NY Taxi Workers Alliance shedding light on disturbing suicide trend among cabbies
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The New York Taxi Workers Alliance is shedding light on a disturbing spate of suicides among cab drivers.
The most recent suicide is Abdul Saleh, who hanged himself in his rented room in Brooklyn on Friday after running out of money to lease a vehicle.
The union representing cabbies says the Yemeni immigrant is the sixth driver to kill himself in the past six months after running out of money.
Saleh was short by three hundred dollars and was working 12-hour night shifts.
Drivers who lease the yellow cabs are now competing with growing numbers of car services such as Uber and Lyft.
A Taxi and Limousine Commission spokesman says news of another cabbie suicide is heartbreaking. It is urging any drivers dealing with hardships to reach out the TLC's Driver Protection Unit at 718-391-5539 for assistance in finding financial counseling or 1-888-NYC-WELL for free, confidential mental health support in more than 200 languages.
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