Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

geekwire.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 86 posts

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#21

Post by seanmcdirmid »

VLM wrote: post #19
ck2 wrote: post #2

This is why you don't have "conversations" with law enforcement. If it actually was illegal, even if you didn't know, you just confessed to a crime and they can use what you just told them against you. ps. reality-check, this dude paid $100 to basically get across town and eventually back - this is not how most of the rest of the world lives

One possibly useful data point is this is Denver Colorado and the "local" airport for Denver can be a good 30-40 mile drive depending on where your Denver side destination is located. Its entirely possible he's only paying $1/mile or so which isn't all that bad for door to door service. Or put another way the driver is only grossing in revenue maybe $30/hour and has expenses and probably doesn't earn revenue 8 hours…

Unless your train stations are out further than your airports with poorer transport connections into the city. So is life in china.

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#22

Post by VLM »

jcromartie wrote: post #16

Why does it seem like so many people in authority just hate Uber? Is it the "dirty hippie" effect? Everything new is threatening and scary? What is it?

"people in authority" get payoffs from organized crime, and Uber isn't playing along nicely.

"Is it the "dirty hippie" effect?" sort of, read between the lines of the story, driver's second language is English, etc, there are two driving experiences in America, driving while white and driving while minority. The author seemed shocked to experience a fairly normal "driving while minority". I didn't find the story all that unusual from discussion with minority coworkers. If the driver was white, they would not have been hassled as per departmental policy, so there wouldn't have been a story.

Looking at the history of enforcement of Jim Crow laws, being treated as a "dirty hippie" can be considered progress in race relations. Nobody got beaten, jailed, shot, or lynched.

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#23

Post by seanmcdirmid »

product50 wrote: post #9
chmars wrote: post #3

I get (and like) Uber. On the other hand, I do not really get UberX. What is the difference to any other taxi I order by using an app (and there are many such apps now in most cities, at least in Western Europe)? I have used UberX too and most drivers told me that we were not accepted for Uber, so they were driving for UberX in the hope of making it to Uber later. That would also explain part of your experience, i.e.…

You definitely haven't taken a cab in big cities in US. Cab drivers always speed. It is what they do - I don't know why - but driving below 75mph is not within their realm of possibilities. You also haven't taken a UberX ride from looks of it. If you did, you would realize that they never ever speed and are very courteous in their manners! I know it sounds strange - that professional drivers speed like mad dogs and a…

Cab drivers in Seattle don't seem to speed, at least never from seatac to Bellevue.

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#24

Post by seanmcdirmid »

watwut wrote: post #4
chmars wrote: post #3

I get (and like) Uber. On the other hand, I do not really get UberX. What is the difference to any other taxi I order by using an app (and there are many such apps now in most cities, at least in Western Europe)? I have used UberX too and most drivers told me that we were not accepted for Uber, so they were driving for UberX in the hope of making it to Uber later. That would also explain part of your experience, i.e.…

"For a professional driver, speeding, especially when driving a customer, should be an absolute no-go." That does not describe my experience with taxi drivers at all. They speed a lot and customers expect them to speed when they hurry somewhere. (I do not live in USA)

Beijing taxis most often don't speed, but that has more to do with the traffic and speed cameras than anything else. I've seen cars implode at night on the ring road going 2x the limit, it is quite an experience to watch their wheels just pop off.

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#25

Post by gedrap »

Drama drama. It seems like 'police are bad' is such a popular prejudgement, and if a police officer pulls you over he definitely wants to throw you to jail for no reason.

Police officer pulled over. Anything wrong with that? Nope.

Officer asked for the documents. Anything to get offended with? Nope.

>>> “Seattle man arrested for taking Uber to the Denver airport.”

Did officer mention anything about arresting, anything like that? Nope. That's the authors exaggeration.

>>> I asked him one more time if what I was doing was illegal. He said he didn’t want to debate the law.

And then the author tries to be a bit of a smart-ass. Officer made a mistake, do you really have to be a smart-ass? Would it help you, in any way? Nope.

>>> the gun (which was clearly visible in his holster)

Yeah, the officer was definitely going to shoot you for taking an Uber. Totally.

I am not saying that the law enforcement officers are 100% correct all the time. But articles like that, they just portray the author as a bit childish primadonna. The officer was just doing his job, while the author was sweating that he will get arrested (if the officer doesn't shoot him dead before) for taking an Uber.

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#26

Post by seanmcdirmid »

ck2 wrote: post #20
Dylan16807 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reality check, this dude had taken a plane and needed transport around his destination - this is very much how people live when on a trip. This is perfectly normal behavior in most of the world, especially when it's a trip for business purposes. The only change is that the price of travel varies extremely between countries.

No, I can safely say there are billions (with a b) of people in this world who could never afford to take a $100 car ride across town and back. If you think this is normal, you are in an elite group and only use people in your group to compare to. Even if there are a million people in that group, it is still elite.

And these billions of people are all living in the states and flying into Colorado?

As an American, I thought American taxis were expensive until I visited Europe some....wow, or even japan. It's all about the perspective.

Chinese farmers are in an elite group compared to African or even Vietnamese farmers...so what is your point?

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#27

Post by oldmanjay »

ck2 wrote: post #20
Dylan16807 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reality check, this dude had taken a plane and needed transport around his destination - this is very much how people live when on a trip. This is perfectly normal behavior in most of the world, especially when it's a trip for business purposes. The only change is that the price of travel varies extremely between countries.

No, I can safely say there are billions (with a b) of people in this world who could never afford to take a $100 car ride across town and back. If you think this is normal, you are in an elite group and only use people in your group to compare to. Even if there are a million people in that group, it is still elite.

there are 330 million people in the US for whom these rates are perfectly normal. if you want to call us an elite group, those are your words. if you want us to apologize for having an advanced economy, you might be waiting a while.

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#28

Post by Nursie »

jcromartie wrote: post #16

Why does it seem like so many people in authority just hate Uber? Is it the "dirty hippie" effect? Everything new is threatening and scary? What is it?

Dirty hippies? Uber? The libertarian/ultracapitalist, big-business funded cab empire?

LOL

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#29

Post by chippy »

oldmanjay wrote: post #27
ck2 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I can safely say there are billions (with a b) of people in this world who could never afford to take a $100 car ride across town and back. If you think this is normal, you are in an elite group and only use people in your group to compare to. Even if there are a million people in that group, it is still elite.

there are 330 million people in the US for whom these rates are perfectly normal. if you want to call us an elite group, those are your words. if you want us to apologize for having an advanced economy, you might be waiting a while.

and the irony is that Uber's main business model is making these rates cheaper!

(I've been to Denver once - I took a shuttle bus from the airport to my hotel on Colfax (took long way around and was not that cheap) and the public bus back to the terminal which left from the central bus station, was cheap and direct.)

Re: My Uber got pulled over by the Denver police – and then things got really weird

#30

Post by patrickmay »

As a passenger you are not required to produce identification unless the officer has probable cause that you have committed another crime (i.e. not wearing a seatbelt): http://www.patc.com/enewsletter/legal-answers/2-apr08.shtml

It's always best to avoid any discussion with law enforcement, even if you have nothing to hide.

Post reply on HN