Trixi.com
30-03-2005, 16:12
Suit settlement sends pedicabs to the curb
DAILY NEWS
A $1.9 million settlement in a pedicab accident case has put the brakes on the city's largest fleet of the vehicles.
"I'm the godfather of pedicabs and now I'm out of business because of this incident," a glum George Bliss, the owner of Pedicabs of New York, said yesterday.
Bliss' 32 bicycle taxis are parked in a SoHo lot because he was dropped by his insurance carrier after a recent settlement - even though it had to pick up only $150,000 of the tab. Now, only Lloyd's of London will offer coverage, and Bliss said he cannot afford the $25,000-per-claimant deductible Lloyd's is demanding.
In the accident that led to the lawsuit, a couple's pedicab was struck by a private bus at 59th St. and Fifth Ave. on Dec. 19, 2001, according to court papers.
Dr. Jerome Perlmutter, a dentist from Fort Pierce, Fla., suffered a serious shoulder injury, and his wife, Kathleen, sustained back injuries. The bus company put up $1.75 million and the pedicab's insurance carrier $150,000.
Lawyer Sanford Rubenstein, who represented the Perlmutters, said his clients were lucky to be riding in an insured pedicab.
"There is no requirement of insurance on this vehicle for hire," Rubenstein said. "It seems to me there should be legislation to require mandatory insurance because this is a vehicle that operates on the roadways in the city."
Bliss estimated that only half of the roughly 200 pedicabs in New York City have insurance coverage. Department of Consumer Affairs Commissioner Gretchen Dykstra acknowledged that "pedicabs seem to be everywhere" and her agency is exploring the possibility of licensing them and studying what other cities have done. Bliss said regulations would spur more insurance companies to offer coverage if all pedicab operators were required to purchase insurance.
Originally published on March 30, 2005
DAILY NEWS
A $1.9 million settlement in a pedicab accident case has put the brakes on the city's largest fleet of the vehicles.
"I'm the godfather of pedicabs and now I'm out of business because of this incident," a glum George Bliss, the owner of Pedicabs of New York, said yesterday.
Bliss' 32 bicycle taxis are parked in a SoHo lot because he was dropped by his insurance carrier after a recent settlement - even though it had to pick up only $150,000 of the tab. Now, only Lloyd's of London will offer coverage, and Bliss said he cannot afford the $25,000-per-claimant deductible Lloyd's is demanding.
In the accident that led to the lawsuit, a couple's pedicab was struck by a private bus at 59th St. and Fifth Ave. on Dec. 19, 2001, according to court papers.
Dr. Jerome Perlmutter, a dentist from Fort Pierce, Fla., suffered a serious shoulder injury, and his wife, Kathleen, sustained back injuries. The bus company put up $1.75 million and the pedicab's insurance carrier $150,000.
Lawyer Sanford Rubenstein, who represented the Perlmutters, said his clients were lucky to be riding in an insured pedicab.
"There is no requirement of insurance on this vehicle for hire," Rubenstein said. "It seems to me there should be legislation to require mandatory insurance because this is a vehicle that operates on the roadways in the city."
Bliss estimated that only half of the roughly 200 pedicabs in New York City have insurance coverage. Department of Consumer Affairs Commissioner Gretchen Dykstra acknowledged that "pedicabs seem to be everywhere" and her agency is exploring the possibility of licensing them and studying what other cities have done. Bliss said regulations would spur more insurance companies to offer coverage if all pedicab operators were required to purchase insurance.
Originally published on March 30, 2005