Taxicab accidents are a common occurrence in New York City, This revie
w was undertaken to characterize the nature of craniofacial injuries t
hat result from taxicab accidents, Data were collected on 16 patients
who required admission to trauma or plastic and reconstructive surgery
services, after sustaining craniofacial injury as a result of a taxic
ab accident, Front-end deceleration collisions were the most common me
chanism of injury, Fifty-six percent of the patients were thrown again
st the bulletproof, Plexiglas driver safety divider and sustained an i
njury most commonly to the anterior midface, Both bony and soft-tissue
injuries were common in the entire group, Complex facial fractures we
re sustained by 56% of patients, with nasal-septal fractures most comm
on, followed by naso-ethmoid-orbital, anterior frontal, anterior maxil
lary, and Le Fort I and II fractures, Only 1 patient in the group was
wearing a seat belt and that patient was a driver, Given the high inci
dence of craniofacial injury, appropriate safety standards for taxicab
s must be initiated, including the reevaluation of the utility of the
safety divider and mandatory seat belt use for rear-seat passengers.