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Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,977
Registered: ‎11-21-2011

Re: An incident in the news made me think about


@chrystaltree wrote:

@pigletsmom wrote:

The thing I find most shocking is the short odds of this happening to begin with. Your Uber leaves because you aren't out there and the worng car you decide to get into is some nut case who wants to kill you. You have a much better chance of opening the wrong car door and the driver being a decent person. Probably 95% of guys would have explained to her she made a mistake and there's another percentage that would have even gone out of their way to help her out by calling someone or whatever.

 

It's just stunning to me how sad it is that all of these things came together right at the same time with this result.

 

 

No one who takes a ride share car should ever be in a situation where they get into the wrong car.  It's totally avoidable.   The way I look at it there was no "all of these things" that had to come together.  There was only ONE thing.  She didn't look at the license plate on the car and match it to the one given to her in the app.  There are several layers of protection with ride share apps but that is the most important one.  That is what guarantees that the passenger is getting into the right car.    


 


Yes I'm aware of how Uber works. But she isn't the first person to ever not pay attention to that stuff and go up to a car they thought was their Uber. Probably happens tons of times across the country.

Valued Contributor
Posts: 919
Registered: ‎10-12-2016

Re: An incident in the news made me think about

[ Edited ]

To anyone that thinks Uber and Lyft are so safe (just because you get a picture of the driver and license plate number), you may want to read  the excerpt below from the article written on May 14, 2018 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Who's Driving?  Uber/Lyft Drivers Accused of Violent Crimes in Atlanta," written by Alexis Stevens.  Chilling.  I have never, and will never, use either of these services. 

 

And yes, that poor young woman made a mistake by getting into the wrong car, but she didn't deserve her fate.  And reading this excerpt you'll find people who got into the RIGHT car didn't deserve their fate either.  LuLu

 

"The Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association (TLPA) highlights the risk of Uber and Lyft through its awareness campaign titled “Who’s Driving You?”


The TLPA maintains an ongoing list of incidents involving Uber and Lyft drivers and has tallied 49 deaths, 93 alleged assaults, 367 alleged sexual assaults and 16 kidnappings since 2014.


“We have every reason to believe that this is the tip of the iceberg,” John Boit, spokesman for TLPA, said Wednesday. “These are just the ones that we know about and have been made public.”

 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,109
Registered: ‎04-14-2013

Re: An incident in the news made me think about

She could have been lured with a story.

Cogito ergo sum
Honored Contributor
Posts: 23,835
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: An incident in the news made me think about


@Anonymous032819 wrote:

Yes, of course I check that the Uber sent, is the one that I ordered.

 

 

Who wouldn't do that?

 

 

Also, there is no guarantee that taxi drivers won't hurt you either.

 

 

 


@Anonymous032819   How do you check?  Thanks

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,356
Registered: ‎01-03-2012

Re: An incident in the news made me think about


@Spurt wrote:

@GSPgirl wrote:

Does Uber do the same background checks as Taxi companies do?  


@GSPgirl 

 

I dont know about other cities, but that was a big area of concern in our city when Uber came in and what was pointed out by the news and city officials and the companies themselves is that while Taxicabs require a background check and also vehicle mechanical safety inspections Uber didn't require it....when citizens balked....Uber gave drivers the option of having a background check done or not they use a startup service called Checker......... The company has mostly shunned the idea of adopting the standards for all its drivers. In contrast, Taxi companies check a prospective driver's fingerprint records against a database that theoretically includes a person's complete criminal history in the United States, Uber background checks use a database that can only go back seven years for some information.

 

There have been several incidents in our city here involving Uber drivers.....

 

To me if I have an occasion to hire someone....going to/from the airport for example....I use taxicabs...safer and from what I've been told not much difference in price....


Thank you for your reply.  I completely agree with you.  I will use a taxi.