[DanBC]

> And customers love those services.

Until they die in a fire in a building that doesn't follow fire code; or are seriously injured in a possibly uninsured Uber[1] car.

[1] Uber provides insurance to US drivers. I don't think they provide it anywhere else.

[Symmetry]

The regulations that Uber is skirting are based on the problems caused by taxi drivers otherwise being anonymous. Since Uber can connect drivers to rides and handles payment the problems that plagued pre-regulation taxis aren't a concern in this case. We shouldn't reflexively assume that all regulation is bad, but we shouldn't reflexively assume that all regulation is good either. As with Chesterton's fence, always look at why something was created before saying whether it should continue or stop.

Injuries by uninsured drivers in places where valid insurance isn't required to drive isn't really a thing you can lay on Uber. It applies to every car on the road in those countries.

[Xylakant]

> Injuries by uninsured drivers in places where valid insurance isn't required to drive isn't really a thing you can lay on Uber. It applies to every car on the road in those countries.

Uber has been cited multiple times in Germany because it did not enforce the required insurance for its drivers, instead letting them drive with a private insurance.

[jacalata]

Injuries by drivers whose personal insurance doesn't cover their commercial activity is something I think you can lay on Uber.

[kwhitefoot]

> taxi drivers otherwise being anonymous.

Everywhere I take taxis the drivers have to display their name and id. Or did you mean something else by 'anonymous'?

[Symmetry]

They display those because of the medallion system, the system of regulations that Uber is ignoring.

[darpa_escapee]

Medallion systems limit the amount of traffic caused by taxis, so it isn't just limited to problems caused by drivers being anonymous.