Taxi insurance code revised

FREEHOLD — Passengers who ride in taxis in Freehold Borough may not be covered under the vehicle’s insurance policy in all cases.

Depending on where a customer is being transported, the insurance coverage for an injury sustained by a passenger in the event of an accident may revert to that individual’s personal insurance policy. If the passenger is uninsured, he could be personally liable for his injuries.

Taxi owners in the borough are required to have insurance coverage on their vehicles, but there may be a limited geographic area where the owner’s insurance policy is in force, according to borough officials.

At the present time, taxi owners are able to join a risk retention insurance group that limits their liability to a specific geographic area in cases of a motor vehicle accident.

The Borough Council recently adopted an ordinance that sought to do away with the risk retention group insurance and make the taxi owners liable for injuries sustained by their passengers regardless of where that injury occurred.

However, the council members were subsequently advised by Borough Attorney Kerry Higgins that they could not make that change and must permit the taxi owners to carry risk retention group insurance.

Mayor Michael Wilson said Higgins found several court cases in which it had been determined that municipalities are not allowed to ban taxi drivers from purchasing insurance from a risk retention group.