• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Ride-Sharing Service Lyft Defies New York City, State Regulators

Ahlevah

Ahlevah

DP Veteran
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
14,776
Reaction score
5,115
Location
Pindostan
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Other
Here we go again:

Lyft, a 2-year-old app launched by a San Francisco-based startup, says it has recruited more than 500 drivers to use their own cars to carry passengers in Brooklyn and Queens starting at 7 p.m. Friday.

The company's planned debut comes without the approval of the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission, which regulates yellow and green cabs, and livery and black car services.

Lyft says it is filling a gap by allowing car owners to drive others needing rides in exchange for a "suggested donation" and shouldn't be subject to the regulations of New York City's for-hire vehicle industry.

Ride-Sharing Service Lyft Defies New York City, State Regulators - WSJ
Click to expand...

"Suggested donation." :lamoOnce again, old guard establishment interests run headlong into the iPhone. New York says this is about public safety, but whom are they kidding? This is about what it always is about: money and turf.
 
Ahlevah said:
Here we go again:



"Suggested donation." :lamoOnce again, old guard establishment interests run headlong into the iPhone. New York says this is about public safety, but whom are they kidding? This is about what it always is about: money and turf.
Click to expand...

Except it only takes once for it to be about safety, and that once already happened.

My Uber driver kidnapped me! | New York Post
 
Ahlevah said:
Here we go again:



"Suggested donation." :lamoOnce again, old guard establishment interests run headlong into the iPhone. New York says this is about public safety, but whom are they kidding? This is about what it always is about: money and turf.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I mean who wants to bother seeing if the drivers are safe or the vehicles are safe or maintained. Hey, can we apply this to airlines too?
 
TeleKat said:
Right, because taxi drivers have never done that.
Click to expand...

So, what you're telling me is you believe that taxi drivers kidnapping people is a reason against regulating and inspecting taxi operations.
 
TeleKat said:
Right, because taxi drivers have never done that.
Click to expand...

I've never read about a taxi driver doing that. Though I did know about a rider claiming a taxi did that in Boise. The reason I know is because I provided the aerial photos (before Google earth) that proved that she didn't kidnap anyone, but only located a safe place off the highway to stop and allow the person out as requested, less than a block away from where the rider suddenly demanded to be let out.
 
I use uber whenever I'm in big cities, and I'm a huge fan. In the same way that the internet crowdsourced news or investment through websites like twitter and kickstarter, the crowdsourcing of our physical world is just beginning. The taxicab industry is going the way of the newspaper industry, and they can see it coming, so of course they're going to fight tooth and nail.

I'm glad that there are a bunch of companies getting involved here, but expect to see google enter this space but with self-driving cars. It'll be one step closer to a completely autonomous transport system and it'll be interesting to see how the likes of Uber and Lyft compete.
 
TeleKat said:
Right, because taxi drivers have never done that.
Click to expand...

Right:

On a rainy, foggy night earlier this month, a New York City taxi driver making a left turn at a light apparently did not see my 9-year-old nephew and his 6-foot-3 father crossing the street at a crosswalk, beckoned by a lighted “walk” sign. Whether because of haste, inattention, cellphone use or perhaps the poor weather conditions, the cab driver drove directly into them. My beloved nephew, Cooper Stock, died instantly.

Treat Reckless Driving Like Drunk Driving
Click to expand...

And no one's ever been killed by a negligent tour bus driver or commuter train engineer.

NY tour bus driver was drunk driving prior to fatal pedestrian accident :: Washington Injury Attorney Blog

Metro-North Engineer Was Dozing Just Before Train Derailment, Sources Say - Spuyten Duyvil - DNAinfo.com New York

Train engineer was texting just before California crash | Reuters
 
Ahlevah said:
Right:



And no one's ever been killed by a negligent tour bus driver or commuter train engineer.

NY tour bus driver was drunk driving prior to fatal pedestrian accident :: Washington Injury Attorney Blog

Metro-North Engineer Was Dozing Just Before Train Derailment, Sources Say - Spuyten Duyvil - DNAinfo.com New York

Train engineer was texting just before California crash | Reuters
Click to expand...
There's a big difference between traffic errors, regardless of the outcome, and intentionally running from the police in a high speed chase and kidnapping those in your car.
 
Deuce said:
So, what you're telling me is you believe that taxi drivers kidnapping people is a reason against regulating and inspecting taxi operations.
Click to expand...

Well, the passenger's still alive, isn't he? Not every Metro-North passenger can say that.
 
My God - I've seen situations where the taxi driver's often involved in a fleeing scene where they break all sorts of laws to get away, or hot pursuit where they're trying to get the bad guy. Oddly, police NEVER seem to be involved.

It's like - so accurately portrayed in everyone movie I've watched. :D
 
Summerwind said:
Except it only takes once for it to be about safety, and that once already happened.

My Uber driver kidnapped me! | New York Post
Click to expand...

Yes, but that's not a consideration for the regulatikn, it's just a convenient story for when regulation does co.e up as conversation. There's nothing that says a regulated taxi driver wouldn't kidnap all the same as well, so it's specious at best.

Not that it mans regulation is fundamentally wrong or cannot serve a purpose. But money and turf are the real reasons behind restricted regulation.
 
Ikari said:
Yes, but that's not a consideration for the regulatikn, it's just a convenient story for when regulation does co.e up as conversation. There's nothing that says a regulated taxi driver wouldn't kidnap all the same as well, so it's specious at best.

Not that it mans regulation is fundamentally wrong or cannot serve a purpose. But money and turf are the real reasons behind restricted regulation.
Click to expand...

True a taxi might, however, since they are heavily screened for driving and drug and criminal issues, you're less likely to get into a cab with a driver who feels the need to flee the police. Again, I've never read nor heard about a legitimately similar behavior from a registered taxi.
 
Ahlevah said:
Here we go again:



"Suggested donation." :lamoOnce again, old guard establishment interests run headlong into the iPhone. New York says this is about public safety, but whom are they kidding?
This is about what it always is about: money and turf.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...




My guess is that money and turf will win, and outsiders will lose.
 
Ahlevah said:
Here we go again:



"Suggested donation." :lamoOnce again, old guard establishment interests run headlong into the iPhone. New York says this is about public safety, but whom are they kidding? This is about what it always is about: money and turf.
Click to expand...

Actually it is far more than money... it is about safety. Personally I would never use Uber or similar services anywhere in the world, since I have no clue who I am getting into the car with.. As far as I see it, Uber does nothing to vet these drivers.

Now saying that, the taxi companies SHOULD adopt the technical aspect of the system. The thing about Uber is the app and ease of the app.. combine that with a vetted driver and maintained car... and you have a winner. No more calling the taxi company saying where you are.. just plot it in on Google maps, and viola the taxi can find you.
 
Summerwind said:
True a taxi might, however, since they are heavily screened for driving and drug and criminal issues, you're less likely to get into a cab with a driver who feels the need to flee the police. Again, I've never read nor heard about a legitimately similar behavior from a registered taxi.
Click to expand...

I've never specifically looked, but I would be awfully surprised if that number were zero. Though taxi cab drivers are crazy mothers, hell one in NYC just last year cost a women her legs because he got pissed at a bicyclist. So again, no guarantee.

I think that regulation at base is fine and can be warranted, but the regulation must be fair and allow competition. The degree to which they restrict licenses for cabs and such are meant only to prevent proper competition and realizing what the market can support.
 
Ikari said:
I've never specifically looked, but I would be awfully surprised if that number were zero. Though taxi cab drivers are crazy mothers, hell one in NYC just last year cost a women her legs because he got pissed at a bicyclist. So again, no guarantee.

I think that regulation at base is fine and can be warranted, but the regulation must be fair and allow competition. The degree to which they restrict licenses for cabs and such are meant only to prevent proper competition and realizing what the market can support.
Click to expand...

Sorry Ikari, if you believe "are meant only to prevent proper competition," then you're not worthy of further debate on this topic.
 
If you are worried about the safety, dont use the service. If you are not worried about the safety, then use the service.
 
Summerwind said:
Sorry Ikari, if you believe "are meant only to prevent proper competition," then you're not worthy of further debate on this topic.
Click to expand...

I believe that the degree to which they restrict licenses for cabs is meant to prevent proper competition. It artificially lowers the number of cabs in a market that could support more. If you think that's not "worthy of further debate", so be it. But if that dismissive statement is all you can muster, then ignorant deflection is ignorant deflection and you're free to move along.
 
Ahlevah said:
Well, the passenger's still alive, isn't he? Not every Metro-North passenger can say that.
Click to expand...

Do you think we should go with anecdotes or data?
 
There needs to be a middle ground here. Current taxi companies are dinosaurs who use government regulation to prevent competition to their out of date business practices. Lyft thinks the rules don't apply and they can ignore valid safety concerns. The sensible option to is to change the laws regarding Taxi use to accommodate the advancements in technology while still meaning reasonable standards to protect drivers and passengers.
 
Amandi said:
If you are worried about the safety, dont use the service. If you are not worried about the safety, then use the service.
Click to expand...
Sounds great. Can we pass a law that says people who choose to use the service, because they "are not worried about the safety", are legally prohibited from suing in the event of an accident?
 
radcen said:
Sounds great. Can we pass a law that says people who choose to use the service, because they "are not worried about the safety", are legally prohibited from suing in the event of an accident?
Click to expand...

Nope. If a person wants to offer the ridesharing, they have to take the risk that they can get sued if they get an accident. Works both ways.
 
Ahlevah said:
Well, the passenger's still alive, isn't he? Not every Metro-North passenger can say that.
Click to expand...

Right. But every single person who ever hitched a ride with a total stranger they met on the internet has survived, eh?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom