Regulation is the key to making Uber a safe alternative to drunk driving. People like Sarah and her friends who act responsibly should feel confident that their lives are safe. Uber recently settled a class action for $28.5 million brought by California customers and another $25 million in a suit brought by the District Attorneys of San Francisco (where it is headquartered) and Los Angeles for its fraud and negligence in cases just like this Dallas crash.
#DRIVING FOR UBER IN DALLAS FREE#
“As a state with a long tradition of supporting the free market, Texas should not accept transparent, union-driven efforts to create new barriers to entry for the sole purpose of stifling innovation and eliminating competition.” Now a Texas senator plans to introduce legislation that would allow the ride sharing companies to forgo crucial safety vetting, claiming such regulations interfere with the “free market.” He explained his decision to put corporate interests ahead of passenger safety in a statement: But they, Lyft, and other companies are flooding every other city, and with ads like this one popping up on everyone’s screens, how could they possibly have any trouble finding (unqualified) drivers? After millions were spent by the Uber lobbyists, voters rejected a hard fought measure to overturn the law. Last year, Austin passed legislation that set safety standards for ride sharing companies. So why don’t regulations cover Uber, Lyft and other rideshare companies? Passengers can’t research the driver’s driving history, insurance policy, and safety of the car before getting into a vehicle. They regulate required insurance coverage, background checks and basic maintenance requirements of the commercial vehicles. On the other hand, Texas laws govern taxicabs.
#DRIVING FOR UBER IN DALLAS DRIVER#
The petition alleges that both the driver and owner had been arrested for drug possession and gambling and that Uber knew or should have known this fact. it was designed and manufactured to withstand collisions? A jury will have to decide why Uber allowed a reckless driver to shuttle passengers around when it widely advertises in bars, online, and in print that it will provide its customers with a “safe ride?” A jury will also hear evidence and deliberate whether the van was crashworthy, i.e. Whether Uber and Honda will be held liable is a question of law that the litigation process will have to resolve. Unfortunately neither had liability insurance covering the commercial vehicle. The driver and owner are obviously liable for the collision. Sarah filed a lawsuit two weeks ago against the driver, the owner of the Honda named Dawood Kohistanti, Uber Technologies, and Honda Motor Company. Proposed Texas Law Would Make Uber Less Safe Tragically, the crash broke broke her spinal cord. She was cut out and rushed to the ICU at Baylor University Medical Center. The van flipped upside down and Sarah dangled precariously upside down. The Uber driver, Anan Yusufzai, sped through a red light at the busy intersection of McKinney and Fitzhugh Avenues and was T-boned by a Ford 150 pickup truck. Or that the van she sat in was defectively designed. But she couldn’t possibly know that Uber had failed to vet its driver. She thought that she had done the right thing. Sarah buckled her seat belt, even though she sat in the third row of the Honda Odyssey. After celebrating with friends in Uptown, instead of driving, they sensibly called Uber. She was about to graduate and start a new job and her future was bright. Sarah Milburn was home from a break from Oklahoma State University. People who call for an Uber and get into a Honda van are sometimes making a tragic mistake.Ī 24-year-old college student from University Park is now a quadriplegic due to a horrific crash in Dallas a year ago.