[aianus]

> The livery and identification of their jobs significantly narrowed down the search from "person with car" to "cab #xxxx".

Uber knows exactly where each of its on-duty vehicles are down to the meter and maintain well-organized logs -- better than any Taxi company.

> I bet if you hunt down crime statistics on kidnappings etc. on regulated taxis vs. unregulated taxis the percentage of global incidents on unregulated taxis will far outstrip those of regulated systems.

Correlation does not imply causation. Obviously well-developed countries with overpowering legal systems capable of implementing and enforcing taxi regulations are going to have less crime in general.

[bane]

From another comment upstream

>It doesn't appear to be a problem with Uber or Lyft since they have some kind of QC, but what happens when the market is deregulated for anybody to open up whatever kind of taxi service they want? It's the next next guys that worry me.

> Correlation does not imply causation.

Correct, that is until the causation is understood to have been detected by the correlation.

Your claim now puts the burden on your to demonstrate that unregulated taxis, in countries with regulated taxi systems, are at least as safe as regulated ones. And I can tell you before you start that you won't find that to be true.

[aianus]

> Your claim now puts the burden on your to demonstrate that unregulated taxis, in countries with regulated taxi systems, are at least as safe as regulated ones.

I can only offer anecdotes, but UberX has been simultaneously cheaper, friendlier, and safer than taking Taxis for me in SF. The first and only time I took a Taxi in SF the guy did an illegal u-turn from the right lane without checking his mirrors and almost got us all killed.

I would be very surprised to find that Uber is less safe overall, if only because the Taxi companies and regulators would be screaming it from the rooftops.

[bane]

Everybody keeps giving examples of Uber in SF, but we haven't been talking about Uber for quite a while, and none of my claims or questions were about Uber.

[aianus]

Uber is what unregulated taxis look like in the first world. Deregulating taxis will not magically turn the United States into Colombia.

[Vik1ng]

Uber has, but once you start deregulation it's just a question of time until drivers figure out they can get rides without paying Uber 20% and offer them cheaper.

[icebraining]

And people will call them, how? The problem with the current system is that people are bullshitted to believe that any car with the right color is "safe". Eliminate this regulated and flawed "authentication" and people won't just enter some random dude's car.

[bane]

You honestly don't seem to be aware of the kind of unregulated taxi service that's common in the world and that we're talking about. I think it's probably best for you to bow out of the conversation until you learn more about them.