[sd1303]

rocksteady I never said there was a contractural agreement and the trip is ended because the driver choose to end it

But you're right, the driver is with sound mind and can make decisions without being under the influence of substance

Whether as the passenger cannot.

Getting drunk was the passenger's decision, not the driver's.

I've stated all along that if, the driver felt it was not a fare he could make safely than hit the cancel fare button (don't y'all love doing that?)

Umm... no... actually, I don't like driving to a location, wasting gas and time, and ending up with no fare. Seems like you have an axe to grind here.

And if, the driver felt halfway through the fare that he didn't feel safe he should call the cops ASAP (isnt that what you do anytime you feel unsafe?)

Yes, I will call law enforcement when it is appropriate. But the first thing that I will do is attempt to put distance between me and the person/thing that is threatening me, without putting myself in further danger. This could mean ordering someone out of my vehicle, getting out of the car myself, etc. I'm not going to continue to allow someone to threaten me or my property while I call law enforcement or wait for them to arrive.

And if, the driver didn't feel threatened enough that he felt he needed to call the cops then he should have "sucked it up and put his big boy pants" (as I've seen others here say but in different reference) and finish the trip.
The passenger didn't ask to be dropped off at that location

... and the driver probably didn't ask the passenger to engage in whatever behavior got him ejected.

People get kicked out of businesses all the time because of bad behavior. An Uber car is no different. A driver does not have to put up with a misbehaving passenger just because they are drunk. If a person misbehaves in a place of business, they should expect to get kicked out. Doesn't matter if it is an Uber, a club, a bus, or an amusement park.

The passenger was drunk and we all know when you're drunk you aren't yourself

Not sure I agree with that... but I do agree that being drunk does not absolve you of responsibility for your actions. And the Uber driver didn't cause the passenger to be drunk.

There's no excuse And surprisingly no one feels like this is "morally" the right thing to do.

So if a bouncer throws a drunk person out of a club who is being obnoxious and causing problems for the staff, are they doing the "morally wrong" thing? After all, they let him inside the club. Are they obligated to let the customer cause further problems until the cops can get there? What if they kick him out and he wanders in an alley and gets robbed? Or he wanders into the street and gets run over? Is the club at fault because they didn't continue to babysit him?

Plain and simple. 29-year-old loser chose to get drunk, misbehaved and got kicked out of an Uber, and continued to make bad choices from that point on. Hope the Uber driver is counter-suing for emotional distress.

 

[observer]

Anywhere but his own home observer

I don't think anything I can say will change your mind and

I don't think you're going to convince me otherwise (even if you are well versed with the area currently) and I'm in awe that every household has a gun there? No households in my neighborhood has guns except a handful of enthusiasts. Generally it's the gang bangers (in other spaces) that have guns. But not every household, not even majority of households and we just had a shooting on Bart.

Maybe, maybe not.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/no-charges-for-ohio-man-who-killed-son-he-mistook-for-intruder/

 

[observer]

no, it is not just a simple statement.

it IS a matter of fact.

do we even have to get this far if the driver simply canceled the ride?

DRIVER DID NOT.

did we even have to get this far if the the driver had called the cops AFTER kicking the passenger out of the car?

DRIVER DID NOT.

Driver did not even HAVE TO WAIT. cops generally are pretty fast and if they aren't that fast, well, hey, at least the driver called and said, I had a drunken passenger and I felt my life is in danger so I kicked him out of my car EVEN THOUGH THE RIDE WASN'T FINISHED, ya'll might wanna go grab him because unfortunately its night time and the neighborhood (IN THE DRIVER'S WORDS) isn't safe.

i get that you have "your point of view"

But just because YOU feel strongly as well, doesn't mean your point trumps everyone elses' and just because i'm willing to say "agree to disagree" doesn't mean that i'm saying "nah! you guys just can't handle that i'm right!" argument of a "fifth grader".

The cops got there pretty quick after he got shot, 2 and a half minutes if I remember correctly.

If driver would have called cops to report kicking out the passenger, the response time would likely have been at least an hour.

I can tell you that from personal experience.

 

[Novus Caesar]

The shady area has nothing to do with this. I live in a nice area and if someone breaks into my house I will shoot him without even asking him questions.

 

[Novus Caesar]

what America do you live in where police show up in minutes for drunks? They don't even respond to accidents anymore in most cities, I've never drove on nights & never would unless they added .20 a mile 7pm-7am so never had drunks but did he just drop him on a random St? I would think common sense drop him at a corner store, public place, but driver shouldn't be accountable at all

Depends where you live. Cops in my town show up in minutes even for neighbor disputes.

 

[Lag Monkey]

I see his death being his own fault. Sadly his actions, poor choices and acting a fool Lead to this man loosing his life. He must of done something to get kicked outa dat uber, then brake a window and start stealing stuff. Then argue with the home owner. Life was coming at this guy life a fright train

 

[SlowBoat]

Lol everyone's suing the shit out of Uber..everyday there is a new one and I'm sure many we don't hear about.

Lol

Not only suing Uber, but suing Uber drivers. This family and the ex- Taco Bell jerk are both suing their drivers.

 

[sd1303]

Not only suing Uber, but suing Uber drivers. This family and the ex- Taco Bell jerk are both suing their drivers.

The driver in the Taco Bell caper is being counter-sued by the perp. IMHO, the Costa Mesa driver should have considered it a win after the dude was pepper sprayed, arrested, fired, and publicly embarrassed. Driver decided to pile-on with a lawsuit against the now-unemployed jerk. A counter-suit is not surprising, and I don't have a lot of sympathy.

 

[sellkatsell44]

Getting drunk was the passenger's decision, not the driver's.

Umm... no... actually, I don't like driving to a location, wasting gas and time, and ending up with no fare. Seems like you have an axe to grind here.

Yes, I will call law enforcement when it is appropriate. But the first thing that I will do is attempt to put distance between me and the person/thing that is threatening me, without putting myself in further danger. This could mean ordering someone out of my vehicle, getting out of the car myself, etc. I'm not going to continue to allow someone to threaten me or my property while I call law enforcement or wait for them to arrive.

... and the driver probably didn't ask the passenger to engage in whatever behavior got him ejected.

People get kicked out of businesses all the time because of bad behavior. An Uber car is no different. A driver does not have to put up with a misbehaving passenger just because they are drunk. If a person misbehaves in a place of business, they should expect to get kicked out. Doesn't matter if it is an Uber, a club, a bus, or an amusement park.

Not sure I agree with that... but I do agree that being drunk does not absolve you of responsibility for your actions. And the Uber driver didn't cause the passenger to be drunk.

So if a bouncer throws a drunk person out of a club who is being obnoxious and causing problems for the staff, are they doing the "morally wrong" thing? After all, they let him inside the club. Are they obligated to let the customer cause further problems until the cops can get there? What if they kick him out and he wanders in an alley and gets robbed? Or he wanders into the street and gets run over? Is the club at fault because they didn't continue to babysit him?

Plain and simple. 29-year-old loser chose to get drunk, misbehaved and got kicked out of an Uber, and continued to make bad choices from that point on. Hope the Uber driver is counter-suing for emotional distress.

Before the cancel fee went away I would say $5 isn't so bad with not dealing with a drunk and I'm sure if the distance was that great the driver wouldn't have accepted the ping anyways

What would you rather have on your hand? The idea that you could have done something (eg call the cops and have this person stored away in a tank until they sober up) or the idea that you let him off in an area unfamiliar to him and look, he did get hurt, not just hurt but killed.

But I guess that's bringing it back to the moral point and you're not interested in that and I could try to find cases similar to make a legal stance but then that means I REALLY have an axe to grind

Which I don't, I'm just strongly advocating on the other side because y'all stacked against the drunk passenger, who isn't innocent but damn, the driver should have called the cops.

And yes, in my neck of the woods, cops will come out ASAP

Examples--when I was five I misdialed (grandma number starts with 9) and I hung up quickly, cops showed up less than five minutes later, which sucked for my dad who was two minutes after (stepped out to grocery store around the corner).

Someone in my neighborhood called on a homeless guy that was taking shelter in an abandoned house (later got teared down and a new one built, it's a nice area but the house just got to be an eyesore) and SIX cop cars showed up, so a total of 12 cops for one homeless guy

Oh, once at work, nice area again, I don't work there anymore so I can tell you it's pac heights (google it, I believe that author Danielle steel is in the area, her servants drops off her Chanel suits to the drycleaner around the block frm us)...a homeless guy was sleeping in our front door. My manager calls the cops (nonemergency) and they show up in less then ten minute and good thing, since that man had a knife under his sleeping bag.

But hey, y'all like to have your cake and eat it too

 

[Fuzzyelvis]

Depends where you live. Cops in my town show up in minutes even for neighbor disputes.

I live in Sugar Land TX. Same here. One of the safest towns of its size in the country.

In Houston, on the other hand, it would probably be a wait for what on the face of it is only a public intoxication call.

Oh and he'd likely have got shot breaking in a house in either town and any neighborhood here.

 

[Fuzzyelvis]

what America do you live in where police show up in minutes for drunks? They don't even respond to accidents anymore in most cities, I've never drove on nights & never would unless they added .20 a mile 7pm-7am so never had drunks but did he just drop him on a random St? I would think common sense drop him at a corner store, public place, but driver shouldn't be accountable at all

I posted about my city of Sugar Land and how it IS quick here. So I won't repeat that. But here for fun is a (shown by Snopes.com to be untrue btw, but ii IS funny) story.

George Phillips of Meridian Mississippi was going up to bed when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window. George opened the back door to go turn off the light but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things.

He phoned the police, who asked "Is someone in your house?" and he said no. Then they said that all patrols were busy, and that he should simply lock his door and an officer would be along when available.

George said "Okay," hung up, counted to 30, and phoned the police again. "Hello. I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people in my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now cause I've just shot them all." Then he hung up.

Within five minutes three police cars, an Armed Response unit, and an ambulance showed up at the Phillips residence. Of course, the police caught the burglars red-handed. One of the policemen said to George: "I thought you said that you'd shot them!"

George said, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"

 

[sd1303]

Before the cancel fee went away I would say $5 isn't so bad with not dealing with a drunk and I'm sure if the distance was that great the driver wouldn't have accepted the ping anyways

But hey, y'all like to have your cake and eat it too

Cancel fee only applies if it a no-show for 5 minutes. You don't get anything for declining a drunken mess.

I wouldn't call driving Uber during the drunk hours as "having ones cake." Drivers put up with a lot of crap and are getting paid less and less for it.

If more people took responsibility for their actions and made good choices, the world would be a better place. Instead, we've got the parents of a drunk loser suing a driver (who is probably trying to make ends meet) because the driver didn't keep their son safe from making several stunningly bad decisions in a row, resulting in his death. To me, that's morally wrong.

 

[Sal29]

The driver obviously felt that the passenger was a threat to the driver or the car. Uber needs some kind of panic button on the driver App where some sort of security would come and pick up passengers that are a danger to the driver but Uber is too cheap to ever do that.
The drunk would probably have attacked police, gone for the cop's gun and gotten killed if the Uber driver dropped him off at a police station. It's unfortunate, but 99+% the passenger's fault.

 

[Sal29]

Uber needs it's own security and a panic button on the app because if the driver called the police, the police may have impounded the driver's car and arrested him for operating an illegal taxi.

 

[Hotep31]

No, he isn't.

The thing that may hook him is the fact that he was paid for a service (to get passenger from point A to point B).

Clearly he had a problem with the passenger so he ejected the passenger.

He should have dropped off the passenger at a police station, to be in a holding tank, until the passenger (Ryan) sobered up--if he did not feel comfortable dropping Ryan at point B as requested.

But the fact that he (Ryan) was dropped off in the middle of nowhere (so to speak, instead of his destination) was wrong.

Uber should also have strong values in place for their contract workers, that and they have more $$ than the driver which is why I believe they're brought into the (civil?) suit.

Ultimately Uber should have guidelines already in place (if they haven't) of what should be done in case xyz happens. If they already have, clearly it's not conveyed to the drivers clearly or upheld if so.

Either way, Ryan shouldn't have been dropped off in a destination other than what he placed in, esp if he's drunk intoxicated and by himself.

It's a shame that he lost his life because of that.

really drop him off at a policee station? are you kidding me?

 

[sellkatsell44]

Cancel fee only applies if it a no-show for 5 minutes. You don't get anything for declining a drunken mess.

I wouldn't call driving Uber during the drunk hours as "having ones cake." Drivers put up with a lot of crap and are getting paid less and less for it.

If more people took responsibility for their actions and made good choices, the world would be a better place. Instead, we've got the parents of a drunk loser suing a driver (who is probably trying to make ends meet) because the driver didn't keep their son safe from making several stunningly bad decisions in a row, resulting in his death. To me, that's morally wrong.

I'm sure I've read about a lot of folks here who'd wait the five minutes for the cancel fee. I'm sure if he was that drunk he wouldn't have been able to read the plates anyways, and at night, it's easy to just park and wait no?

really drop him off at a policee station? are you kidding me?

And your point is?

I've given other options besides that but personally if someone was an a-hole to me and drunk off the high horse I wouldn't mind seeing them behind bars for a few hours.

 

[uberdriverfornow]

If I'm forced to drop a passenger off because they are being a dbag and they win the lottery, do I get a piece of that too ?

No logic at all in this lawsuit other than to try to get some money out of Uber and the driver when it's clear the plaintiff is totally at fault. We are not responsible for anything the passenger does. We are not under any sort of contract other than to transport the rider. How many times do passengers change their trips before we get started or ask us to make several stops, are we under contract to make sure that they get to each and every stop ? No.

This passenger allegedly broke into someone's house and attempted to steal things? That's the drivers fault ?

It's totally different if you serve alcohol to someone who is already drunk because you are directly contributing to furthering their alcoholic binge but simply refusing to continue transporting them when they are drunk is our choice. They're getting charged by the mile not the trip.

 

[sd1303]

I'm sure I've read about a lot of folks here who'd wait the five minutes for the cancel fee. I'm sure if he was that drunk he wouldn't have been able to read the plates anyways, and at night, it's easy to just park and wait no?

And your point is?

I've given other options besides that but personally if someone was an a-hole to me and drunk off the high horse I wouldn't mind seeing them behind bars for a few hours.

If you make contact with the rider and decline to transport, then it is *not* a no show. Collecting a no show fee would be fraud and would likely get a driver deactivated if a complaint were filed.

Driving someone to the police station without their consent? Are you suggesting a citizen arrest? Or just a run-of-the-mill kidnapping?

 

[Dan Dixon]

No, he isn't.

The thing that may hook him is the fact that he was paid for a service (to get passenger from point A to point B).

Clearly he had a problem with the passenger so he ejected the passenger.

He should have dropped off the passenger at a police station, to be in a holding tank, until the passenger (Ryan) sobered up--if he did not feel comfortable dropping Ryan at point B as requested.

But the fact that he (Ryan) was dropped off in the middle of nowhere (so to speak, instead of his destination) was wrong.

Uber should also have strong values in place for their contract workers, that and they have more $$ than the driver which is why I believe they're brought into the (civil?) suit.

Ultimately Uber should have guidelines already in place (if they haven't) of what should be done in case xyz happens. If they already have, clearly it's not conveyed to the drivers clearly or upheld if so.

Either way, Ryan shouldn't have been dropped off in a destination other than what he placed in, esp if he's drunk intoxicated and by himself.

It's a shame that he lost his life because of that.

If Ryan was abusive, belligerent, or otherwise interfering with the safe operation of the vehicle, then the driver had every right to order him out of the vehicle. THE VEHICLES DON"T BELONG TO UBER, the drivers own the vehicles, they have to maintain them, and keep them clean and safe. Drivers also have to transport their families in their vehicles, so sorry, if you are being an abusive or destructive jerk, YOU WILL BE EJECTED FROM MY VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY, I don't care where we are at the time.

 

[select_this]

sellkatsell44 - you cant seem to grasp the idea that the reason the pax died is he broke into someones home in the middle of the night. he could have done so many other things after he got ejected out of the car and he would still be here, but he didnt. He could have called another uber, he could have called a friend, he could have walked home, he could have had his mommy come pick him up, he could have passed out on the lawn and so on and so on, but he broke into someones home after crawling up a wall and breaking a window.

also you keep saying that we all are responding in support of the driver because we are drivers, does the fact that you are supporting the drunk pax that could not handle himself like and adult mean you are the same?