[Lepke]

Over the years I have had many passengers tell me that they feel that Uber or Lyft are so much safer than taking a cab. One guy even told me that because of uber he is comfortable letting his 14 year old daughter have an account and use it on her own.

I don't know where they get the impression that it is somehow safer.
There is no interview process but only a rudimentary background check and no one inspects our cars.

If I was operating on bald tires or worn breaks they would have no idea. New Jersey inspection is only emissions these days and my car could be a death trap for all these people know.

Never mind the drivers who in many cases are immigrants and the background check would not pick up on criminal activity in their country of origin.

I recently found out that a friend of mine who has been doing this job for more than 3 years is stoned every moment that he has passengers in his car. He's got a vaporizer with some kind of hash oil and he's sucking on it several times a day while he's working. He says that that is how he deals with these people (passengers) or he wouldn't be able to do this job.

I have met many drivers over the past three years and while most seem harmless, some seem really creepy. I used to roll up on other drivers and one night I rolled up on a guy who was watching porn in his car and doing god-knows-what.

When passengers tell me how safe Uber is compared to taxis I have a tendency to set them straight. I think it might affect my rating. People don't like to have their preconceived notions dashed.

 

[Kevin7889]

Aren't you just a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day?

 

[ibeam23]

I would not allow a 14 year old girl in my car without an adult with her.

 

[Lepke]

I would not allow a 14 year old girl in my car without an adult with her.

That's beside the point. I explained to the guy that is against the terms of service for anyone under 18 to use it without an adult.
And you don't always know that's some of these teenagers are underage until they get in the car and start talking about high school shit.

 

[Kevin7889]

I would not allow a 14 year old girl in my car without an adult with her.

Most 14 yr girls look 18 these days.

 

[ibeam23]

That's beside the point. I explained to the guy that is against the terms of service for anyone under 18 to use it without an adult.
And you don't always know that's some of these teenagers are underage until they get in the car and start talking about high school shit.

I'm glad you educated him. I can't tell you how many teenagers have run inside to get their mommy who then curses me out for not taking their little brat to the mall or to their school.

 

[Jerseyguy72]

Have you seen most of the pos taxis driving around this state? Most of them are held together with bubble gum and duck tape. Granted not all uber drivers are driving around shiny new cars but most of them are in much better shape than a taxi and most taxi drivers seem to be way more creepy than most of the uber drivers i have seen. There is no excuse for driving under the influence and I'm sure that if uber knew a driver was doing that they would terminate them. I don't think ubers background check is that bad, i talked to a rep at the company that does their background checks and they said that they check for convictions of drug , sexual, violence and theft related crimes as well as driving records. If anything comes up in those categories they will not accept you as a driver. I think that is pretty thorough.

 

[ibeam23]

And you don't always know that's some of these teenagers are underage until they get in the car and start talking about high school shit.

A few weeks ago I picked up a pax, a young muscle bound guy who was telling me he was training to be a professional athlete. I asked him which college he went to and his response was, "I'm in tenth grade." He looked and acted at least 20 years old. Even the way he presented himself was much more mature than some adults I know. Sometimes ya just can't tell.

 

[ToughTommy]

I think because we're easily found if something bad goes down.

 

[tohunt4me]

Over the years I have had many passengers tell me that they feel that Uber or Lyft are so much safer than taking a cab. One guy even told me that because of uber he is comfortable letting his 14 year old daughter have an account and use it on her own.

I don't know where they get the impression that it is somehow safer.
There is no interview process but only a rudimentary background check and no one inspects our cars.

If I was operating on bald tires or worn breaks they would have no idea. New Jersey inspection is only emissions these days and my car could be a death trap for all these people know.

Never mind the drivers who in many cases are immigrants and the background check would not pick up on criminal activity in their country of origin.

I recently found out that a friend of mine who has been doing this job for more than 3 years is stoned every moment that he has passengers in his car. He's got a vaporizer with some kind of hash oil and he's sucking on it several times a day while he's working. He says that that is how he deals with these people (passengers) or he wouldn't be able to do this job.

I have met many drivers over the past three years and while most seem harmless, some seem really creepy. I used to roll up on other drivers and one night I rolled up on a guy who was watching porn in his car and doing god-knows-what.

When passengers tell me how safe Uber is compared to taxis I have a tendency to set them straight. I think it might affect my rating. People don't like to have their preconceived notions dashed.

Don't worry.
They use that same line on taxi drivers too.
" taxis are so much safer than Uber"
All pax are Natural Born Liars.

 

[Uberfunitis]

I think it is slightly safer to take an Uber than a taxi. The person driving knows that everyone knows exactly who he is and where to find him should anything happen and would be less likely to do something because of that. Also you can have a friend track the progress of the ride remotely if it stops for a long time or starts going to somewhere crazy you can start sending help.

I also think it is safer to some degree to drive Uber than a taxi because in a taxi you have no idea who you have in the car and if anything were to happen no way of tracking it back to find a starting point for the investigation especially for a street hale. Uber has some sort of trail though it could be a stollen phone or credit card so not without risk but slightly less risk.

 

[njctuberx]

Don't worry.
They use that same line on taxi drivers too.
" taxis are so much safer than Uber"
All pax are Natural Born Liars.

VERY TRUE!

Rider says to hack:
"I hate Uber. Who knows who's driving us with Uber and they don't know where they're going. Also, does anyone actually inspect their cars?"
Same rider says to Uber driver on the way home:
"I hate taxis. I had to take one earlier since Uber was surging crazy at 1.3x. There was no suspension or A.C. and it smelled like gouda. Also, does anyone actually inspect their cars?

 

[Coffeekeepsmedriving]

Over the years I have had many passengers tell me that they feel that Uber or Lyft are so much safer than taking a cab. One guy even told me that because of uber he is comfortable letting his 14 year old daughter have an account and use it on her own.

I don't know where they get the impression that it is somehow safer.
There is no interview process but only a rudimentary background check and no one inspects our cars.

If I was operating on bald tires or worn breaks they would have no idea. New Jersey inspection is only emissions these days and my car could be a death trap for all these people know.

Never mind the drivers who in many cases are immigrants and the background check would not pick up on criminal activity in their country of origin.

I recently found out that a friend of mine who has been doing this job for more than 3 years is stoned every moment that he has passengers in his car. He's got a vaporizer with some kind of hash oil and he's sucking on it several times a day while he's working. He says that that is how he deals with these people (passengers) or he wouldn't be able to do this job.

I have met many drivers over the past three years and while most seem harmless, some seem really creepy. I used to roll up on other drivers and one night I rolled up on a guy who was watching porn in his car and doing god-knows-what.

When passengers tell me how safe Uber is compared to taxis I have a tendency to set them straight. I think it might affect my rating. People don't like to have their preconceived notions dashed.

Uber is safer than a cab...haha good joke..uber has these drivers that known nothing

 

[AxL]

It is safer for the driver. Fact. Few exemptions. Before the flooding most of the uber drivers were good, now I don't know and I don't want to know. You want the taxi business, hadle it with all the good and the bad things. Where everyone, but the worker is happy is called slavery.

 

[Caspita]

Have you seen most of the pos taxis driving around this state? Most of them are held together with bubble gum and duck tape. Granted not all uber drivers are driving around shiny new cars but most of them are in much better shape than a taxi and most taxi drivers seem to be way more creepy than most of the uber drivers i have seen. There is no excuse for driving under the influence and I'm sure that if uber knew a driver was doing that they would terminate them. I don't think ubers background check is that bad, i talked to a rep at the company that does their background checks and they said that they check for convictions of drug , sexual, violence and theft related crimes as well as driving records. If anything comes up in those categories they will not accept you as a driver. I think that is pretty thorough.

There was a segments on the news a couple of weeks back about the background check on ride-share companies for drivers and how ineffective it was. They put up a woman with multiple felonies and criminal history including minor sexual harassment and drugs to apply to become a driver. She got approved in less than 48 hours!

Ride-share companies are desperate for drivers. They'll accept almost anyone.

 

[njctuberx]

I think it is slightly safer to take an Uber than a taxi. The person driving knows that everyone knows exactly who he is and where to find him should anything happen and would be less likely to do something because of that. Also you can have a friend track the progress of the ride remotely if it stops for a long time or starts going to somewhere crazy you can start sending help.

I also think it is safer to some degree to drive Uber than a taxi because in a taxi you have no idea who you have in the car and if anything were to happen no way of tracking it back to find a starting point for the investigation especially for a street hale. Uber has some sort of trail though it could be a stollen phone or credit card so not without risk but slightly less risk.

It is safer for the driver. Fact. Few exemptions. Before the flooding most of the uber drivers were good, now I don't know and I don't want to know. You want the taxi business, hadle it with all the good and the bad things. Where everyone, but the worker is happy is called slavery.

True. At least when I drove a cab (in Tucson, granted,) I could be disgruntled one day and not have to be a ray of sunshine.
Other plus: if someone pukes, I'd just change out the car.
When the car brakes down, just change out the car.
Oh yeah, REAL TIPS!
NEGATIVE: I was a mobile ATM. No card needed, just knife.

 

[Jerseyguy72]

There was a segments on the news a couple of weeks back about the background check on ride-share companies for drivers and how ineffective it was. They put up a woman with multiple felonies and criminal history including minor sexual harassment and drugs to apply to become a driver. She got approved in less than 48 hours!

Ride-share companies are desperate for drivers. They'll accept almost anyone.

Was it uber that accepted her or a different company? What news channel was it? I would like to see that piece. Also, was this in nj? Uber has different hiring policies for different states. Thanks

 

[BusinessAsUsual]

Over the years I have had many passengers tell me that they feel that Uber or Lyft are so much safer than taking a cab. One guy even told me that because of uber he is comfortable letting his 14 year old daughter have an account and use it on her own.

I don't know where they get the impression that it is somehow safer.
There is no interview process but only a rudimentary background check and no one inspects our cars.

If I was operating on bald tires or worn breaks they would have no idea. New Jersey inspection is only emissions these days and my car could be a death trap for all these people know.

Never mind the drivers who in many cases are immigrants and the background check would not pick up on criminal activity in their country of origin.

I recently found out that a friend of mine who has been doing this job for more than 3 years is stoned every moment that he has passengers in his car. He's got a vaporizer with some kind of hash oil and he's sucking on it several times a day while he's working. He says that that is how he deals with these people (passengers) or he wouldn't be able to do this job.

I have met many drivers over the past three years and while most seem harmless, some seem really creepy. I used to roll up on other drivers and one night I rolled up on a guy who was watching porn in his car and doing god-knows-what.

When passengers tell me how safe Uber is compared to taxis I have a tendency to set them straight. I think it might affect my rating. People don't like to have their preconceived notions dashed.

What is this forum's obsession with mentioning immigrant workers??? Lol

 

[Uberfornow]

Over the years I have had many passengers tell me that they feel that Uber or Lyft are so much safer than taking a cab. One guy even told me that because of uber he is comfortable letting his 14 year old daughter have an account and use it on her own.

I don't know where they get the impression that it is somehow safer.
There is no interview process but only a rudimentary background check and no one inspects our cars.

If I was operating on bald tires or worn breaks they would have no idea. New Jersey inspection is only emissions these days and my car could be a death trap for all these people know.

Never mind the drivers who in many cases are immigrants and the background check would not pick up on criminal activity in their country of origin.

I recently found out that a friend of mine who has been doing this job for more than 3 years is stoned every moment that he has passengers in his car. He's got a vaporizer with some kind of hash oil and he's sucking on it several times a day while he's working. He says that that is how he deals with these people (passengers) or he wouldn't be able to do this job.

I have met many drivers over the past three years and while most seem harmless, some seem really creepy. I used to roll up on other drivers and one night I rolled up on a guy who was watching porn in his car and doing god-knows-what.

When passengers tell me how safe Uber is compared to taxis I have a tendency to set them straight. I think it might affect my rating. People don't like to have their preconceived notions dashed.

It's their mega cheapness talking. Give a girl a bottle of tequila to drink, she will think you are Brad Pitt afterwards. This level of cheapness from some pax is a mental disease

 

[TheNJBen]

Uber used to provide a better car and service then they opened the floodgates to anything with 4 wheels made in this millennium ... now all we are is cheaper hence the class of riders we enjoy and it's only going to get worse