Every morning, I wake up before the sun rises, grab a cup of coffee and start my work as an Uber driver in Upper Manhattan. Some days are good, like when I pick up a steady stream of riders, hit my bonus targets and take home enough money to cover rent, bills and maybe even put a little extra aside for my family’s future. Other days, after gas, maintenance and rising costs, I barely break even. And then there’s one massive expense that never stops climbing: insurance.
Right now, for-hire drivers like me are drowning in sky-high insurance costs, thanks to a broken system that forces us to carry way more coverage than drivers anywhere else in the state. While most for-hire drivers in New York State operate with a $50,000 Personal Injury Protection (PIP) requirement, drivers in the city are forced to carry $200,000 in coverage – four times as much. The result? Insurance costs that are screwing drivers, sometimes hitting as much as $12,000 a year.
I don’t need to tell you that times are tough for drivers. Expenses are up across the board. The money we make just doesn’t stretch as far as it used to, making it harder and harder for us to get ahead. And with the possible collapse of American Transit Insurance Company, the city’s largest insurer for taxis and Ubers, things could get even worse.
That’s why I support a bill that would reduce the insurance requirement for for-hire drivers in New York City to $50,000, bringing it in line with the rest of the state. This smart legislation from Council Member Carmen De La Rosa now has the backing of a majority of members on the City Council. Will it fix everything? No. But will it help drivers and customers save money? Absolutely. Every dollar we save on insurance is a dollar we can put toward our families, our vehicles or just making ends meet in one of the world’s most expensive cities.
Let’s be clear: reducing this insurance requirement doesn’t mean less protection for drivers or passengers. New York City for-hire drivers already have additional safeguards that other drivers don’t. We carry more liability insurance than other drivers on the road to ensure there is enough coverage for our passengers, third-parties and pedestrians, should we have a crash. The Black Car Fund provides benefits like medical coverage and wage replacement. Yellow cab drivers are covered by Workers’ Compensation. That extra $150,000 in mandated coverage isn’t making us any safer – it’s just making insurance companies richer and drivers poorer.
There’s also zero evidence that rides in New York City are any more dangerous than rides in Yonkers or Buffalo, let alone four times more dangerous – especially when our streets are so congested, we’re rarely moving at speeds faster than a snail’s pace. The current policy is not based in reality.
What’s worse is that this excessive insurance requirement has turned NYC into a hotspot for scammers. Fraudsters exploit the system by staging crashes and filing bogus claims against us because they know our higher coverage means bigger payouts compared to other vehicles on the road. That drives up costs for everyone. According to New York’s Department of Financial Services, three out of four insurance fraud reports last year were connected to these types of scams. Lowering the PIP requirement won’t just reduce our premiums – it will also take away an incentive for fraud, helping to stabilize the insurance market.
Some people might say, “Well, you knew the costs when you signed up.” But the truth is, they weren’t always this high. And they don’t have to be. The city has an opportunity to ease the burden on drivers without sacrificing safety. This bill is a step in the right direction, a chance to put money back in our pockets and create a fairer system for everyone.
When making ends meet gets harder by the day, every bit of relief counts. I’m not asking for a handout – just a fair shot at doing my job without being crushed by rising insurance costs. For-hire drivers keep New York moving, getting people to work, home safely and ensuring the city doesn’t grind to a halt. Let’s pass this legislation and give drivers a fighting chance – because without us, NYC can’t move forward.
Tiemoko Sidibe is a for-hire vehicle driver, based in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx.
