Of Uber and Taxis....
I hear a lot of talk from people lately about Uber. I haven't used the service myself yet. I probably will in January when I am with friends in Las Vegas, but personally I am not too keen on them.
My main concern is safety.
A local taxi service in town has been advertising for drivers. I don't know if they do a drug screening at the time someone is hired, or if there are any screens while they are working for them. However, I do know that someone who has gone through a number of jobs in town has "issues". He wrecked his own car when he hit a moose, and allegedly he had gone for a drive to get high. The taxi company hired him. I don't think he made it two months before he fell asleep behind the wheel and rear-ended another vehicle. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
The taxi company fired him, of course. This is where my question comes in - what's to stop him from getting another car and driving for Uber? Uber guidelines state:
"Furthermore, Uber does not tolerate drug or alcohol use by drivers while using the Uber app. If a rider believes a driver may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, please request that the driver end the trip immediately and alert Uber Support at help.uber.com."
Sounds great, but how do they enforce it? How can you tell upon entering the vehicle if that driver is taking oxycontin, for instance? It's not always an obvious thing. Unlike taxi companies, Uber drivers own their own vehicle. Most of them have personal insurance on their vehicle which does not cover commercial use - which is what they are doing when they are giving people rides for money. Uber has coverage to $1 million for its drivers, but insurance companies have weighed in and said there are gaps.
Unless the driver has an arrest record that turns up in their database search, Uber will hire them. In some states, such as California, the records only go back a limited number of years (7 in California). If they are on prescription pain killers, there's little chance they will be found out until an accident occurs, and then if there is no arrest for driving while impaired, it still might not appear on their record or disqualify them from Uber, while a taxi company is more likely to fire them. Of course, if the area has more than one taxi company, they can also just go try their luck at another one.
Or, just drive their own car for Uber....
My main concern is safety.
A local taxi service in town has been advertising for drivers. I don't know if they do a drug screening at the time someone is hired, or if there are any screens while they are working for them. However, I do know that someone who has gone through a number of jobs in town has "issues". He wrecked his own car when he hit a moose, and allegedly he had gone for a drive to get high. The taxi company hired him. I don't think he made it two months before he fell asleep behind the wheel and rear-ended another vehicle. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
The taxi company fired him, of course. This is where my question comes in - what's to stop him from getting another car and driving for Uber? Uber guidelines state:
"Furthermore, Uber does not tolerate drug or alcohol use by drivers while using the Uber app. If a rider believes a driver may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, please request that the driver end the trip immediately and alert Uber Support at help.uber.com."
Sounds great, but how do they enforce it? How can you tell upon entering the vehicle if that driver is taking oxycontin, for instance? It's not always an obvious thing. Unlike taxi companies, Uber drivers own their own vehicle. Most of them have personal insurance on their vehicle which does not cover commercial use - which is what they are doing when they are giving people rides for money. Uber has coverage to $1 million for its drivers, but insurance companies have weighed in and said there are gaps.
Unless the driver has an arrest record that turns up in their database search, Uber will hire them. In some states, such as California, the records only go back a limited number of years (7 in California). If they are on prescription pain killers, there's little chance they will be found out until an accident occurs, and then if there is no arrest for driving while impaired, it still might not appear on their record or disqualify them from Uber, while a taxi company is more likely to fire them. Of course, if the area has more than one taxi company, they can also just go try their luck at another one.
Or, just drive their own car for Uber....
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