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Taxi Companies Sue Uber For False Advertising On Safety
jfruh writes "A group of California taxi operators are suing Uber, claiming the ridehailing service is guilty of false advertising when it comes to rider safety. The taxi companies claim that Uber doesn't use a Live Scan fingerprint ID for drivers like they do, and that the $1 "safe rides" fee on every fare doesn't specifically go towards boosting safety. From the article: "The suit comes in the wake of problems Uber is facing in some countries. On Wednesday, the Frankfurt Regional Court issued a nationwide ban against the company’s UberPop service after declaring its business model illegal. Using a smartphone app to connect passengers with private drivers that use their own cars and don’t have the required licenses is illegal, the court observed."
Uber is tracking where both drivers and passengers are, and the fact that a passenger has booked with a particular driver...
If I hail a cab, no-one knows where I am or who I am with.
It's not like cab drivers have never harmed anyone. It's also not like others have not harmed cab drivers. The fact that with Uber both sides have been to some degree vetted makes the whole transaction inherently safer, both for riders and drivers.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
No it should be taxis suing. They should be suing for libel. Claiming your service is safer than the competition when it's the same exact service is lying!
Just look at Google: https://www.google.com/webhp?s... Uber comes up the search over and over and over again. And considering how many legit cab drivers there are vs how many Uber drivers there are -- it's pretty fucked up that a fledgeling service shows up so frequently in global results. Granted, some of those might be different links to the same incident, but the point remains the same. And that point is: NO -- rapes and beatings don't happen more frequently at the hands of legit cab drivers.
"police are searching for driver"
Apples to Orangutans - Uber don't have "walk ups", a fair comparison would be between Uber and a booked taxi.
Do Uber have hidden mics, panic buttons, and radio code words for trouble? Taxi's in Oz had all those things when I was a driver back in the 80's, nowadays they also have cameras. Everyone talks about passenger safety, the fact is drivers are at least an order of magnitude more likely to be attacked than the passenger.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
No worries people, because drivers will soon become obsolete anyway...
If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.