Samantha Malone
In a fit of panic after causing an accident, a cab driver sped away from the scene hitting another car and causing a second crash, leading to a total of four cars being involved in the accident.
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Kris Sahoo, the 52-year-old cab driver, hit a Toyota Corolla that was stopped in traffic around 10:10 p.m. in the 300 block of North State Street, according to the Chicago Tribune. The 37-year-old driver of the Corolla was uninjured, but Sahoo sped away from the crash almost immediately.
Related: Rideshare tax rising in Chicago and expected to rise again in near future
Driving north on State Street, Sahoo then crashed into a second vehicle, a Toyota Camry taxi, about three blocks away from State and Grand Avenue, according to police. The hit caused the driver of the Camry to swerve his vehicle into a Lexus SUV, breaking his arm in the crash.
Sahoo and the driver of the Lexus suffered bruising and all three were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in good condition. As a result of the accidents, Sahoo is cited for leaving the scene of an accident, following too closely and failure to reduce speed.
A passerby told the Chicago Tribune that the accidents made it sound “like a bomb went off,” with debris haphazardly lying about the intersection near the Grand Red Line stops.
Related: Cab drivers are losing money to ride share apps so will they stay around much longer?
Sahoo’s actions may not be directly related to the taxi industry of Chicago, but it seems the industry just keeps taking hits as it slowly falls toward an inevitable extinction. Long gone are the days of taxis crowding the streets of the Windy City as rideshare companies replace the familiar black and yellow cars speeding along, according to USA Today.
With a new tax being implemented on rideshare experiences, there is no sign the decrease in the cab business will slow down as 42% of Chicago’s taxi fleet was not operating in the month of March, according to a study released by the Chicago cab drivers union. The new tax on rideshare companies may even up the cost playing field between themselves and taxis, but cabbies still don’t seem to have much of a chance going forward.
