Uber Driver Accused of Raping Passenger in Boston
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Re: Uber Driver Accused of Raping Passenger in Boston
#2This is clearly horrible, but there seems to be a perception that Uber's business model is somehow conducive to this, or at least related. I'd argue the opposite - if a regular cab driver (or a gypsy cab) were to commit the same crime
a) nobody would report on it
b) you'd have a much harder time tracking down the perp
With Uber my wife has a record of exact pickup and drop-off location, route (including any stops for criminal activity) as well as the driver's picture, name, car description etc. I feel much better about that than I would about a random yellow cab.
And while we're at it, let's stop holding up cab drivers as paragons of virtue. I've read so many articles about Uber lately that make it sound like only the purest of heart and noblest of mankind drive real taxis and pay their graft ^H^H^H^H^H medallion fees...
Re: Uber Driver Accused of Raping Passenger in Boston
#3I can't tell if these are legitimate growing pains any company experiencing such a growth spurt might incur or if these are a fault of Uber's.
Dumb comments made by CEOs, rapes by drivers all over the world.
The dumb comments by the CEOs are dumb, but they're just that.
The rapes on the other hand? A quick google search turns up a slew of results for taxi rape. It doesn't appear to be endemic but it doesn't appear to be uncommon. Of course, were Uber to dismiss these charges as "things that happen" there'd be a slew of outrage. But what solutions are there? Panic buttons? How do you track millions of separate entities all across the globe? And what do you do when someone presses the panic button? Are police able to get there in time? Do the police do "the right thing" half the time?
My belief is in India, often times, the "face" (as the Chinese use the term, to save face) of a rapist may often be considered more worthy of protection than the woman.
These are tough questions that the company must use considerable tact in handling.
They're not going to be able to offer free rides for every national disaster such as the one that occurred recently in Sydney. Will they set up a control center to monitor world events and observe when not to jack prices up?
And can any one reporter, group of people, or group in general understand and come up with a perfect way to handle a forty billion dollar globe spanning company which deals with people at such an individual level.
Most companies of that scale don't deal with individuals in confined spaces where trust is a prerequisite and many times assumed. Can a company handle that level of scrutiny on a global scale?
If a rape occurs in a NYC yellow cab, the damage is relatively confined to the NYC yellow cabs (still a seriously large market but the point is made). However when allegations come from all over the world every day, can any company withstand the pressures?
Re: Uber Driver Accused of Raping Passenger in Boston
#4All of this rape hysteria is a tactic by the media to induce vulnerability feels into women and soft men and push their votes towards Hillary in 2016.
Re: Uber Driver Accused of Raping Passenger in Boston
#5[deleted]
Re: Uber Driver Accused of Raping Passenger in Boston
#6It's important that we forgive Uber for these unfortunate incidents. It's wrong to pick on an innocent company for the misdeeds of a few employees.
Re: Uber Driver Accused of Raping Passenger in Boston
#7This is clearly horrible, but there seems to be a perception that Uber's business model is somehow conducive to this, or at least related. I'd argue the opposite - if a regular cab driver (or a gypsy cab) were to commit the same crime a) nobody would report on it b) you'd have a much harder time tracking down the perp With Uber my wife has a record of exact pickup and drop-off location, route (including any stops for…
I don't think Uber's model is necessarily conducive to this, but with small private hire firms it is likely that any case like this would bankrupt them so they may be more careful about drivers they take on. Uber has scale, but that also divorces it from the effects of "one bad apple".
Also, while I agree that taxi drivers are no better than any group - if you've paid for a medallion I doubt you would waste all that on committing a crime like this.
Running an unlicensed cab - now that is a dodgy bunch of people that no-one should get in a car with.
Re: Uber Driver Accused of Raping Passenger in Boston
#8This is clearly horrible, but there seems to be a perception that Uber's business model is somehow conducive to this, or at least related. I'd argue the opposite - if a regular cab driver (or a gypsy cab) were to commit the same crime a) nobody would report on it b) you'd have a much harder time tracking down the perp With Uber my wife has a record of exact pickup and drop-off location, route (including any stops for…
I mostly agree, but (a) is untrue. A driver of a popular Bay Area airport shuttle service raped a woman and I did read about it.
Re: Uber Driver Accused of Raping Passenger in Boston
#9It's important that we forgive Uber for these unfortunate incidents. It's wrong to pick on an innocent company for the misdeeds of a few employees.
I'm pretty sure people would be after blood from most companies if the rape occurred on company time and company premises.
(Yes I know the cab isn't owned by Uber, but the analogy fits)
Re: Uber Driver Accused of Raping Passenger in Boston
#10This is clearly horrible, but there seems to be a perception that Uber's business model is somehow conducive to this, or at least related. I'd argue the opposite - if a regular cab driver (or a gypsy cab) were to commit the same crime a) nobody would report on it b) you'd have a much harder time tracking down the perp With Uber my wife has a record of exact pickup and drop-off location, route (including any stops for…
I don't think Uber's model is necessarily conducive to this, but with small private hire firms it is likely that any case like this would bankrupt them so they may be more careful about drivers they take on. Uber has scale, but that also divorces it from the effects of "one bad apple". Also, while I agree that taxi drivers are no better than any group - if you've paid for a medallion I doubt you would waste all that…
Few (if any) taxi drivers are medallion owners. Drivers pay lease fees to access medallions and the vehicles to which they're attached.