RedEye, Chicago, Rianne Coale column

Sept. 06--Have you ever wondered what happens if your rideshare or taxi driver gets into an accident? With the excessive amount of Ubers, Lyfts and cabs on Chicago roadways, fender benders are bound to happen.

And anyone who has clenched the side of a cab while their driver sped down Lake Shore Drive or felt bewildered at a rideshare driver's total lack of navigation skills will likely have entertained that question at one time or another.

But exactly how many traffic accidents involving a rideshare vehicle or taxi happened in Chicago last year? Well, that remains to be seen. It appears that data is hard to come by. Believe me, I tried hunting it down.

You can (absolutely not) rest easy knowing that if you're in an accident while in a rideshare vehicle or taxi, it's probably not noted as such. At least, not in an official sense.

"There is no check box designating rideshare vehicles or taxicabs on the traffic crash report," said Chicago Police officer and spokesman Jose Estrada.

Estrada said the distinction that a vehicle involved a traffic accident is a rideshare or taxi likely would be documented in the narrative or license plate portion of the report. And while there is a check box for "commercial vehicle" on the crash report, it's meant to designate shuttle buses, charter buses or large vans used to transport large numbers of people. Taxis and rideshare vehicles wouldn't fall under that category.

"Taxicabs are easier to identify and document on the traffic crash report because of their specially issued Illinois license plates and medallion numbers," Estrada said. "For Uber or Lyft, there is no designation because they are regular vehicles with no special municipal or state licensing. It may be designated as an Uber or Lyft if the reporting officer writes that in the narrative portion, but that's left up to discretion of the officer."

Because of this lack of a check box, Estrada said that without going back and reviewing every report, there is no way to generate the metrics I requested.

Luckily, every crash report issued by the police is also sent to the Illinois Department of Transportation. While the organization does not track crash data for rideshare services, it does collect data on the number of taxis involved in accidents.

In 2014, there were 4,129 crashes involving taxis in Chicago, according to the data provided by IDOT, 830 of which resulted in injury. Three of those accidents were fatal.

I also reached out to Uber and Lyft, hoping they could give me at least a ballpark accident figure. But they were not forthcoming with that information, if they track it at all.

I did discover that both companies offer insurance for their drivers using the platform. The insurance provided and amount of coverage varies depending on which stage of a ride the driver is in.

Both rideshare services offer an insurance policy with $1 million worth of coverage per incident starting the moment a driver accepts a trip to its conclusion.

"What I can tell you is that the safety of our community is our top priority," Lyft spokeswoman Alexandra LaManna wrote in an email. "We encourage drivers and passengers to report accidents or safety-related incidents to Lyft so that we can respond appropriately, for example by reaching out to all parties to offer support or by assisting law enforcement."

Uber and Lyft have customer support teams available in the event that you're involved in an accident while using the service and encourage you to use them.

"Riders rate their driver and vice versa, and can provide feedback to Uber, including if they were involved in an accident," Uber spokeswoman Kayla Whaling wrote in an email. "Our customer support staff are ready to respond 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

Maybe it's just me, but it seems bizarre that with the large number of Chicagoans who use these modes of transportation, little to no accident data is readily available--even just for safety's sake.

@RianneCoale -- rcoale@redeyechicago.com

The Transit Diaries runs in RedEye's print edition every Tuesday on Page 4. If you have a story you'd like to share, email us at redeye@redeyechicago.com with "Transit Diaries" in the subject line.

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