What is Mass.?
The state of Massachusetts in USA. MA is the official abbreviation, but locally people use Mass. pretty frequently.
More than 8,000 ride-share drivers flunked Mass. background checks
41–50 of 51 posts
Re: More than 8,000 ride-share drivers flunked Mass. background checks
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
The indefinite look back is only for certain disqualifying offenses. Most (many of which are still rather serious) are 7 years. http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dpu/transportation-network-comp...
Counterpoint: plenty of non-violent offecences there with unlimited lookback as well. G.L. c. 272, §7 (Support From, or Sharing, Earnings of Prostitute) G.L. c. 272, §12 (Procuring Person to Practice, or Enter a Place for Prostitution; Employment Office Procuring Person) G.L. c. 272, § 16 (Open and Gross Lewdness and Lascivious Behavior) G.L. c. 272, §53 (Indecent Exposure) G.L. c. 272, §53 (Accosting or Annoying a P…
There's a documentary about the reality of prostitution called "Very Young Girls" that I suggest everyone watch. It dispels a lot of the myths around the realities of prostitution in America. By and large it is the manipulation of underage girls who end up victimized by their pimps, their johns, and society in general.
Re: More than 8,000 ride-share drivers flunked Mass. background checks
#43I will take this with a grain of salt given the excessive criminalisation of ordinary behaviour. Even for horrible terms like "sex offender" we can not be sure if the guy was a rapist or someone getting a happy ending in massage parlour.
The sex-offenders are just a minuscule part of the rejected (less than 1%). How is a history of violent crime ordinary behaviour? How are multiple serious driving offenses ordinary?
Re: More than 8,000 ride-share drivers flunked Mass. background checks
#44Look, until the next Marilyn Manson is driving in ride sharing programs and randomly killing people that were otherwise contributing to society, I'm not going to care and will be perfectly content not caring about the illegitimate dragnet of sex offender status.
I care WAYYYY more about the driver masquerading as a local but doesn't know the roads for my daily commute.
They're going to be replaced by machines waay before a more comprehensive and relevant background check framework is established anyway, so stop trying to marginalize people trying to make a buck.
Re: More than 8,000 ride-share drivers flunked Mass. background checks
#45Look, until the next Marilyn Manson is driving in ride sharing programs and randomly killing people that were otherwise contributing to society, I'm not going to care and will be perfectly content not caring about the illegitimate dragnet of sex offender status. I care WAYYYY more about the driver masquerading as a local but doesn't know the roads for my daily commute. They're going to be replaced by machines waay be…
You know Marilyn Manson is a rock musician and not a spree killer right?
Edit: also what you describe has happened: https://www.google.com/amp/www.gq.com/story/the-uber-killer/...
Re: More than 8,000 ride-share drivers flunked Mass. background checks
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
I will defend the right of sex offenders, people with suspended licenses etc. unless I know the specific crime for which they were convicted. A person pissing in a bush can become a sexual offender, an 18 year old kid having sex with 16 year old girlfriend can become sex offender. People might get their license suspended because of economic hardship. Putting all these people in same bracket as a brazen criminal is a…
Yes but that is a different issue that has little baring on this case. If you would not be able to pass a CBC and hold a taxi license you should not be driving people around. If you think edge cases are an issue then it's an issue with the criminal justice system not background check. There will always be extreme cases because you need to draw a line at some point. You might find it acceptable for an 18 year old to h…
Uber's entire business model is pretty much to cut in on traditional licensed taxi services by lowering the entry requirements for their drivers, on the assumption that customers prefer that risk/cost tradeoff. If you are more risk averse, you're not their customer - you use a traditional taxi.
Re: More than 8,000 ride-share drivers flunked Mass. background checks
#47I will take this with a grain of salt given the excessive criminalisation of ordinary behaviour. Even for horrible terms like "sex offender" we can not be sure if the guy was a rapist or someone getting a happy ending in massage parlour.
The sex-offenders are just a minuscule part of the rejected (less than 1%). How is a history of violent crime ordinary behaviour? How are multiple serious driving offenses ordinary?
Due to the nature of how they must be enforced these crimes are defined vaguely and arbitrarily in relation to actual risk to safety.
Assault, a common violent crime, doesn't actually require the person charged to have caused harm - no intent to cause physical injury needs to exist, and no physical injury needs to result - simply proving that one caused "apprehension of imminent contact" in the victim satisfies the legal definition of assault. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/assault
Driving offenses are also arbitrarily coded for easy enforcement - speed isn't as closely related to risk as following distance. If you exceed 80 mph in VA then that's considered reckless driving (a jailable offense), while no minimum following distance is enforced. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reckless_driving#Virginia
Re: More than 8,000 ride-share drivers flunked Mass. background checks
#48Look, until the next Marilyn Manson is driving in ride sharing programs and randomly killing people that were otherwise contributing to society, I'm not going to care and will be perfectly content not caring about the illegitimate dragnet of sex offender status. I care WAYYYY more about the driver masquerading as a local but doesn't know the roads for my daily commute. They're going to be replaced by machines waay be…
You know Marilyn Manson is a rock musician and not a spree killer right? Edit: also what you describe has happened: https://www.google.com/amp/www.gq.com/story/the-uber-killer/...
Meant charles i think, the serial killer, and my point stands
Re: More than 8,000 ride-share drivers flunked Mass. background checks
#49I will take this with a grain of salt given the excessive criminalisation of ordinary behaviour. Even for horrible terms like "sex offender" we can not be sure if the guy was a rapist or someone getting a happy ending in massage parlour.
The sex-offenders are just a minuscule part of the rejected (less than 1%). How is a history of violent crime ordinary behaviour? How are multiple serious driving offenses ordinary?
> How is a history of violent crime ordinary behaviour?
When you and me read the word "violent crime" we think of Joker with a bloody baseball bat beating up Jason Todd. For government a lady defending herself from rapist boyfriend could be violent crime. She was just too poor to put up a proper defence. I can show you plenty of people especially women from poor neighbourhoods who chose violence for perfectly legitimate reason but narcissist DA charged them and offer them 1 year guilty plea or potential 10 year jail.
I don't buy government's definition of "violent crime" to the slightest and refuse to treat the entire group as some evil people who can not even drive Uber.
> How are multiple serious driving offences ordinary?
Again it boils down to what "serious driving offence" means. A most of them are something which I would just laugh at. Failure to renew vehicle registration, excessive speeding, failure to stop and exchange information after a collision or property damage (most common for poor people).
While I would treat DUI as a serious red flag I will totally overlook failure to renew vehicle registration or failure to exchange information after collision.
Re: More than 8,000 ride-share drivers flunked Mass. background checks
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
I will defend the right of sex offenders, people with suspended licenses etc. unless I know the specific crime for which they were convicted. A person pissing in a bush can become a sexual offender, an 18 year old kid having sex with 16 year old girlfriend can become sex offender. People might get their license suspended because of economic hardship. Putting all these people in same bracket as a brazen criminal is a…
Yes but that is a different issue that has little baring on this case. If you would not be able to pass a CBC and hold a taxi license you should not be driving people around. If you think edge cases are an issue then it's an issue with the criminal justice system not background check. There will always be extreme cases because you need to draw a line at some point. You might find it acceptable for an 18 year old to h…
I am personally fine to ride with a driver who was convicted of anything as long as he has served his/her time. I consider the debt paid and believe in second chances.
If traditional Taxi drivers want to use "our drivers are safer than Uber" as a competitive advantage then let them be but I don't see why Uber should be forced into some arbitrary check as long as the riders know their options.