taxi/Uber drivers safe?

[TheCid]

Uber and Lyft halt service in Austin, Texas, after voters embrace background-check rules...

 

"Under the rules, drivers must undergo fingerprint-based background checks by Feb. 1, 2017. Uber and Lyft prefer name-based checks. The city's ordinance also prohibits drivers from stopping in traffic lanes for passenger drop-offs and pickups, requires "trade dress" to identify vehicles for hire and imposes a variety of data reporting requirements.

 

In Iowa on Monday, Gov. Terry Branstad signed a bill into law that creates new statewide rules for ride-hailing companies to do business there. The law establishes a regulatory system that will require liability insurance for vehicles, add name-based background checks for drivers and change licensing expectations. State regulators would also have the authority to ensure compliance...."

 

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tn-uber-lyft-suspension-austin-20160509-snap-story.html

 

About time.

[Kid Dabb]

When you say Uber out loud, you must pronounce it like Arnold Schwarzenegger would.

[mr6666]

"Drivers who worked for ride-hailing service Uber [UBER.UL] in California and Massachusetts over the past seven years would have been entitled to an estimated $730 million in expense reimbursements had they been employees rather than contractors, according to court documents made public on Monday...

 

Uber and smaller rival Lyft are attempting to settle legal actions by drivers who contend they should be classified as employees and therefore entitled to reimbursement for expenses, including gasoline and vehicle maintenance. Drivers currently pay those costs themselves...."

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/uber-drivers-owed-730-million-more-if-employees-according-to-court-documents_us_5730fe0fe4b016f37896bc1b?link_id=8&can_id=be080fd9496cb4c4e68676d89e10f3b9&source=email-todays-headlines-jobs-with-justice-51016&email_referrer=todays-headlines-jobs-with-justice-51016&email_subject=todays-headlines-jobs-with-justice-51016

[mr6666]

I loved Uber as a passenger. Then I started working as a driver....

 

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-vahtel-rider-turned-uber-driver-20160516-story.html

 

nothing horrible, just one drivers experience...

[jamesjazzguitar]

I loved Uber as a passenger. Then I started working as a driver....

 

nothing horrible, just one drivers experience...

 

 

Just read the article since I get the L.A. Times.    I'm surprised that in uber liberal CA there are not more laws providing some type of protection to so called independent contractors.    

[mr6666]

ProPublica‏Verified account @ProPublica 2h2 hours ago

 

 

There is no publicly available data for the number of sexual assaults by Uber drivers or for drivers of other rideshare companies.

CNN found at least 103 Uber drivers who have been accused of sexually assaulting or abusing passengers in the past 4 years:

http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/30/technology/uber-driver-sexual-assault/index.html

[jamesjazzguitar]

11 hours ago, mr6666 said:

ProPublica‏Verified account @ProPublica 2h2 hours ago

 

 

There is no publicly available data for the number of sexual assaults by Uber drivers or for drivers of other rideshare companies.

CNN found at least 103 Uber drivers who have been accused of sexually assaulting or abusing passengers in the past 4 years:

http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/30/technology/uber-driver-sexual-assault/index.html

103???    Unless this is put into some type of context it just another rather meaningless number.

Also,  CNN is using a classic statistical gimmick by combining something very bad (sexual assault),  with something not so bad (abusing passengers).   E.g. say 100 of these 103 were just for abusing passengers.     

What is needed is actual journalism:

What percentage of Uber rides over the past 4 years involved some type of sexually assault? 

What percentage of Uber rides over the past 4 years involved some type of abuse of passengers? (and 'abuse' needs to be defined).

Comparable stats with taxi services.  

[hamradio]

Police: Backup driver in fatal Uber crash was distracted

http://abc7news.com/automotive/police-backup-driver-in-fatal-uber-crash-was-distracted/3637353/

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/report-uber-driver-streaming-voice-123216910.html

 

[mr6666]

NPR‏Verified account @NPR 9h9 hours ago

 

 

Uber and Lyft drivers in many U.S. cities plan to strike today

to draw attention to what they say are decreasing wages for drivers and a distressing lack of job security.

[TheCid]

18 hours ago, mr6666 said:

NPR‏Verified account @NPR 9h9 hours ago

 

 

Uber and Lyft drivers in many U.S. cities plan to strike today

to draw attention to what they say are decreasing wages for drivers and a distressing lack of job security.

It's part of the type job they signed up for.  It was supposedly created for people to use their vehicles on a part-time basis to supplement their normal incomes not as a full-time job.  That has long since past.

We had an incident recently where a USC (the FIRST one) student mistakenly got into a car she thought was the Uber she had called.  Couple of days later they found her body.  Interviews with other Uber drivers revealed that they will routinely travel over 125 miles to be available for work during college athletic events, week-ends when partying is going on at large colleges, etc.

I ran into a man at a car dealership about a year ago.  He was getting a 50,000 mile service on his car although he had only had it a little over a year.  He was a "full-time" Uber driver.

[mr6666]

The New York Times

 

@nytimes

·

1h

 

Uber won’t comply with a new California law requiring contract workers to be reclassified as employees,

 

saying drivers are not core to its business