federal budget deficit higher in the next several years, putting the treasury in a more perilous condition just as the first Baby Boomers reach retirement age in 2008. . . .
“The billions in new dollars that Bush plans to spend over the next few years most likely will have to be borrowed overseas from such countries as Japan and China.”
Warren Vieth and Richard Simon write in the Los Angeles Times: “The president’s reconstruction proposal — expected to cost roughly twice as much as the post-World War II Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe — intensified the anxiety of fiscal conservatives who already deplored the rapid increase in deficit spending under Bush.
” ‘Among advocates of limited government, there is despair,’ said David Boaz, executive vice president of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. ‘This is the biggest-spending president since Lyndon Johnson. And if he spends the kind of money that’s being talked about here, I don’t know if there will ever have been a president who increased spending as fast as this one did.’ “
Around town
PWC Transportation Forum
Oct. 6–Professional Women in Construction (PWC) presents Transportation Forum: Aviation Issues from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen, 20 West 44th Street in New York City. The event moderator will be William Fife, corporate vice president of DMJM Harris. Speakers at the event are: Richard Smyth, vice president of redevelopment, JetBlue Airways; William Radinson, assistant director of the capital program, Port Authority of N.Y. & N.J.; Woodie Woodward, associate administrator of airports, Federal Aviation Administration. Cost: Members: $65 Non-members: $75 Sponsorship: $750 (includes 10 tickets). Call PWC at (212) 486-7745.
Community Development Conference
Oct. 6 to 7–Community Development and neighborhood revitalization will be the focus at the Community Development–Thinking Outside the Box seminar to be held at the 5th Ave Suites Hotel in Portland, Oregon. Sponsored by IPED, Inc. (The Institute for Professional and Executive Development) and co-hosted by the Portland Family of Funds, and Novogradac and Company LLP, the program will address ever-changing issues, resources and opportunities to assist practitioners in building stronger, more stable, more economically viable community development projects, neighborhoods and cities. The conference will provide comprehensive training with details on a full range of technical information for effective community development and housing professionals.
Magnetic Direction
St. Joseph Hospital, Nashua, NH, Achieves Distinction as a “Magnet” Health Care Facility
Recently, a nurse at St. Joseph Hospital, Nashua, NH, experienced a tragedy. Her 19-year-old son, who was preparing to return to college, died suddenly.
The family had no life insurance for the young man. Within an hour of learning of the disaster, a friend of the nurse placed a jar on the desk at the unit’s nurses’ station to begin to collect donations for the funeral expenses. Over the coming weeks, staff members throughout the organization delivered food and supplies to the nurse’s home. They attended the wake and funeral and then were available to support her when she returned to work.
The response of her colleagues to the nurse’s tragedy reflects the spirit of a “Magnet” hospital. St. Joseph, a 208-bed acute care facility, is one of 162 U.S. hospitals that have been honored with a Magnet Hospital designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), Silver Spring, MD.
In truth, St. Joseph’s nurses believed they were “magnetic” long before the award was bestowed. Founded in 1908 by the Grey Nuns of Montreal, St. Joseph is currently sponsored by Covenant Health Systems, Lexington, MA. According to Susan McCarthy, RN, who works in the facility’s endoscopy department, “St. Joseph Hospital has always been a ‘magnetized’ facility. St. Joseph pursues its mission by providing excellence and high-quality health care to all it serves, thereby mirroring the Magnet message of excellence in nursing.”
WHAT IS THE MAGNET PROGRAM?
According to Wikipedia, the term magnet means magnesian stone (or magnitis lithos) in Greek, referring to an area with significant deposits of magnetite.1 Because magnetite exudes a force that draws other metals to it, the adjective “magnetic” is often used to describe an object to which others are attracted. A “magnet school,” for instance, is one designed to provide students with choices that match their interests and talents, thereby attracting them to the school’s particular curriculum.2 Studies indicate that students who attend magnet schools are more successful academically because the schools focus on those specialized areas of interest and provide incentives that appeal to students.
In a similar manner, the ANCC’s Magnet Hospital Program for Excellence in Nursing Services focuses on those aspects of nursing that attract men and women to the profession. (The ANCC is a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association [ANA], which is also based in Silver Spring.)
The Magnet program originated during a serious nursing shortage that occurred in the early 1980s. In 1983 researchers at the ANA’s American Academy of Nursing launched a study intended to discover why some hospitals did not seem affected by nursing workforce issues.3 The 41 hospitals involved in the study were alike in achieving low nursing vacancy and turnover rates, as well as reputations for high-quality patient care.4 The ANA coined the term Magnet Hospital to reflect the characteristics demonstrated by excellent standard hospitals.
In 1994, the ANCC formalized the Magnet designation process in an effort to recognize and promote the adoption of what it called “forces of magnetism” (see Box, p. 46). The organization’s researchers identified this strategy as a way to ameliorate the nation’s current nursing shortage.5
TOWARD THE MAGNET DESIGNATION
St. Joseph’s president/CEO, Peter Davis, and his senior leadership team decided in late 2002 to try to achieve Magnet status and authorized the necessary initial expenditures, including membership in the ANA’s National Database for Nursing Quality Indicators and associated membership fees.
To achieve Magnet status, a hospital must match the ANCC’s 14 “forces of magnetism” and their 24 characteristics. Accomplishing that goal involves the successful completion of two processes.
Telling the Hospital’s Story First, the hospital conducts a kind of inventory of its many services, celebrating those that already match the “forces of magnetism” and improving those that do not yet match them. Following that, a special editorial team documents the process by writing a report about each service and sending the document to the ANCC.
Hosting an Appraiser Team Visit The hospital is visited by a Magnet appraiser team, which interviews randomly selected patients and their significant others, staff nurses, charge nurses, supervisors, other health care professionals, vendors, and the hospital’s leadership team, as well as various community members (e.g., taxi drivers, hotel personnel) whom appraiser team members happen to encounter during their visit.
St. Joseph’s leaders and staff obviously had much to do if it was to win recognition as a Magnet Hospital.
THE “JOURNEY TO MAGNET”
The hospital’s leaders named the campaign “St. Joseph’s Journey to Magnet.” It began in January 2003 when four St. Joseph nurses (led by Pam Duchene, DNSc, RN, this article’s senior author) traveled to Houston to attend the ANCC’s annual Magnet Conference.
Station Break
Byline: Paul Farhi
Heard or seen something on the pop culture landscape thatappalled/delighted/enlightened you? Of course you have. That’s what Station Break with Paul Farhi is here for. Local stations, cable, radio shows, commercials, pop culture — they’re all fair game.
Farhi is a reporter in the Post’s Style section, writing about media and popular culture. He’s been watching TV and listening to the radiosince “The Monkees” were in first run and Adam West was a star. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Los Angeles, Farhi had brief stints in the movie business (as an usher at the Picwood Theater), and in the auto industry (rental-car lot guy) before devoting himself fulltime to word processing. His car has 15 radio pre-sets and his cable system has 75 channels. He vows to use all of them for good instead of evil.
Paul Farhi: Greetings, all, and welcome back…Well, first, a moment of silence for three popcult icons who went to TV Land in the Sky over the past three days: Dennis “McCloud” Weaver, Darren “Night Stalker” McGavin, and Don “Barney Fife/Ralph Furley/Mr. Limpet” Knotts. The rule of three is sadly confirmed…Well, enough of that. As Bill O’Reilly would put it, what say you?
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D.C.: Were WHUR’s morning show ratings that bad to warrant this switch? I enjoyed Tony, TC and George on my drive in to work. Now we’re stuck with another syndicated radio show with no connection to our local area. Michael Basden on WHUR was bad enough adding Steve Harvey to that mix is extremely disappointing. They may as well syndicate the whole station at this point.
Paul Farhi: No, in fact, WHUR has been a powerhouse, usually finishing in the top six or so stations book after ratings book. The station hasn’t been very forthcoming about explaining themselves (I called Friday and got no-commented) but let me venture a guess: It costs less to run a syndicated show (Steve Harvey’s in this case) than to do an all-local one.
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Car ads: Paul, why do car dealers think that they are great TV pitchmen? Insurance agents at least have the decency to just smile and mouth a few platitudes, but car dealers have to jump around and wave their arms and make fools of themselves. Why? And who’s the lucky guy with the TV production studio who gets to film these yokels?
Paul Farhi: There’s a rule among ad agencies: You’ll never lose the account if you put the client in the ads. To their defense, car dealers are small local businesses, with the owner’s name usually on the door. So it makes some sense to have him or her in the commercials. But the form could use a little shaking up. No, a lot of shaking up…
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Washington, D.C.: The other week during the Wizards game Dave Johnson was doing the play-by-play on WTEM. A ball went out of bounds and one of the Wizards chased it out into the stands. In the process, the player knocked over one of the servers. Dave Johnson reported, “Oh! And he ran into the server who was in the process of serviceng the guys on the front row.”
Doesn’t that cross some sort of FCC boundary?
Paul Farhi: If someone complains, the FCC’s indecency cops will look into it. That’s a no-no…
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Centreville, Va.: Hi Paul,
Wondering what your thoughts are on all of the Katie Couric hype. She has more credentials than Vargas at ABC and I think she could do well at CBS if she makes the move.
Do you think she’ll leave NBC in May? Do you think she’d be a good fit on the ‘CBS Evening News’?
Paul Farhi: Katie’s been very coy about her plans, so it would not surprise me if she jumped after her contract runs out. But NBC will do everything to keep her (short of bumping Brian Williams off Nightly News…okay, maybe that, too), just as it did everything to keep her in her last contract go-round. And I could easily see her doing the CBS News. The Cronkite “voice of God” news anchor era is long gone.
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Dover, Del.: Where would you rank Barney Fife among the great television characters? T.V. Guide put him second, behind Taxi’s Louie DePalma. But while Louie was a classic, unique bundle of creepy evilness … I’d give hte nod to Fife because of that cahracter’s ability to permeate our popular culture.
What say you?
washingtonpost.com: Comedy’s Perfect Fife (Pst, Feb. 27)
Paul Farhi: Barney is up there, yes. No. 2? I dunno. Let’s rattle off the personal short list (in no particular order): Archie Bunker, Homer Simpson, Kramer, Bill Cosby, Lucy Ricardo. That’s just riffing. Anyone could come up with 100 names without trying.
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Orono, Maine: Given the continued losses that Sirius and XM Sattelite Radio are experiencing, is it likely that they will raise their subscription rates in the near future? I have subscriptions to both … and at $12.95 or so, it seems like a bargain. But it wouldn’t surprise me if they hike those rates significantly if their financial woes continue.
Taxi company liable for driver’s negligence even though driver was off-duty
Cleaves v. Checker Cab Transit Corp., - S.W3d _, No. M1997-00183-SC-Rll-CV, 2000 WL 198968 (Tenn. Feb. 22,2000).
The Tennessee Supreme Court held that a taxicab company can be sued for personal injuries resulting from an off-duty taxi driver’s negligence.
Here, an off-duty taxi driver became involved in a highspeed pursuit with police. During the chase, the driver collided with Gleaves’s vehicle. Gleaves suffered personal injuries. He sued the taxi company and others, alleging, among other claims, that under Tenn. Code 6.72.210, defendant was liable for its driver’s actions. A jury found for plaintiff. The appellate court reversed the judgment.
Reversing, the state high court noted that the city and county closely regulate the taxicab business. To operate a taxi service within the county, the court explained, the company must file a liability insurance agreement for each taxi operated under its name. This agreement puts any vehicle operated under the company’s name under the company’s complete possession and control and the company must assume complete liability for that vehicle. Consequently, a taxi company is liable for any personal injuries or property damage to third parties resulting from the negligent use of taxis operated under its name.
The court rejected defendant’s argument that it is only liable for the negligence of its taxi drivers when they are on-duty-that is, actively seeking or transporting passengers and operating their taxis under defendant’s franchise. The language of the ordinance is “plain, clear, and unambiguous,” the court said. It imposes complete liability for each vehicle for which a taxi company enters into a liability insurance agreement. The court also noted that the ordinance itself does not distinguish between cases when a driver is on-duty or off-duty. To read the ordinance as distinguishing between these two, the court reasoned, would improperly dilute its language and unduly restrict its intended scope.
Moreover, the court explained that the ordinance does not limit the definition of taxi to a vehicle that is seeking passengers or always carrying passengers for hire. Rather, the vehicle is considered a taxi if it is “regularly engaged” in transporting passengers for hire, regardless of its activities at a given moment. Therefore, the court concluded, the ordinance suggests that the city and county intended to make taxi companies liable for their drivers’ negligence, regardless of whether they are on-duty or off-duty at the time.
Fewer drivers, tourists tax taxi industry in New Orleans
The New Orleans taxicab industry has been bottlenecked since Hurricane Katrina by a monumental loss of drivers and tourists and a service evolution changing the industry’s protocol.The industry is slowly coming back but it is in disarray, said Jesse Bridges, administrator with the city of New Orleans Taxi Cab Bureau. Of the 1,608 cab drivers in New Orleans pre-Katrina, only about 230 drivers have returned, Bridges said.The major problem is there is no housing available for drivers, said Bridges. But the other problem is the industry has changed and most business is via (two-way) radio. A lot of (companies) and independent drivers don’t have radios.Bridges said many drivers didn’t rely on radios pre-Katrina because they picked up most passengers by circling hotels and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport or by picking up pedestrians who hailed them. With fewer tourists, residents, flights and conventions, drivers today without two-way radios find it difficult to do business.The New Orleans City Council passed an ordinance Nov. 3 requiring all cabs to have functioning two-way radios. With resources depleted and drivers required to pay their insurance premiums and higher fuel prices, Bridges said many drivers can’t afford to remain in the industry.(Drivers) have to pay for insurance and gas and many drivers are not able to support their family, said Bridges. The cab workers have gotten salary jobs or jobs with FEMA and are making more money.Absent driversGene Alleman, general manager of White Fleet-Rollins Cab Co. and a 23-year industry veteran, is one of the taxi-industry employees who have returned to the city to work. Alleman said many drivers evacuated in their taxis and never returned.We were the first company to return to the city 12 weeks after the storm but there just still aren’t enough drivers for the calls all over the city, said Alleman. Alleman said the call volume is relatively high considering there are fewer people so demand for service exists. But the industry is stalled by its few drivers. Those lacking dispatch radios have a big handicap, he said.It should have been a non-issue because the city never should have let (drivers) take the radios out (of their cars), Alleman said. Right now, only United Cabs and White Fleet Cab Co. contain (two-way) radios in the vehicles.Alleman said White Fleet and Yellow Cab in New Orleans have combined their dispatch service because both have damaged facilities. Dispatchers take calls from their homes or remotely and send the drivers on routes. Alleman said the two companies have provided better service by joining forces.United Cabs President Patrick Murphy said business is down but the number of calls are decent considering the devastation of Katrina.We received about 3,000 calls a day before the storm and now we’re getting about 2,000 a day, Murphy said.Most cab clientele consists of commuters and residents traveling to devastated neighborhoods to see their property, Alleman said. Insurance issuesAuto insurance is also a concern for Bridges of the Taxi Cab Bureau.On Dec. 31, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco’s executive order prohibiting insurance carriers from canceling or not renewing coverage for three months expired. Initially, the order applied to a seven-parish area and was later pared down to Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes. J.E. Brignac, CEO of Imperial Fire and Casualty Insurance, which insures the vast majority of New Orleans cab drivers, said taxi drivers have until Jan. 15 to make a payment on their premiums before cancellation. Although premiums have accumulated for almost four months, we went in for the most part and have given concessions and waived some premiums to do our part to help provide coverage for these drivers, Brignac said.Brignac said his office sent between 600 and 700 cancellation notices to drivers Jan. 4 and there are many more he could not reach. Brignac said he is obligated to notify the regulatory New Orleans Taxi Cab Bureau of the canceled policies.Alleman said he is concerned about city maintenance of driver insurance coverage. We used to have inspections every six months and we hadn’t had one (since the storm), said Alleman. We don’t even know how many guys are out there running with no insurance.Because the post-Katrina tourism industry is unpredictable, Murphy and Alleman say cabbies will only slowly return. Alleman plans for heavy recruitment at regional job fairs. He said the need for cabs is imperative. The mayor said he wants people to come back to New Orleans but transportation is limited - there are no streetcars, buses are limited and cars were flooded, said Alleman. The city has to do something to bring these guys back to help with transportation because this is a service the city really needs.
Taxi industry decimated in New Orleans
The New Orleans taxicab industry been bottlenecked since Hurricane Katrina by a monumental loss of drivers and tourists and a service evolution changing the industry’s protocol.The industry is slowly coming back but it is in disarray, said Jesse Bridges, administrator with the city of New Orleans Taxi Cab Bureau. Of the 1,608 cab drivers in New Orleans pre-Katrina, only about 230 drivers have returned, Bridges said.The major problem is there is no housing available for drivers, said Bridges. But the other problem is the industry has changed and most business is via (two-way) radio. A lot of services and independent drivers don’t have radios.Bridges said many drivers didn’t rely on radios pre-Katrina because they picked up most passengers by circling hotels and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport or by picking up pedestrians who hailed them. With fewer tourists, residents, flights and conventions, drivers today without two-way radios find it difficult to do business.The New Orleans City Council passed an ordinance Nov. 3 requiring all cabs to have functioning two-way radios. With resources depleted and drivers required to pay more for insurance premiums and fuel, Bridges said many drivers can’t afford to remain in the industry.(Drivers) have to pay for insurance and gas, and many drivers are not able to support their family, said Bridges. The cab workers have gotten salary jobs or jobs with FEMA and are making more money.Absent driversGene Alleman, general manager of White Fleet-Rollins Cab Co. and a 23-year industry veteran, is one of the taxi-industry employees who have returned to the city to work. Alleman said many drivers evacuated in their taxis and never returned.We were the first company to return to the city 12 weeks after the storm but there just still aren’t enough drivers for the calls all over the city, said Alleman. Alleman said the call volume is relatively high considering there are fewer people so demand for service exists. But the industry is stalled by its few drivers. Those lacking dispatch radios have a big handicap, he said.It should have been a non-issue because the city never should have let (drivers) take the radios out (of their cars), Alleman said. It makes no sense to have a cab and not have a radio. Right now, only United Cabs and White Fleet Cab Co. contain (two-way) radios in the vehicles.Alleman said White Fleet and Yellow Cab in New Orleans have combined their dispatch service because both have damaged facilities. Dispatchers take calls from their homes or remotely and send the drivers on routes. Alleman said the two companies have provide better service by joining forces.It’s worked out good because it’s given (both companies) more drivers, said Alleman.United Cabs President Patrick Murphy said business is down but the number of calls are decent considering the devastation of Katrina.We received about 3,000 calls a day before the storm and now we’re getting about 2,000 a day. (The industry) has been kind of a mess and we’re just trying to hang on, Murphy said.Most cab clientele consists of commuters and residents traveling to devastated neighborhoods to see their property, Alleman said. Insurance issuesAuto insurance is also a concern for Bridges of the Taxi Cab Bureau.On Dec. 31, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco’s executive order prohibiting insurance carriers from canceling or not renewing coverage for three months expired. Initially, the order applied to a seven-parish area and was later pared down to Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes. J.E. Brignac, CEO of Imperial Fire and Casualty Insurance, which insures the vast majority of New Orleans cab drivers, said taxi drivers have until Jan. 15 to make a payment on their premiums before cancellation. Although premiums have accumulated for almost four months, we went in for the most part and have given concessions and waived some premiums to do our part to help provide coverage for these drivers, Brignac said.Brignac said his office sent between 600 and 700 cancellation notices to drivers Jan. 4 and there are many more he could not reach. Brignac said he is obligated to notify the regulatory New Orleans Taxi Cab Bureau of the canceled policies.Alleman said he is concerned about city maintenance of driver insurance coverage. We used to have inspections every six months and we hadn’t had one (since the storm), said Alleman. We don’t even know how many guys are out there running with no insurance. I think the city needs to certify every driver that comes back into the city.Because the post-Katrina tourism industry is unpredictable, Murphy and Alleman say cabbies will only slowly return. Alleman plans heavy recruitment plan at regional job fairs. He said the need for cabs is imperative. The mayor said he wants people to come back to New Orleans but transportation is limited - there are no streetcars, buses are limited and cars were flooded, said Alleman. The city has to do something to bring these guys back to help with transportation because this is a service the city really needs.