[victorhooi]

Sorry, but these examples are pretty laughable. Do you live in Sydney, or even Australia?

As a Uber customer in Australia, safety is not something I need to worry about getting into an Uber. I can see the photo of the driver before I get in, I can see his rating, and I know the entire ride including GPS location etc. will be stored in the cloud.

Your examples only prove my point.

That's a lot more accountability that can be had with taxis.

Now taxis on the other hand....I have had some great drivers.

However, more often many of them are rude, and quite honestly, some of the most a*sehole drivers on the road I've seen. Even as a customer in a hurry, I don't want him or her driving like it's Grand Prix Turismo, or being a jerk to other people on the road.

With Uber, I just rate him or her 1 star, and say aggressive driving. I have only had to do that once ever with Uber (and I have taken around 150 Uber trips, across four countries) - and within minutes, somebody from Uber emailed me back, to follow up with the complaint.

Have you ever tried complaining about a Sydney taxi driver? Or heck, talking to their lost property department? Good luck with that, mate....

[ank_the_elder]

None of those examples strike me as funny; I am somewhat concerned that you can laugh in the face of human suffering.

I am also not defending taxi drivers. The other day I had to take a taxi for a $9 ride and the guy was less than graceful about the fact that I wasn't going very far from his taxi line.

But the solution is not knee-jerk deregulation - although I agree that a shakeup is necessary and warranted.

[victorhooi]

Nice attempt at a strawman fallacy there, ank_the_elder....

Nobody ever said "human suffering was laughable" - you just made that up. It's the equivalent of uttering "think of the children!", when it has nothing to do with the topic at hand.

I said that your examples were laughable - and you have said nothing to make me change my view.

I made numerous points - in Uber, you see a photograph of your driver before they arrive. In Uber, you see their rating (and can rate them afterwards). In Uber, the drivers are constantly tracked by GPS, which is stored in the cloud. You addressed none of these points in your reply.

Please list to me your reasons how a taxi driver is somehow more accountable than an Uber driver?

I have had numerous bad experiences with taxi drivers, both as a passenger, and as a fellow driver or cyclist on the road. I can assure you that attempting to contact the taxi companies (at least in Sydney) is usually an exercise in futility. It's only when you involve the police, that things get a bit more traction, and the taxi companies are suddenly ever so co-operative - fortunately I have only had to do that once.

In contrast, Uber customer support is fantastic. Even better, they have GPS records of everything - so if you say, the driver never showed, it is very easy to prove or disprove. Try doing that with a cab. (I've never actually had that issue with Uber, to be honest, of a driver not showing - only with taxis.)

Or one time, I left some headphones in an Uber. Immediately contacted the driver via the app, who then drove back to me for free, to give them to me. Try doing that in a cab.