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中文 (繁體中文, 台灣)How risky is your Uber ride? Maybe more than you think - CNET
How risky is your Uber ride? Maybe more than you think
October 8,
An Uber driver allegedly hit a passenger on the head with a claw hammer in San Francisco in late September.
Ryan McVay/Getty Images
The night began like many others for Roberto Chicas. But it ended far differently.
Two weeks ago, the 35-year-old San Francisco bartender finished a round of drinks with friends at the end of his shift and e-hailed an Uber
to take them all to their respective homes. UberX driver Patrick Karajah, 26, showed up.
As they began the trek home, the passengers started questioning Karajah's route, according to Chicas' attorney, Harry Stern. Karajah took the freeway, when the passengers wanted to take surface streets so they could be dropped off in sequential order. As they continued on the drive, Stern said, the dispute between the passengers and Karajah reportedly got heated.
"The driver got more and more agitated," according to Stern. Karajah allegedly "started saying things like, 'I'm tired of people who don't know where they're going. Maybe you guys should just get out.'"
Driving down the freeway, Karajah reportedly blew past the exit for Chicas' neighborhood and pulled off at an exit far from the passengers' homes, Stern said. At one point, they claim, he tried to force the passengers out of his car. He then reportedly drove 50 yards, then tried again to oust them.
At Karajah's second attempt, Stern said, Chicas and another passenger got out. The third passenger momentarily stayed in the backseat to make sure they didn't leave anything behind.
"All of the sudden [Karajah] appeared at the door with the hammer and said, 'I told you to get the f*** out of my car,'" Stern said.
Karajah then marched over to Chicas, clobbered him in the head with a hammer, went back to his car and drove off, according to Stern. Chicas was left lying on the ground, bleeding and drifting in and out of consciousness. It's still unclear if Chicas will regain vision in his left eye, Stern said.
The Uber driver was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and battery with serious bodily injury. He has pleaded not guilty to both counts, according to the
San Francisco District Attorney's Office. He was freed on $125,000 bail. Karajah's attorney declined to comment.
When Uber was asked to comment on this incident and to detail the protections it offers passengers, a spokesman didn't comment on this specific case.
The San Francisco-based company says it puts an emphasis on safety.
"Safety is our top priority and foundational to the Uber experience -- for both riders and drivers -- and we take any potential breach of safety seriously," the spokesman said. "We will always work to improve and increase safety measures, and with unprecedented accountability built into the app, Uber continues to connect riders and drivers with the safest rides on the road."
What do you agree to when you use Uber?
What makes this more than just an altercation between driver and passengers? An Uber ride is different from hopping into a taxi. When you download Uber's app and get into a car summoned with the mobile reservation system, you agree to a host of terms and conditions by default. And Uber is young enough that situations like this one are still largely uncharted territory.
Since Uber launched five years ago, it's grown rapidly. It now has
cars driving around 204 cities in 45 countries, and the company claims to
cover 55 percent of the US population with its offering. It's also
highest-valued venture-backed company in the world right now, with a
valuation of $18.2 billion.
Like its rivals Lyft and Sidecar, Uber is a so-called ride-sharing service that puts potential drivers through a background check so that they can become an impromptu taxi driver using their own car and
Uber's tech platform. For each ride a driver carries out, Uber gets a
cut of the fare -- typically between 20 percent and 25 percent.An Uber driver standing next to his car.
The alleged incident between Karajah and Chicas wasn't the first conflict between an Uber driver and a passenger, and it's unlikely to be the last. But the outcome of this altercation may help clarify Uber's responsibility to passengers.
What exactly do passengers agree to when they use Uber? That depends on whom you ask.
"People don't know what they're getting into when they get into one of these cars, they don't know what they're getting into when they download the app," said lawyer Chris Dolan of Dolan Law Firm, who is representing a 6-year-old girl struck and killed by an Uber driver earlier this year. "They're giving Uber a free pass -- up to death."
Dolan claims Uber's terms and conditions are a way for the company to absolve itself of any liability in cases of injury or accident and to avoid responsibility for a driver's actions. "It completely covers their ass and says 'We're not responsible for anything that happens to you, period,'" Dolan said. "It says, 'You can be raped, you can be killed, you can be murdered, and it's not our responsibility.'"
When asked about the protections Uber offers passengers, an Uber spokesperson pointed CNET to its
on safety. The page details the background checks drivers go through -- which require county, state and federal checks that go back seven years -- and the $1 million liability insurance they must carry.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has heralded the service as being ultrasafe. "Safety is No. 1 at Uber...so we make sure the system is in place so riders get the safest ride possible," Kalanick told
in June. "With that said, Uber is in the limelight. When things happen, if there's claims of any kind in any city in any car, we take those claims very seriously."
Dolan believes Uber's statements on safety contradict its terms and conditions. "It's an outright deception on people," Dolan said. "They do not in any way seek to warrant that their product is safe. They put it right there in the writing."
The fine print of Uber's
clearly says that passengers accept a risk by using the service.
"You understand, therefore, that by using the application and the service, you may be exposed to transportation that is potentially dangerous, offensive, harmful to minors, unsafe or otherwise objectionable," Uber's terms and conditions read, "and that you use the application and the service at your own risk."
A look at Lyft's
shows it operates nearly the same way. "Lyft has no responsibility whatsoever for the actions or conduct of drivers or riders," the terms of service reads. "Responsibility for the decisions you make regarding providing or accepting transportation rest solely with You... Drivers and riders use the services at their own risk."
Legal analyst and ex-prosecutor Steve Clark said that Uber and Lyft are basically trying to show through these terms of use that they are ride-matching services, rather than transportation companies. (He is not representing any passengers in lawsuits with
Uber or Lyft, and he hasn't advised either company). If they can prove they are merely tech platforms, he said, they may be able to protect themselves from some lawsuits. Yet, Clark said, "it remains to be seen if their terms of use would be enough to shield them from liability."A parallel could be drawn with online dating services, which faced their own liability challenges early on. In one high-profile incident in 2011,
by a woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted by a date she met through the service. That lawsuit concluded
began screening its members for sexual predators.Are ride-sharing passengers out of luck?
Though the vast majority of Uber and Lyft drivers are safe, courteous and competent, several incidents have occurred during the last year that have called into question the safety of the services. The most severe incident was the death of 6-year-old Sophia Liu, who was
on New Year's Eve in San Francisco. There have also been
more than a dozen
; and , according to several media stories.Uber passengers request rides with a smartphone app.
Even though Uber covers itself with its terms and conditions, Clark said Uber could still be held responsible for the hammer attack. "This appears to be a dispute about the route, and Uber will probably be on the hook for that," Clark said.
When Karajah began driving for Uber, he
had no criminal record, according to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office. Even so,
Uber still may be accountable for Karajah's alleged actions if it's proven
the company didn't adequately train him in how to deal with conflicts with passengers, Clark said.
"The question isn't only did he have a clean record, but how well was he trained," Clark said. "Just doing a background check and saying, 'You're on the way,' is not enough. You need some guidelines saying 'This is how you treat unruly passengers.'"
Uber declined to detail the training its drivers go through.
Uber drivers are
, rather than employees, which could protect Uber from liability, Clark said. But the company's terms and conditions could be trumped in court if it's shown that Uber exercises a certain amount of control over its drivers and they are akin to employees. Such factors of control include the ability to hire and fire drivers, decide where their services are performed, or provide them with specialized equipment, along with other considerations -- many of which, some would argue, Uber has.
"The problem for Uber is the more control they assert, the more likely these people are going to be characterized as employees," Clark said. "It's kind of a double-edged sword for Uber. If it doesn't do training, it could be held liable for other reasons."What about taxi safety?
No transportation service can guarantee that attacks won't happen. But if something terrible occurs, a passenger may receive monetary compensation without having to go through a legal nightmare to get it, depending on the type of insurance coverage a given service has.
Victims of assault can sue individual drivers, but they're likely to get
more adequate compensation if they go through the company that arranged the
ride in the first place, said Dave Sutton, spokesperson for
, an advocacy association for taxicab, limo and paratransit services.
While there are risks in using Uber and Lyft's service, are cabs any better?
Related Stories
Taxi drivers have assaulted passengers. The difference, Sutton said, is that cab companies are usually accountable in such instances.
Regulations for taxi companies vary from city to city, but all cab companies must have liability insurance of at least $250,000. The key, however, is that most taxi companies also have a backup umbrella policy to cover rare occurrences, like a passenger slipping on ice or being attacked by a driver, Sutton said.
San Francisco's Municipal Transportation Agency says on its
that the insurance that city cab companies carry means "when you hire a San Francisco taxi, you have proper legal recourse should the need arise."
While Uber
its drivers to have $1 million of liability insurance coverage, which is higher than many cab companies, it's unclear if this would cover incidents like a driver attacking a passenger. This type of insurance coverage is typically meant for car accidents.
Uber declined to say whether Karajah's insurance would pay for the costs of the alleged incident with Chicas.
Uber's insurance adjuster has contacted Stern regarding the injuries that Chicas suffered, Stern said. He's
waiting to see whether Uber will "come to the table and accept responsibility." If it doesn't, Stern said, he's prepared to sue.
"I'm not one that wants to stifle technology, by any means," Stern said. "But [Uber] just wants to reap all the profits and not be responsible when things go bad."
About the author
Dara Kerr is a staff reporter for CNET focused on the sharing economy and tech culture. She grew up in Colorado where she developed an affinity for collecting fool's gold and spirit animals.
Discuss How risky is your Uber ride? Maybe more than...Driving for dollars: Thousands sign up to work for UberX and other ride-share services
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Driving for dollars with UberX
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Single mothers, translators and students are among those turning the family ride into a profit center.
Single mothers, translators and students are among those turning the family ride into a profit center.
UberX driver Reagan Rucker calls a customer she is picking up.
Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post
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Reagan Rucker knew she wanted to join the thousands of local motorists hauling strangers around in their cars the first time she took an UberX ride as a passenger. The single mother from Northeast Washington had been out of work three years last fall when a friend took her to run errands using the smartphone-based ride-share service, which links people needing rides with car owners willing to give them — for a price. Suddenly, the onetime waitress could envision herself driving for dollars. “I said ‘Let me try this,’ ” said Rucker, 40, who took on a $300 monthly payment for a 2009 Hyundai Elantra (to meet Uber’s requirements for late-model, four-door sedans), went through criminal-background and driving-record checks, and began her unexpected career as a driver for hire. By her third week, she’d logged 51.5 hours and cleared $1,280 after Uber’s 20 percent cut. That’s a $64,000-a-year clip, if she could keep up the pace of driving nights, weekends and while her two teenage daughters are in school. “That was a lot of driving,” Rucker said. “Money is a motivator.” Rucker is among the flood of local drivers flocking to join ride-share companies that have recently arrived in the Washington area such as UberX, Sidecar and Lyft (whose cars sport bushy pink mustaches on the grille). The firms won’t give exact numbers, but an UberX spokesman said thousands of Washington area drivers have signed up since the service launched in September. Unlike Uber’s more upscale “black car” service, UberX relies on modest sedans at rates meant to be fares.
UberX driver Reagan Rucker calls a customer she is picking up on April 4 in Washington. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post)
The Uber driver app on the windshield of Rucker’s car indicates surge pricing during peak ridership on a Friday night. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post)
City officials and traditional taxi companies are scrambling to respond to the upstarts. The D.C. Taxicab Commission on Wednesday took upon ride-share drivers, from limiting the number of hours they can drive and increasing the amount of their liability coverage to allowing taxis to mimic Uber’s dynamic pricing model in some circumstances. Proposals under consideration by the D.C. Council with the most support would leave the driving hours alone but mandate higher insurance requirements, background checks, and zero-tolerance drug and alcohol standards. The industry, meanwhile, is trying to sow doubts about the amateur hacks through a social media campaign funded by the Rockville-based Taxicab, Limousine and Paratransit Association. None of that has stopped mobs of students, waiters, translators and former cabbies from vacuuming their mats, applying the Armor All and opening the rear doors to tech-savvy passengers looking for new ways to get around. Flexible hours, low start-up costs and the security of cash-free transactions are attracting drivers who wouldn’t consider driving a regular taxi. Rucker never thought about becoming a cabbie. But she is fine responding to calls from pre-registered customers using the Uber smartphone app. The company handles the money, billing the passenger’s credit card on file and then paying — minus Uber’s share — into Rucker’s account. “I feel very safe,” Rucker said. “They have a record of everyone who gets in my car and everything that goes on.” A recent day-long circumnavigation of Washington via UberX — 10 hours of hopscotching the region with 10 drivers, all of whom responded randomly to calls on the app — plus a few earlier reconnaissance rides, opened up a windshield view into the pleasures and pitfalls of turning the family ride into a profit center.
UberX driver Sanjiv Kumar waits to pick up a passenger at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Woodley Park on April 9 in Washington. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post)
The driver corps of UberX included an aspiring respiratory therapist, an accounting student, an official at a District university, an Army Reservist who works for a federal agency, a drugstore clerk, an economist and a foreign language teacher. The sample looked much like the region’s traditional corps of taxi drivers: mostly men, mostly foreign born. “Immigrants from Africa and the Middle East have been the early adopters,” said Zuhairah Washington, manager of Uber’s local operations. “The marketing so far has been word of mouth.” The service works just like Uber’s original app-based system. A user can see how many UberX cars are in the vicinity on a dynamic map, along with an approximate response time. After someone requests a ride, the software names the driver, the type of car and an estimated arrival time. Downtown, cars arrived in five to 10 minutes, on average. In the suburbs, response times varied, depending on the time of day and number of drivers in the area. In one case, it took almost 30 minutes for a car to reach Takoma Park. Ehsan Khan ( Mount Vernon Square to Takoma Park, $21.49 ), who was born in Pakistan but grew up in Springfield, was a long-haul truck driver when his father’s failing heath required him to find a job closer to home. He’d like to drive dump trucks for a construction company, but until he finds that gig, he’s picking up fares in his 2013 Camry. The biggest challenge for Khan has been learning to please type-A Washington passengers. One rider apologized for being a self-described (unmentionable body part) even as he insisted that Khan lay on his horn and cut off other cars in their rush to Union Station. Khan’s revenge was subtle. “I gave him one star,” Khan said, referring to the one-to-five scale that Uber drivers and passengers use to rate each other at the end of every ride. Riders see a driver’s score when drivers can use the scale to avoid rude riders. “If you see a rating of 3.2, 3.4, you know there is something going on with that customer,” said Michael Belet (Silver Spring to McPherson Square, $20.60), who put his Camry into service after years driving a Barwood taxi in Montgomery County. His rating is 4.8. Drivers obsess about these approval scores. Belet refuses tips, asking for a “five” rating instead. Sanjiv Kumar (Dulles to Arlington, $65) keeps his back seat stocked with bottles of water and copies of India Currents magazine. Ali Jaghori (Rosslyn to Alexandria, $18.34), a former Afghan translator who now lives in Gainesville, lined the rear floorboards of his Toyota Rav4 with Oriental rugs.
UberX driver Ali Jaghori drives customer Katie McKinney to Glover Park on April 4 in Washington. Jaghori, a former Washington Flyer driver, now drives only for UberX. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post)
If a driver’s rating dips below 4.7, Uber offers coaching on customer service or mastering the local road network. Novice navigators getting lost is a common complaint, according to drivers. If the ratings worsen, the company has been known to boot people from the system. Eyob Tesfa (Bethesda to Rockville, $21.72), an accounting student at Strayer University who has been driving about 25 hours a week since February, tells of one friend who was cut off. “She got into an argument with a passenger, and he gave her a zero,” he said. “She was fired.” Lawmakers in cities and states across the country are struggling to get a handle on ride-share services, which are wreaking havoc on the old taxi order. The start-ups say they’re a new business model and should be allowed to operate without government interference. But cab companies and some government officials say the lack of oversight gives these services an unfair advantage and may pose a risk to passengers. In the District, for example, prospective cabdrivers may spend more than $600 on training, testing and licensing. Once they start working, they are required to renew their special license each year and have their vehicles inspected regularly. UberX drivers need little more than a clean driving record, a relatively new car and the smartphone that Uber issues for a $100 deposit.
UberX driver Michael Belet, a former Barwood taxi driver, drives Nora Toiv to Alexandria on April 7. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post)
Belet said he grew tired of paying $105 a day to rent his Barwood taxi and jumped at the chance to use his own car. Many of his fellow drivers, he said, are switching: “If you go by the Barwood garage now, you see a lot of parked taxis.” Kensington-based Barwood acknowledged in a statement that “a small handful of drivers” have defected to its unregulated competitors. But the company insists that the “majority of our drivers choose to stay with Barwood because they are focused on serving all kinds of customers at all income levels with strong consumer and safety protections in place.”
Tesfa said that his family — including his father, who worked as a cabbie in Ethi-o-pia — wasn’t happy about him picking up strangers. He allowed that gripping the wheel for hours and tapping the brakes through endless traffic can be exhausting. But with a year to go before he graduates, he’s committed. “I don’t want to be a driver. I want to be an accountant,” said the 35-year-old Silver Spring resident. “But this is something I can do while I’m studying.” Tesfa picks up passengers between classes and drives until the clubs close on Friday and Saturday nights. Mesaye Debele (Takoma Park to Thomas Circle, $21.52), who is looking for his first job as a respiratory therapist after graduating from Salisbury University, gets in about 30 hours a week but won’t drive during party hours. “Maybe some people are drunk, so I turn my phone off after 9,” Debele said. “I like to keep my car clean. I buy my air fresheners in bulk packs now.”
A fare summary is seen on the Uber app in the car of UberX driver Sanjiv Kumar, a former Washington Flyer driver on April 9 in Washington. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post)
UberX driver Michael Belet, a former Barwood taxi driver, drives past taxis in downtown Washington on April 7. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post)
Many drivers sign on after they leave their day jobs, including several who asked not to be fully identified to keep the moonlighting under wraps. Ibrahim (McPherson Square to Langley Park, $22.90), who works full time at a university in the District, finds that turning on his Uber phone for two hours is better use of his time than trying to get home to Fairfax during the evening rush. “I make some money, and then I can get home in 20 minutes instead of two hours,” he said. David (National Harbor to Union Station, $25.39) is a U.S. Army Reservist who works for a federal agency that he asked not be named. Picking up fares on evenings and weekends with his immaculate beige Lexus, he has a goal of banking $1,000 a week to start a printing business in his native Uganda. Wais (Alexandria to National Harbor, $20.08) teaches foreign languages at an international telecommunications company in Princes George’s County and routinely picks up a fare or two on his commute to his home in Springfield. The extra money helps with the bills in his family of five, but the holder of degrees in business and Persian literature said that driving for money hasn’t come easily. The day before a customer had complained about Uber’s policy of “surge pricing,” which automatically increases the fare if demand for rides outstrips available cars. “He was very rude,” Wais said. “I told him, ‘Sir, I am not a taxi driver.’ ” And then he rated the customer a 3.
Steve Hendrix came to The Post more than ten years ago from the world of magazine freelancing and has written for just about every page of the paper: Travel, Style, the Magazine, Book World, Foreign, National and, most recently, the Metro section’s Enterprise Team.Lori Aratani writes about how people live, work and play in the D.C. region for The Post’s Transportation and Development team.
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