Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute • Hacker News Board

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#91

Post by rconti » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 8:52 PM UTC

levemi wrote: post #58

philip1209 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No insurance is a huge red flag to me

People shouldn't just worry about "no insurance" but also underinsurance. Minimal insurance in many areas is ridiculously too low. If you're signing up to do this as a driver you better #1 Tell your auto insurance company and #2 Up your insurance levels to the max (something you should probably do anyways if you can afford it). If you're signing up to do this as a rider, well I don't think you should given the insura…

Or make sure you have health insurance.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#92

Post by floodfx » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 8:57 PM UTC

mikeryan wrote: post #17

A few notes on items I find a bit strange here. 1. To get from the East Bay to SF in the carpool lane you need 2 passengers (3 people total - or a car that only seats two) 2. The East Bay already has a pretty nice system for this called the Casual Carpool which is probably its biggest competition. The Casual Carpool is just a bunch of spots (usually BART Stations) where drivers can stop and pick up a few other passen…

I've been riding the Casual Carpool for the last 6 years. Love it! The reason drivers don't care about "revenue" is that they are driving across the bridge anyway and care more about the time than money. Another way to think about it is the 30 minutes saved by picking up riders and getting into the carpool lane is payment enough. Also explains the reason why riding back to east bay is not "successful". It isn't particularly faster nor as convenient.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#93

Post by rconti » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 8:57 PM UTC

randyrand wrote: post #64

This would be better if you could ride with the same people or persons on a regular basis. Maybe at reduced lyft fees.

You could. Just arrange it informally once you get to know the driver/passengers and ditch Lyft entirely.

Which is a risk a service like this faces.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#94

Post by api » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 9:04 PM UTC

Really would love this in Orange County, CA. I think it would work very well in SoCal where there isn't a lot of transit but many routes are fairly deterministic.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#95

Post by gambiting » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 9:12 PM UTC

brandonmenc wrote: post #90

chockablock wrote: post #19

No driver background checks or vehicle inspections, per the TOS [0]: "The Carpool Platform is operated by Clara Rides, Inc., not Lyft, Inc. Clara Rides, Inc. is not a Transportation Network Company or a transportation service. Clara Rides and Lyft do not conduct criminal background checks on Carpool Drivers, perform vehicle inspections on vehicles used for Carpool Rides, or provide insurance for Carpool Rides." [0] h…

A serious question to everyone complaining about uninsured drivers: do you ask your friends for proof of insurance before getting in their cars as passengers? Do any insurance companies sell passenger insurance to cover accidents when you're the passenger in a car with an underinsured driver?

1) I don't, but I don't have any friends who would be so stupid as to not have insurance. If I do, that means my choices in friends are poor, but I hope not. On the other hand, when I'm getting into a car with a stranger I would really like to know if they have insurance. Just like I don't check the food my friends are serving me to make sure it's fresh,but when I go to a restaurant I expect relevant agencies to make sure that people employed there know how to cook and the place fulfils certain hygiene requirements.

2) I guess if that happened my home insurance would cover it. I'm honestly not sure what would be there to cover if I was a passenger though, even if I had to be hospitalized it wouldn't cost a penny(national health care).

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#96

Post by snotrockets » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 9:12 PM UTC

codecamper wrote: post #72

philip1209 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No insurance is a huge red flag to me

I suppose they can't offer insurance because the insurance company didn't know how to compute the price. In other words, because Lyft is doing something very different than what has happened for the previous 6 or so years, the insurance industry doesn't know how to react. Sounds like an opportunity to me.

Oh, you could find an underwriter for everything if you look enough. It's just that the premium might be very high.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#97

Post by svachalek » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 9:13 PM UTC

brandonmenc wrote: post #90

chockablock wrote: post #19

No driver background checks or vehicle inspections, per the TOS [0]: "The Carpool Platform is operated by Clara Rides, Inc., not Lyft, Inc. Clara Rides, Inc. is not a Transportation Network Company or a transportation service. Clara Rides and Lyft do not conduct criminal background checks on Carpool Drivers, perform vehicle inspections on vehicles used for Carpool Rides, or provide insurance for Carpool Rides." [0] h…

A serious question to everyone complaining about uninsured drivers: do you ask your friends for proof of insurance before getting in their cars as passengers? Do any insurance companies sell passenger insurance to cover accidents when you're the passenger in a car with an underinsured driver?

1. No, but I have a pretty good understanding of the economic situation of my friends and would be very surprised if they are not in compliance with insurance requirements. Some guy who just drives up to my house, not so much.

2. There is something called "uninsured motorist insurance" which covers a variety of situations caused by drivers without insurance. You'd have to check the details of a given policy as to this situation. Even without that, your health, disability, and life insurance should apply.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#98

Post by api_or_ipa » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 9:14 PM UTC

joshandrews wrote: post #34

We've been doing this in Vancouver, Canada for 5 weeks now ( http://sparerides.com ). It is great to see another player doing true ridesharing. Lyft actually started with a business model similar to this ( http://zimride.com ) but saw much greater growth with the taxi model so rebranded and pushed that instead. While HOV lanes are a large incentive for drivers, we have seen that many of our drivers here in Vancouver…

Nice to see companies from the Vancouver tech sphere bubble up on HN.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#99

Post by brandonmenc » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 9:14 PM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #95

brandonmenc wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A serious question to everyone complaining about uninsured drivers: do you ask your friends for proof of insurance before getting in their cars as passengers? Do any insurance companies sell passenger insurance to cover accidents when you're the passenger in a car with an underinsured driver?

1) I don't, but I don't have any friends who would be so stupid as to not have insurance. If I do, that means my choices in friends are poor, but I hope not. On the other hand, when I'm getting into a car with a stranger I would really like to know if they have insurance. Just like I don't check the food my friends are serving me to make sure it's fresh,but when I go to a restaurant I expect relevant agencies to make…

> I don't have any friends who would be so stupid as to not have insurance

You might be surprised.

Probably less surprising is that they might be insured, but have taken out the minimum required for passengers.

> I'm honestly not sure what would be there to cover if I was a passenger though, even if I had to be hospitalized it wouldn't cost a penny

Pain and suffering, lost wages, cosmetic surgery.

Re: Lyft Carpool: A New Way to Commute

#100

Post by massysett » Tue, Mar 29, 2016, 9:15 PM UTC

brandonmenc wrote: post #90

chockablock wrote: post #19

No driver background checks or vehicle inspections, per the TOS [0]: "The Carpool Platform is operated by Clara Rides, Inc., not Lyft, Inc. Clara Rides, Inc. is not a Transportation Network Company or a transportation service. Clara Rides and Lyft do not conduct criminal background checks on Carpool Drivers, perform vehicle inspections on vehicles used for Carpool Rides, or provide insurance for Carpool Rides." [0] h…

A serious question to everyone complaining about uninsured drivers: do you ask your friends for proof of insurance before getting in their cars as passengers? Do any insurance companies sell passenger insurance to cover accidents when you're the passenger in a car with an underinsured driver?

I have health insurance, so treatment for my bodily injuries is covered. Someone else is driving, so if his negligence results in a wreck I generally won't be liable to the other driver. I won't be responsible for fixing his vehicle.

That covers most garden-variety car wrecks, so there is little need to be concerned about my friend's insurance. I suppose if I were really on top of things, I would ask my friends for proof of insurance anyway, because maybe I would want to sue him for pain and suffering, which his insurance might pay for (my health insurance would not pay for that, or for lost wages.)

Never seen "riding around in someone else's underinsured car" insurance. Typical umbrella policy wouldn't cover that unless I'm negligent. I suppose I could get disability coverage which might help protect against the lost wages from getting injured in someone else's car.