[Silhouette]

Something like Uber could never have come out of Europe. A large company that is breaking the law while competing with regulated taxis and remaining unregulated themselves? That would never fly in the EU,

This is a feature, not a bug.

We do tend to regulate some areas more in Europe than the US, but from various on-line discussions about Uber in recent months, I have come to the conclusion that the original problem they are trying to solve is much worse in the US than the EU.

Meanwhile, I have no problem with requiring any service competing with regular taxis to be held to the same standards in terms of vehicle maintenance, insurance, checks on drivers, standardised metered pricing so passengers know what to expect, etc. Being able to beat the incumbent because you broke the law and took shortcuts that could affect safety is not impressive.

Also, I don't know where you got the idea that in the EU you need to prove what you're doing is not harmful or illegal before you can do it, but you're completely wrong.

[t1lthesky]

I dont know about this. I've used uber in multiple cities in the US and taken cabs in multiple cities across the EU, and the uber experience beats cabs hands down. Everything is more convenient - some cities you can only get cabs in certain areas, or its really hard to find a cab, or some cab drivers are very unfriendly, and if you dont know the city the ability to specify a destination on the map is great. Not to mention the price is usually cheaper, but even if it was the same price I'd still say hands down uber wins in terms of customer experience.

[Silhouette]

I've used uber in multiple cities in the US and taken cabs in multiple cities across the EU, and the uber experience beats cabs hands down. Everything is more convenient

You didn't mention which cities you've experienced in the EU, and in any case I've no reason to doubt your experience, but all I can say is that some places with traditional/regulated taxis don't seem to have the same problems. I'm in the UK and I can't remember the last time I had trouble getting a taxi at quite short notice even at a busy time of day, booking in advance is pretty much 100% reliable around here these days, and I've never heard of someone finding they can't get a cab in their area (unless you mean somewhere rural where there isn't a local taxi firm, I suppose).

[tluyben2]

I agree with the parent; I live in the EU and use both Uber and taxis a lot in Paris, Amsterdam, Malaga (and other cities in Spain), Faro, London; these are all quite heavily regulated and the normal taxi drivers are definitely generally unfriendly (sometimes they actually smell bad, will act annoyed because the ride is too short for their taste and cough without blocking their mouth and at one time a cab driver in Amsterdam had a baseball bat in his car because he got robbed too many times), the cars are far worse than Uber black cars and they are more expensive generally. In London I have been beside the road trying to get a cab for > 10 minutes while Uber takes less than 5 in most of the city. And I rather sit in an Audi a8 or Lexus than in a one of those uncomfortable London black cabs for less money (and free bottle of water which just makes it even better).

Edit: in NYC & Orlando I have the same experience by the way; unfriendly cab drivers, no seat belts, crap cars and generally more expensive. But I guess that's not well regulated?

[kagamine]

That doesn't address any of the safety issues from the post you replied to. Convenience will not save your life in an accident, should an accident happen. Convenience doesn't prove the driver is who he says he is. Regulation in the taxi trade was probably built up over many years to tackle the issues that arose over time, Uber will eventually fall foul of the same or similar regulation, eventually pushing prices up. What Uber are probably doing is refroming the taxi trade and eventually the two services, Uber and traditional cabs, will find a middle ground and merge into one service.

Is there a reason why a black cab driver in London, Manchester or Edinburgh couldn't register as an Uber driver and play for both teams?

[exelius]

> This is a feature, not a bug.

I actually don't disagree with you; but my original point is that the US actively prioritizes giving companies space to operate without government intervention over protecting the rights of its citizens.

It generally makes the US a worse place to live, but a better place to start a business.

> Also, I don't know where you got the idea that in the EU you need to prove what you're doing is not harmful or illegal before you can do it, but you're completely wrong.

Maybe poorly worded, but in the US the prevailing attitude is that it's better to ask for forgiveness than for permission. Because our government is generally underfunded (domestically anyway), it doesn't usually go out looking for problems anyway. So you can often get away with disregarding regulations as long as you don't make too much noise while doing it. And even if you get caught, you hire lawyers to negotiate the penalty down to 10% of what it would normally have been.

[walshemj]

I think those working in online poker etc would disagree - the local monopoly was protected very strongly.

And there are the non tariff barriers look how hard it is to import eu cars

[exelius]

Poker just has an image problem - you don't see anyone getting in trouble over the "fantasy football" sites that are thinly-veiled online sports books. Hell, they even advertise on national TV during football games, so it's not like they're flying under the radar at this point.

[spacehome]

> could affect safety

Be careful about what you're saying here. Conformance to regulations is not at all the same as safety. My (anecdotal) experience is that Uber drivers are consistently better in anything that could be considered related to safetey - namely having functional seatbelts and paying attention to the road.

[Silhouette]

Be careful about what you're saying here.

I meant what I wrote.

Regulated taxis and private hire vehicles here in the UK are typically required to be serviced and tested much more often than regular cars, for example. Something like not having a functional seatbelt would mean an immediate failure at a test.

All such vehicles and their drivers are also required to display identification, so anyone who is not happy with the state of a vehicle can also report it themselves to the local licensing authority or even the police.

[spacehome]

Our experiences are in different countries. In the U.S. it's not even uniformly the law that you have to wear a seatbelt in the back seat.