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Uber Driver Kills His Passenger (washingtonpost.com)
An anonymous reader quotes the Washington Post:
An Uber driver in Denver killed his passenger early Friday morning, telling a witness he had fired several times in self-defense, police said... Police say Michael Andre Hancock shot Hyun Kim, 45, with a semiautomatic pistol during a confrontation at 2:47 a.m. Friday, according to a partially redacted probable-cause affidavit provided to The Washington Post... Hancock does not have a criminal record in the state, the Denver Post reported. An Uber official said Hancock has been driving with the popular ride-hailing app for three years. His father, also named Michael Hancock, told KDVR-TV he had a permit to carry a concealed handgun. Putnam, the police spokeswoman, said she was unsure if that had been confirmed.
Company policy says riders and drivers cannot carry firearms in vehicles while using the ride-sharing app. Some states have regulations that override that prohibition, but in Colorado, which allows guns in vehicles to protect lives and property, the regulation for Uber users still applies, Uber spokeswoman Carly DeBeikes told The Post in a statement. Uber, rocked by allegations of inadequate screening and abuse among its drivers and corporate leaders, said Hancock's access to the app was removed
Uber was fined $8.9 million by Colorado regulators last year "for allowing 57 people with past criminal or motor vehicle offenses to drive for the company," reports the Denver Post. They note that in some cases Uber's drivers only had revoked or suspended licenses, while "a similar investigation of smaller competitor Lyft found no violations."
Company policy says riders and drivers cannot carry firearms in vehicles while using the ride-sharing app. Some states have regulations that override that prohibition, but in Colorado, which allows guns in vehicles to protect lives and property, the regulation for Uber users still applies, Uber spokeswoman Carly DeBeikes told The Post in a statement. Uber, rocked by allegations of inadequate screening and abuse among its drivers and corporate leaders, said Hancock's access to the app was removed
Uber was fined $8.9 million by Colorado regulators last year "for allowing 57 people with past criminal or motor vehicle offenses to drive for the company," reports the Denver Post. They note that in some cases Uber's drivers only had revoked or suspended licenses, while "a similar investigation of smaller competitor Lyft found no violations."
another valid use of a properly registered firearm, by a properly licensed civilian, in an acceptable act of self defense? Who knows, because if so, the outcome will never see the light of day...
Also let's think for a minute outside the USA.
Here in my country taxi drivers are generally scum. I've had multiple issues with them over the years, from refused fares to cheating, modified fare counters, fake licenses, etc.
I have never taken a cab since Uber started being an option. My score after a few hundred trips is 4.96 and I am generally satisfied with the service. The drivers are mostly much better than cabs any given day. Found a couple exceptions though but way less than I ever rexpected.
Remember, Uber, Lyft and the like appeared because there was demand, demand created by shit taxi services as primary cause.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
It seems like EULAs can do pretty much anything these days. The idea that an app that runs on your phone can state that you can or cannot carry a firearm seems a bit of an overreach. Now, I suppose a company can put whatever they want in their terms of service, but in this world with overreaching EULAs this seems like a questionable one. If someone gets a concealed carry license, I'm not sure that a contract should be able to take that right away. I wonder what would happen if a lot of apps started putting things in their EULAs like "You can only use this app while Salsa dancing" or "You must vote for the XXX party to use this app."