LettersHelping Hong Kong taxi owners who stood to lose their insurance sends wrong message

Readers discuss the government’s decision to seize control of the city’s largest taxi insurer after it cancelled thousands of policies, and the need for tougher handling of drivers who injure pedestrians

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Around 11,000 taxi owners were due to lose their coverage this month until four insurers stepped in. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Published: 7:00am, 18 Jan 2022

When the largest insurer of taxis in Hong Kong decided enough was enough and cancelled the coverage of thousands of taxi owners, it seemed that road safety was at last being taken seriously. That is, until the Hong Kong Insurance Authority stepped in and seized control of the insurance company.

The city has been seeing a large number of accidents involving taxis, and taxi insurers have recorded heavy underwriting losses in recent years.

Why seize the insurance company rather than the taxis? Surely the safest option would be to take taxis off the road until sufficient measures are in place to reduce the number of taxi-related accidents, injuries and deaths.

In 2019, I wrote in these columns that taxi owners should similarly be held accountable for the conduct of their drivers. I provided a whole raft of measures that could improve taxi safety, but alas, there has been little improvement.

Now we have an insurance company bravely taking action against taxi owners, and the government decides to direct its ire towards the company, even encouraging other insurers to take up these loss-making policies, while nothing is said or done about the safety standards of taxi drivers. There really is no logic.

By contrast, I recently took my first Uber and the experience was fantastic: polite driver, spotless cabin, smooth driving, correct use of indicators and during a 22km journey the driver only once went above the speed limit (56km per hour in a 50km zone). After the journey, I gave the driver a rating of 87 out of 100 for his driving manner. I have yet to give a taxi driver a mark anywhere near that.

In the end, no matter which service provider you go with, it all comes down to the attitude of the driver. Then again, why not remove all taxis and legalise Uber? The roads would be safer and all our insurance policies would no doubt be much cheaper.