Taxi Driver Online

10 reasons to be scared of Uber


Despite storied success, lately Uber has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Its apparently sub-par vetting system, its hands-off approach to drivers, and its refusal to accept any liability for what is done under its name are certainly risks you sign up for when you use Uber. And some users have found themselves in said risky situations.

1) Daveea Whitmire, a San Francisco Uber driver allegedly assaulted his passenger James Alva and called him a “faggot” in November 2013. It was later revealed by Pando that Whitmire served time for a felony (including drug dealing and misdemeanour battery), and passed the company’s background checks anyway. Whitmire was formally charged this Wednesday.

2) UberX driver Syed Muzaffer was arrested for vehicular manslaughter after killing a six year old girl with his car on New Years Eve in San Francisco of this yeari. Turns out he had a conviction for reckless driving 10 years ago that Uber didn’t pick up on, and the company is now facing a wrongful death suit.

3) Back in March 2013, Uber user Seth Bender was subjected to a homophobic, anti-American tirade before being assaulted—for burping—by his driver.

4) Uber driver Anouar Habib Trabelsi was arrested—though not charged, despite “strong” evidence—for allegedly raping a female customer.

5) Uber user and writer Bridget Todd was choked by her driver in an apparent racist attack in September 2013. CEO Travis Kalanick’s response to this was to email his press team, raging at the media for believing Urber is “somehow liable for these incidents that aren’t even real in the first place,” and that Uber bears no responsibility in any case: “[We need to] make sure these writers don’t come away thinking we are responsible even when these things do go bad.”

6) Uber driver Tadeusz Szczechowicz was discovered by the Chicago Tribune in February 2014 for past convictions including “felony residential burglary… misdemeanor criminal damage to property… and another misdemeanor for breaking into a 2002 Toyota for a GPS and satellite receiver… a history of speeding tickets and had his licence suspended twice in 2008 for having two moving violations with a 24-month period.” Worryingly, reported the Tribune, “Only the felony conviction... should have disqualified Szczechowicz to be an Uber ride-share driver under the company’s rules.”

7) The Daily Beast’s Olivia Nuzzi wrote about how one of her drivers told her he had stalked and photographed her, and showed her the photos to prove it. Uber gave Nuzzi $20 free credit to say sorry—and revealed it wasn’t the first complaint they’d had about the driver. Disturbingly, the driver then began reaching out to people she knew—and Uber gave her directly contradictory messages when she asked how he knew her full name.

Nuzzi’s article included multiple additional examples sent in by readers of times when Uber drivers had left them feeling unsafe.

In March 2014, a Chicago woman sued Uber after one of its drivers refused to follow directions, and harassed and extensively groped her. The driver has been charged with “negligence, willful and wanton misconduct, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment.” Uber will face a case of common carrier liability.

9) In a particularly farcical episode, Hannah Jegart was left without a ride home in April after her Uber driver was arrested mid-ride. (It’s unclear what for.)

10) This week, an Uber driver was arrested, after allegedly kidnapping a drunk woman and taking her to a motel. A police statement said that though there was “no sexual assault,” there was “some fondling through her clothes.”

Throughout this all, Uber has steadfastly maintained that by operating as a platform, it bears no responsibility for its drivers’ actions. It does not hire the drivers itself—they act as independent contractors, and Uber bills itself purely as a service that helps connect these independent contractors with potential clients. “What would you propose that we do?” a spokesperson told Pando when asked about driver misconduct; “we’re a technology platform that connects riders and providers, so it’s not our job to investigate.”

Legally, this defence is very shaky ground, and has yet to be truly tested in a court of law. It’ll take one of the many, many examples of driver misconduct to makes its way all the way through the legal system before anyone can say for sure that Uber’s in the right—or is just an unregulated, unlicensed gypsy-cab company.

http://www.dailydot.com/business/10-thi ... one-wrong/

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Does Uber Really Do Background Checks?


Every time you get in a cab in San Francisco, your driver has been subjected to thorough background check by the San Francisco police department.

Also, the cab you get into has one million in insurance, and the car has to meet inspection standards. And, the meter that sets your fare has been checked. Those are regulations designed to protect the public, the very regulations UBER claims do not apply, because Uber is a technology company, not a transportation company.

Last year, an Uber driver named Daveea Whitmire allegedly struck a passenger in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco, which led to his being charged on June 3, 2014 by the San Francisco District Attorney’s office.

Click here to read the full article: Uber Driver Charged with Punching SF Passenger

According to the San Francisco Chronicle article, Mr. Whitmire passed Uber’s background check but records reveal he has prior convictions for drug dealing and misdemeanor battery. In addition, the Chronicle reported in early 2014, he was charged for slamming a woman into the ground. What exactly did Uber do by way of a background check?

When a cab driver seeks approval to drive by way of a SF police background check, they are evaluated for potential for violence as well as potential for poor driving habits, according to SF District Attorney and former San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon. Clearly, these regulations protect the public. They take time and cost money, two things Uber apparently has chosen to bypass in its race to the bottom line.

Uber puts a consumer in a car and makes money from every transaction. It pays nothing for the labor, nothing for the maintenance, charges whatever it wishes (ask what the surge pricing was during the Muni sick out), and still has not told the world if every car has the minimum insurance required under the law.

And now, we can legitimately ask:

What exactly does Uber do by way of background checks?

A group of San Francisco taxi drivers, who have undergone police background checks, drive cars with meters that have regulated rates to prevent consumer gouging, have the statutorily required insurance to protect passengers as well as third parties in the event of an accident, and drive vehicles that have undergone periodic safety checks, all of which is required by law, are suing Uber on the basis it is a transportation company who has gained an unfair advantage by not complying with the law (e.g. not having insurance, not having the expense of inspecting and maintaining vehicles, or complying with other statutory requirements), and taken customers from the cabbies who are following the law. (See San Francisco Superior Court NO. CGC 12-526017)

If you would like more information on this case, please contact the Brandi Law Firm at tjb@brandilaw.com.

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

I know both Hack and PH Drivers with many of those type of convictions licensed by TFL ................so wtf has it to do with UBER EHHHHHHHHHHHH

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All posts by this contributor are made in a strictly personal capacity

I AM PROUD TO BE A CITIZEN NOBODY'S SUBJECT http://www.republic.org.u

F88K EM ALL WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

BOOZE BOOZE BOOZE

The story was from the united states

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

he wont know where that is

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most