[Cthulhu_]

this; afaik Uber takes no responsibility for the drivers themselves, they just offer a service to link freelance drivers to people in need of a ride.

As for the service quality etc, with Uber I guess people will have to have experienced a poor driver and leave a poor rating. I think it's a matter of time before people with crappy cars start driving for Uber, get into accidents or create generally unpleasant experiences for some users, and drop Uber's reputation downwards.

[icebraining]

this; afaik Uber takes no responsibility for the drivers themselves

Not exactly true, they provide insurance for when drivers are between rides: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2454988,00.asp

[jacquesm]

Super, someone should contact this family then:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/02/should-car-services-provide...

[Padding]

What exactly is the issue here? How is this different from her being struck by any other car/driver?

I'm not sure what the laws in the US are like, but in Germany that would already be covered by the mandatory insurance every car needs to have, before being allowed onto the streets.

[DanBC]

Commercial drivers need commercial insurance.

In Germany the driver would have regular insurance, unless they're working for a cab company when they'd have commercial insurance.

The US situation is a bit more complicated because of liability - is the driver liable? Or the driver's employers?

[Padding]

I see. Thanks!

[Xylakant]

One of the problems with UberPop is that people use their regular private insurance that does not cover commercial activities. I'm a bit uncertain on what the result would be - I think the victim would still get paid, but the insurance would recover the costs from the insurance owner. Still, that's not legal.

[icebraining]

It is covered by the driver's insurance. According to the victim's attorney, they offered $15000.

[icebraining]

I'm not aware of any insurance policy that pays retroactively.

[jacquesm]

Yes, silly family to cross the street in front of an uber car between rides before they got insured for that. They should have known better.

[icebraining]

You seem to assume I think Uber shouldn't pay. I don't. I meant what I said, and nothing else.

[zobzu]

actually every time you dont leave a good feedback, uber will contact you back to clear it up and contact the driver (will not say who left the feedback) and ensure this was legitimate or otherwise reimburse your trip (on top of making sure the driver's star score is severely affected)

if you're a customer with 4-5 stars rating you'll get 4-5 stars drivers, always, all the time.

This makes the probability of bad services very low (and in fact null in my experience so far - i'm pretty sure they select 5 stars by default for your 5 first ever rides too)