Uber?

Recently there was an Uber driver involved in a crash, with a kid as a fatality in the other car. Parents sued Uber, but lost so far. Uber claimed since driver had no passenger, they were not at fault. Of course the driver was hustling back downtown to be available for another fare. Think a taxi company could get off free, just because the cabbie had no passenger / ? ?

Quote: buzzardknot

Recently there was an Uber driver involved in a crash, with a kid as a fatality in the other car. Parents sued Uber, but lost so far. Uber claimed since driver had no passenger, they were not at fault. Of course the driver was hustling back downtown to be available for another fare. Think a taxi company could get off free, just because the cabbie had no passenger / ? ?

I wonder who is paying the workmen's comp on these guys? How about payroll tax?

I was at a place and an engineer ran his car in the ditch on his way to work. He sued and got WC because he said he was looking up at the powerline, therefore he was working?

Quote: petroglyph

I wonder who is paying the workmen's comp on these guys? How about payroll tax?

Drivers pay all of that, self-employed works that way. Get used to it, this is the new norm what with the government making employees so expensive.

aND YET EMPLOYEES HAVE NEVER BEEN CHEAPER.

Quote: buzzardknot

aND YET EMPLOYEES HAVE NEVER BEEN CHEAPER.

Ha! More and more mandated benefits keep driving the price higher. Health insurance, paid time off, this stuff keeps adding up.

Quote: AZDuffman

Drivers pay all of that, self-employed works that way. Get used to it, this is the new norm what with the government making employees so expensive.

I am fairly used to it. That is why I am certain no one goes by all the rules. I don't blame anyone a bit.

"Just trying to get by, being quiet and shy, in a world full of pushing and shoving" Jimmy Buffet

Quote: petroglyph

I am fairly used to it. That is why I am certain no one goes by all the rules. I don't blame anyone a bit.
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Uber drivers must go by the tax rules because
Uber reports every dime they make to the IRS.
There are no rules an Uber driver can let
slide. I'm reading that many of them refuse
to pick up at grocery stores and laundromats
and because of the short fares involved. I
don't know how they get out of it, when they
accept a ride, they're required to pick it up.

If a cab driver refused even one fare, it would
be the last fare he got all day, he might even
be fired. I would have told him to bring his cab
in, he was gone.

Quote: Evenbob

Uber drivers must go by the tax rules because
Uber reports every dime they make to the IRS.
There are no rules an Uber driver can let
slide. I'm reading that many of them refuse
to pick up at grocery stores and laundromats
and because of the short fares involved. I
don't know how they get out of it, when they
accept a ride, they're required to pick it up.

Uber tells them where the fare is so they can simply just not hit "accept."

Quote:

If a cab driver refused even one fare, it would
be the last fare he got all day, he might even
be fired. I would have told him to bring his cab
in, he was gone.

This is the beauty of being your own boss, you do not take a fare you do not want. Of course, Uber if not now eventually will send out the better fare offers to people who take the most fares and best ratings.

Quote: AZDuffman

This is the beauty of being your own boss, you do not take a fare you do not want. Of course, Uber if not now eventually will send out the better fare offers to people who take the most fares and best ratings.

How do they do it now? (still haven't used it)

In my mind, it seems like all Uber drivers should see a map of the area with people wanting rides.

Your position as uber driver is indicated on the map, and you can either ignore all the fares you don't want for whatever reason due to proximity or other reasons.

If some other uber driver grabs a choice fare before you decide, then you lose out, or vice versa.

It seems like you should be able to lock in your choice, and the customer waiting, doesn't even know who rejected him/her.

I don't know why the customer would even have to know who refused to pick them up.

Maybe they do it some other way though.

Quote: rxwine

How do they do it now? (still haven't used it)

This is spotty and just from my experience using it and talking to the guy. So if someone knows better for sure please correct me here.

When I booked it used the smart phone "use current location" feature. As a rider you confirm this is correct. Then you put where you want to go to. After all the confirm this confirm that you get a little "searching for driver" screen. That is all you see as a passenger.

Now, I asked the guy and he said it was a message on the app. I forget if he said it told the whole fare or if it just said the pickup location. But he accepts then it connects his and my info. Other details are in my review so I will not repeat it all here.

Now, from doing courier work and minimal dispatching as a PCO I know a few things. One is that it is bad to take a fare or run and then blow it off. Very, very bad. Once in a great while you can have a legit excuse, say if it was too long and you could not make the run. Or possibly say you accepted in error. But you pull than more than once and your name is crap with dispatch, the human remembers you or the computer dings you. Eventually you will be told to find new employment.

Seeing a fare then blowing it off I would assume is a real ticket to a new gig. No excuse for that, except maybe you report it was a bunch of drunks and felt unsafe.