[aianus]

That has nothing to do with taxi regulations and everything to do with a complete lack of law and order in the countries you mentioned. Even if it's just 1% easier to kidnap a foreigner because they got into the wrong taxi than just to point a gun at them and grab them off the street, you're going to see it become the dominant form of kidnapping. Doesn't mean taxi regulations would do anything to solve it.

[bane]

And yet, kidnappings rapes and murders from well regulated taxis in those countries occur at a much lower rate than in unregulated taxis.

Why do you suppose that is? Random happenstance?

[lgas]

I would assume that a large part of it has to do with the fact that the people that commit the crimes recognize an opportunity in pretending to be an unregulated taxi and then when they get a rider they seize the opportunity they have created for themselves.

These same people wouldn't be able to do this as Uber drivers because despite being unregulated, Uber has a detailed record of what driver was dispatched, where you were picked up, where the driver drove (at least until they turn off the uUber app), etc.

Now, of course that doesn't mean that any random Uber driver couldn't just snap and decide they were going to rape and murder their passenger, but of course they would be caught if they did, the same way that a taxi driver would be caught for much the same reason (regulated or not).

It actually seems like Uber would have an advantage because you cannot hail an uber anonymously on the side of the road like you can with a taxi. If I summon an Uber there will always at least be a record of everything up to the moment I got in the car.

If I hail a perfectly (legal, regulated) taxi from the side of the road and get in, then the driver snaps and decides to rape or murder me, unless I noted the license plate number or something like that and sent it to someone, there's no record.

In fact, I don't even have to have a phone with me, so there may be absolutely no record of the transaction or the fact that I had an interaction with the driver at all, anywhere.

I think in these countries you wouldn't see rapes and murders occurring from Uber drivers, but rather still from "unregulated taxi" drivers who aren't really unregulated taxis but "criminals pretending to be taxis", something they can't do with Uber.

[Vik1ng]

    These same people wouldn't be able to do this as Uber drivers because despite being unregulated

But his point is that after Uber there will be services that don't operate that way. And Uber is not a great option for everybody (older people, tourists with no cellphone connection or really expensive data roaming) Or why give Uber 20% when you can just drive up yourself at the bar?

[bane]

You keep saying uber like you think that's what I'm talking about.