[Mikeb85]

> Blah blah blah source....

Around here to run a taxi you need several things. One is a commercial vehicle driver's license, which requires training above and beyond the normal license. You also need commercial insurance, to protect yourself, your passengers, and the insurance company (else they would have to raise premiums for everyone to accommodate risky, illicit behaviour). Taxis are required to have cameras, to protect the drivers and passengers. From what I've seen of UberX's 'requirements', they violate in nearly every way, and I don't think I need a 'source' to state why a lack of training, insurance, and safety measures could harm people.

As for AirBnB, imagine you own a condo and someone across from you is running an illicit hotel. These kinds of things affect safety (random people who don't live there constantly coming and going), property value, and hurts legitimate businesses that actually employ people (say, the real BnB or Hotel nearby that follows all the regulations and thus has to pay higher costs). And of course, if you own a condo, are renting is, and your tenants are illegally subletting, the damage is more direct.

[donkeyd]

To be honest, I could (for lack of interest I didn't) find you sources which show that Uber could be safer than average taxi companies. The reasoning:

- After riding with Uber you get a map sent to you, this could help in proving that a taxi driver tried to rape a woman customer in a dark ally. (this has happened, driver got fired and charged) With a regular taxi it's your word against theirs.

- With Uber you are 100% sure the driver is working for Uber, since you ordered it through the app and the app shows you the license plate. With regular taxis you have to trust that the taxi license is real if you hail a cab on the street.

- With Uber you rate the driver after the ride, which makes sure that bad drivers get detected very quickly. With regular taxis you have to file a complaint, which most people don't because it's too much of a bother.

- With Uber you don't need to have anything representing money on you to get a ride. With regular taxis you need either cash or a credit card on you to pay for the ride, which is a safety issue before, during and after the ride.

I agree with you that there are some issues with a company like Uber just doing whatever they want. However, there are some pretty big issues with the current taxi industry and Uber is doing a prety good job at highlighting them and providing alternatives.

[serf]

> After riding with Uber you get a map sent to you, this could help in proving that a taxi driver tried to rape a woman customer in a dark ally. (this has happened, driver got fired and charged) With a regular taxi it's your word against theirs.

stop hailing strange taxis. Call a dispatch. Boom, accountability.

>With Uber you are 100% sure the driver is working for Uber, since you ordered it through the app and the app shows you the license plate. With regular taxis you have to trust that the taxi license is real if you hail a cab on the street.

that's unfair as the comparison is simply outside the scope of what Uber offers. One could also argue that Uber drivers cannot pickup a person hailing them; but no one should make that argument, because Uber does not try to emulate that particular function of the taxi service.

> With Uber you don't need to have anything representing money on you to get a ride. With regular taxis you need either cash or a credit card on you to pay for the ride, which is a safety issue before, during and after the ride.

how is a credit card a risk? Give it to the perpetrator , ensure your safety, claim the losses. If you're talking about material worth, I hope you don't carry any devices with you.

>I agree with you that there are some issues with a company like Uber just doing whatever they want. However, there are some pretty big issues with the current taxi industry and Uber is doing a prety good job at highlighting them and providing alternatives.

A third party hopping and skipping over established transportation safety regulation is not doing a good job at providing alternatives; it's simply trying to make money before government regulation radically changes the market or the IPO occurs (which will in turn cause a sudden relaxation of 'boundary-pushing' on Uber's part, relaxing government legal worries and providing customers with a worse product after brand establishment and customers begin to rely on earlier iterations)

[lttlrck]

How does a photo of a license plate prove driver identity?

Doesn't that require a photo of the driver?

[jjoonathan]

You've argued that they're breaking the law, not that they cause significant damage. It's a fair point in and of itself but it's not the one you made two posts earlier and it's not the one you need to defend. Laws are notorious for inefficiently spending large amounts of resources to chase after marginal returns (which often go negative without anyone realizing).

For instance: cameras might not have nearly as good of a value proposition in a situation where the identity of the passenger is recorded up front. Extra training might not be necessary if customers have a functioning mechanism to share their intuitive judgements about dangerous drivers.

[logfromblammo]

Uber and Lyft are not taxis. They are at most livery cabs.

They do not and should not operate under the same rules as taxis. They are much more like the airport shuttle services that have been operating without taxi licenses or medallions for decades. They simply have a novel way to summon the vehicle that does not involve placing a voice call to the company's scheduler and dispatcher.

There are more types of vehicle-for-hire services than just taxicabs, and they don't need to follow the same regulations.

[Mikeb85]

Livery cabs around here do need to follow most of the same regulations. In fact, they apply to any situation where anyone is driving a vehicle for commercial reasons (say, a courier, moving service, any sort of taxi/cab, etc...).

[Mimu]

Do I actually get a permit to drive a friend or can he just decide to get into my car like an adult?

[Mikeb85]

It's not a commercial activity. Come on, you should know the difference.

Just like if I have a Barbeque at home and invite my friends it's a different scenario than selling Barbeque and beer out of my backyard...

[coldtea]

Logical persons would not make that question, assuming from the start that unlike Uber drivers, your friend knows you.

[RaleyField]

Glazier's fallacy blah blah blah more statism blah blah blah remove choice blah blah.

[fredsted]

Surely there is a reason these taxi regulations are in place. Or not. In any case, is it fair?

My opinion of Uber was something like "great for competition". But of course they can only compete because they're doing so not quite legally, and to great benefits compared to normal taxi drivers.

A normal taxi company might've gotten this large by releasing a good app with some funding, but I doubt it because of the huge advantage Uber has compared to everyone else.

[CWuestefeld]

I agree with what I think your point is. But I think you're getting downvoted because you did a lousy job of expressing it, and you did it in a rather disrespectful manner. We try to aim higher on HN.