Uber failed to prioritize safety complaint on Kalamazoo shooter before rampage

[gratuitous]

12. Except that taxi companies must do criminal background checks

That's not to say that a taxi driver is going to be 100% safe, either, but taxi companies are on the hook for liability if they allow someone with a criminal record to drive a cab. Uber? Not so much.

In my city, Uber has promised to do criminal background checks, but it doesn't. Uber has promised that its drivers will carry adequate insurance for accidents, but it doesn't. Uber has promised it will provide the same service for handicapped passengers as taxi companies are required to do, but it doesn't.

Did you know that if you see a taxi driver breaking the law, you can call the taxi company, report the cab number, time and date, and get a response from the company? I was cut off by a driver who had Uber and Lyft stickers in the back window of his car a couple of weeks ago. The driver proceeded to make several turns without turning on his blinker, dropped his passenger of in the middle of the street without pulling out of the traffic lane, and then made one more turn while running the stop sign at a four-way stop.

I reported him to Lyft, and while they sent me an e-mail acknowledgment of my complaint, I haven't heard a word from them since. I didn't report the driver to Uber; do you know why? Unless you sign up for Uber via your smart phone, you can't contact them! They don't have an online form to fill out, they don't have an address for contact through the post office. They don't have a complaint line you can call. They don't have any way for a non-Uber user to contact them. What's your perspective about Uber and its sense of civic responsibility in the communities where it does business?