The crimes are egregious and indisputable. But the question remains, is Uber directly responsible for them? Its terms of service warns riders, “You expressly waive and release the company from any and all any liability… arising from or in any way related to the third party transportation provider.” That caveat hasn’t stopped victims from issuing lawsuits and entire countries banning the app entirely; however, the argument that the business has no connection with its employees’ abuses appears patently disingenuous.
December 11, 2014
"Uber is growing so fast that safe hiring procedures can’t keep up with demand—so any and all potential drivers are recruited, even the creeps."
"In cities across the world, drivers have sexually harassed and even raped victims, as well as hit and killed children."
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The war on Uber continues.
I don't know if Uber is responsible or not, but the closest I ever came to thinking I was about to be raped and murdered was in a registered, licensed cab.
Shorter opening paragraphs: "Uber wildly popular. Customers fearful and appalled."
Great. Just when I finally have my white van all ready to give High-School Cheerleaders Uber-rides.
I am Laslo.
In cities across the world, drivers have sexually harassed and even raped victims, as well as hit and killed children.
And none of this ever occurs when Cabbies drive Taxis?
At least Uber doesn't have this on its resume:
"Trial for cab driver accused of shooting Alexandria police officer begins Monday"
How long before the first Uber driver is pulled from his car by a cop and choked to death for the crime of engaging in unfair competition?
Yesterday, on NPR, someone did a story on Uber, and I misheard it as Gruber (as in Jonathan). That seemed to be the big story lately. It took a minute before I realized that they were talking about evil cars, not evil economists.
The Laslo Driving Service. I choose the passengers; I pick the destination. The ride, as always, is free of charge. My tip is already included in service.
I am Laslo.
To access the Laslo Driving Service simply be a young woman standing alone on a dark lonely corner. You may get lucky.
I am Laslo.
Uber is growing so fast that safe hiring procedures can’t keep up with demand...
...the argument that the business has no connection with its employees’ abuses...
Does Uber hire its drivers? Are they actually employees?
Think of the restraining device in the back of the van as an extra-super-safe seat-belt. Plus the duct tape. Of course.
I am Laslo.
Yes, I am driving the van naked, why do you ask?
I am Laslo.
Because licensed taxi drivers have never committed crimes.
Pure as the wind-driven snow are those "legitimate" taxi drivers.
KNow, I'm not fond of Uber (they hired a massive Obama flack as one of their major flacks" but the media carrying the water for bloated and old taxi drivers is kinda funny.
...you know, since the media is also bloated and getting slaughtered by other media...
UBER drivers are not employed by UBER. They are independent contractors. If they want to take a fare they take one. If the fare is in a place they don't want to pick someone up they don't. They can work a little , none, or a lot.
UBER drivers are rated by their riders after every ride. Too many low ratings and the driver is kicked off the system. UBER riders are rated by the drivers so if they are jackasses over and over they will never get a response from a driver or will be booted off the system.
So, something that works this well and is so happily received by the market must be stopped by the authorities.
I use the service all the time. A lot. I have never had a bad experience, I have never been in a rattle trap of a car. The drivers have always been well groomed, polite and quiet unless I wanted to talk. When I exit the car I receive an email receipt immediately. I do not have to calculate a tip or fumble for change or wait for change from the driver. I get out and am on my way.
There is absolutely nothing not to like about the service. There are those who whine about their pricing during peak periods or snow or rain events. There is nothing to stop those people from standing in the rain or snow and hailing a cab. If there is one.
Fear dehydrates the skin. I will apply some lotion for you at the next Rest Stop.
No need to thank me, just remember the kindness when you fill out the Comments Card at the end of the ride. I have a large collection of Comments Cards, I read them over and over, sometimes. Memories.
I am Laslo.
Fair and balanced reporting would include statistics on licensed cab infractions.
See? Here is the Comment Card from my last passenger:
"Please let me go! I promise I won't tell anyone about this, I swear!"
The handwriting is hard to read because it was written in the dark.
I am Laslo.
I will add that the Daily Beast article, although stupid on stilts, is outdone in the comments section by its readership who seem to be taxi drivers. They appear to think that the Uber business model is to provide cheaper rides than taxis. Wrong. Uber is always more expensive than a taxi.
The appeal of Uber is that the cars are not pieces of shit. They are clean and they are given an inspection on every ride by riders who rate the car/driver. Too many low ratings and they are gone from the system. This kind of immediate feedback from the consumer is not something that the left is happy with and is a system that would put every cab out of business in very short order.
Cabs. Yuck
Michael- UberX is not always more expensive than a taxi.
Independent Contractors are not employees. But that is a hard concept for the writer of a slander hit piece.
Even if they are deemed employees, the employer is not responsible for an employee's intentional criminal acts, unless the employer had notice that the employee committed them in the past.
I use the service all the time. A lot. I have never had a bad experience, I have never been in a rattle trap of a car. The drivers have always been well groomed, polite and quiet unless I wanted to talk. When I exit the car I receive an email receipt immediately. I do not have to calculate a tip or fumble for change or wait for change from the driver. I get out and am on my way.
My experiences exactly. Used in Boston, New York, and Columbus, OH.
I think the missing link in all these stories is what regulated cabs are like. Is Uber perfect? Absolutely not. The relevant question is just whether it's safer, more reliable, and more convenient than regulated cabs. And the answer there, in almost every market, is yes. It certainly is in DC (where, to be fair, cabs and cab drivers are exceptionally bad), but I think it's true pretty much everywhere else.
The regulation for cabs isn't nothing. It makes them marginally safer than hitchhiking with random strangers, for example. But that's an extremely low bar. And on that front, when compared with Uber or Lyft, cabs are basically anonymous. As a consumer, you have no idea whether the cabbie is legit or not, there's no evidence trail linking you and the potential cab driver so if he decides to murder you and dump your body, there's nothing to link him directly to your corpse, and there's usually no GPS trail (or the GPS is "broken") to allow the police to track the cabbie when they're searching for your corpse. When using a service like Uber or Lyft, the fact that there's a direct evidentiary trail linking the driver directly to his customer (you), a system that allows you to verify the driver (photo + license plate) before ever getting in the car, and that tracks and records the entire trip on GPS (the path driven shows up on the receipt) provides a lot more assurance than up-front background checks. Sure it's possible that someone could be a total maniac and decide to attack his customers anyway despite knowing that there's a lot of low-hanging evidentiary fruit tying him directly to the crime, but that requires a man stupider than the average criminal, or a man with absolutely no impulse control whatsoever.
What crimes have normal cabbies committed? I knew a girl who refused to take cabs alone after a certain hour for a lot of the same reasons here.
And look: here is another Comment Card from one of my passengers:
"I'm sorry Aunt Joni that the last time we talked was an argument. You have always been special to me."
Sometimes it takes a special ride for someone to realize that every moment is precious. I am all about making precious moments: at the Laslo Driving Service it is what I do.
I am Laslo.
I will just note that the Venn diagram of the population of people who think we should be forced into gov't regulated healthcare is entirely within the population of people who support an unregulated and uninsured cab system.
I think you can take either position but not both.
_XC
I will just note that the Venn diagram of the population of people who think we should be forced into gov't regulated healthcare is entirely within the population of people who support an unregulated and uninsured cab system.
I think you can take either position but not both.
_XC
The idea of cabs in general scares the heck out of me. This is easy for me to say, given that I live in an area where they are almost never necessary, but I'm always sort of amazed that people (both drivers and riders) are willing to get into a car alone with a perfect stranger.
Balfegor, I didn't know about the GPS thing with Uber. That's neat.
Also re: Michael -- in DC at least, UberX is pretty much always cheaper than a taxi. And of course, the cars are, as you say, a lot nicer and better maintained than the cabs, which I assume are just kept up to the regulatory minimum and hence are utter crap (it might also be the cab companies know when inspections are and only get tune-ups immediately in advance of inspections).
That's DC cabs -- DC cabs are appalling and horrible. I will say that some Virginia cab companies, Red Top Cab to name one, actually had decent drivers (unlike DC cabs) in passable cars (unlike DC cabs) and would actually show up when you called for a cab (again, so, so unlike DC cabs). So it's not like all cab companies are scum who deserve to have their businesses crushed. Within their regulatory straightjacket, some actually did a decent job.
UberX is still better, though.
Please note that I take extra precautions when cleaning the van between rides. In fact, when you get in the van it will be so clean that there isn't even a hair sample or DNA trace left over from the previous passenger. You will never have a cleaner ride again: that is my promise to you.
I am Laslo.
Re: Matthew Sablan:
What crimes have normal cabbies committed? I knew a girl who refused to take cabs alone after a certain hour for a lot of the same reasons here.
Mostly it's just assault. It's worth noting that in the linked story there, it wasn't a single bad apple driver who assaulted a bunch of women -- it was apparently seven different cabbies who were assaulting female passengers all around the same time in unrelated incidents.
Occasionally cabbies murder and kidnap people, but that's much more rare.
I've been hearing Uber recruitment ads on the local sports talk station. My first reaction was surprise -- I didn't realize Uber was growing so fast. I then found it interesting that the ad was pitched to professional drivers -- people currently working as cab drivers, bus drivers, delivery drivers -- who wanted good pay and control over their hours.
FUD from the The Daily Beast??
I'm guessing they just took a press release from the local cab company, and ran with it.
entirely within the population of people who support an unregulated and uninsured cab system.
I think you can take either position but not both.
Are you saying the current Taxi system is unregulated? or Uber?
I think you can make a consistent diagram if you consider that Leftists want Gov Reg of both HC and Cabs. Leftists love regulatory capture. all the better for graft...
but the media carrying the water for bloated and old taxi drivers is kinda funny.
Second that, but then again I thought them vigorously defending a business overcharging it's customers was funny too. What do I know.
What do cab companies do to screen their drivers?
And why do leftists love cab companies so much?
Well, according to Wendy Davis and the Texas Democratic Party, yes, Uber is.
Keep in mind, that even with a medallion cab, the driver behind the wheel may not even be the registered owner of the cab.
Medallions for cabs are so expensive these days and so tightly restricted that it ony makes fiscal sense to keep the car in play 24/7. So for most of the day the driver in the car is not the registered cabbie.
"Keep in mind, that even with a medallion cab, the driver behind the wheel may not even be the registered owner of the cab."
I have read that these days it is unlikely that cab driver actually owns the cab. Cab drivers work for companies who actually own the medallion and the cab.
I was wrong about Uber X. They are sometimes cheaper than cabs but always, always, better.
On a couple of occasions an UberX has been better than the regular Uber I took on the ride before. I am not 100% on where the cut-off is in car size.
I was in a nice beemer the other day with a black lady driver. She worked for an airline and supplemented her income by driving. Fast. she was a lightening fast driver.
A NYC medallion costs just shy of a million dollars these days.
How many people here think the people who typically drive those cabs have the resources to pony up that kind of money?
(I was recently in a cab with an old Jamaican cabbie who did own his medallion. He was cackling about a friend who sold two of them ten years ago. Kind of a fun conversation.)
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