Cabbies grieve over man's death
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Taxi drivers serving Seattle-Tacoma International Airport spent a busy New Year's Eve trying to come to grips with the death of a veteran driver in a head-on collision Friday night in South Seattle that also killed two women.
Gurdev Singh died at the scene and his passenger was seriously injured when the van he was driving collided with a pickup truck. Both occupants of the pickup truck, Kiersten Mattson, 25, of Seattle and Devin Briggs, 26, of Tacoma were killed.
Yesterday, drivers talked about the loss of Singh, a highly regarded driver, and the rare reminder of the danger they face. Drivers for STITA, the association that contracts to provide taxi service from the airport, said it was the first death of an on-duty driver in a crash that they could recall.
"He was a very hard-working person - he worked seven days a week, 12 hours," said Suriander Chohan, who drives with Farwest Taxi and roomed with Singh in New York before they came to Seattle in the early 1990s.
Singh, 35, who immigrated from India in 1988 and became a U.S. citizen, leaves behind his wife, also from India, a young daughter and an infant son, friends said.
Singh was part of a tight-knit Indian community that has come to make up nearly half of the 200 STITA drivers.
"A nice driver - he treated customers well," said Patricia Stephens, a driver and president of the STITA board of directors.
A memorial service is being planned for next weekend, Stephens said, and drivers hope to organize a procession of taxis to honor him. Drivers are talking about raising money to memorialize Singh and help his family.
"He made good money, but still we have to help them," Chohan said. "It's not a matter of money. It's a matter of respect."
Singh, who usually worked a 12-hour shift beginning at 6 p.m., had just picked up his passenger and was headed north on Marginal Way in South Seattle about 11:45 when the collision occurred. Seattle police have not released details of the crash.
Within minutes, more than a dozen taxi drivers were at the scene, but there was nothing they could do. Singh's passenger, a 40-year-old woman, was in serious condition last night at Harborview Medical Center.