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I 95% agree with you. We have a huge problem in the US with recidivism and once someone has paid their debt to society, their past shouldn't be held against the

I 95% agree with you. We have a huge problem in the US with recidivism and once someone has paid their debt to society, their past shouldn't be held against them. However, Checkr is the result of a strong demand for this type of service, not the cause of it. If Checkr didn't exist then companies would use someone else to conduct their background checks. Sadly, I don't think we'll see a change in this mentality & practice until there is legislation against it. Background checks are just too easy of a way to filter applicants (from an effort perspective), especially for minimum-wage/high turnover jobs. Also, just to play devil's advocate - would you get into an Uber if you knew the driver had 5 previous DUIs? What happens if/when this person drives drunk again and kills a passenger or a pedestrian? The ethical decision becomes more nuanced, Uber has a responsibility to do everything it can to ensure the safety of its passengers. You have to draw a line somewhere.

Bjartr 9y ago
> would you get into an Uber if you knew the driver had 5 previous DUIs? Well they somehow convinced the state they should have a driver's license still. If they're that dangerous they shouldn't be on the road. Further, simply having 5 DUIs on record is itself not a sufficient data point to determine if there is any increased risk today of that person doing so again. For instance, if a person turned to drinking out of grief at one point in their life but has had many stable years since, how would you identify that risk against the risk of someone who hasn't yet lived through such a situation but were it to occur they would drink to excess and make poor decisions too? NOTE: I'm not saying those DUIs aren't a problem, I'm just pointing out that it can be more complicated than it first appears to reach an internally consistent, much less fair, approach.
optimuspaul 9y ago
> would you get into an Uber if you knew the driver had 5 previous DUIs? Yes, unless they smelled of alcohol, but at that point the DUIs are moot anyway.
- dsacco 9y ago
  Why would you get into a car with that driver? Out of the total population of licensed drivers in the United States[1], about 1% have DWI in any given year and the recidivism rate is upwards of 20% depending on the state[2][3]. Given available statistics about the relationship between alcohol consumption and likelihood of a vehicular accident[4], there's good evidence that you're increasing your risk of being in an accident by at least 60% if you get into a car with someone who has had a DWI. Further, considering recidivism can only be tracked if people are caught and the legal limit is 0.08 BAC, a good argument can be made that an Uber driver with a past DWI would be more likely than can be predicted to have be driving under the influence again (meanwhile a BAC of 0.05 still increases the risk of an accident by approximately 100%). _____________________ 1. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/pubs/hf/pl11028/chapter4.cfm https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/pubs/hf/pl11028/c... 2. https://one.nhtsa.gov/people/outreach/traftech/1995/tt085.htm https://one.nhtsa.gov/people/outreach/traftech/1995/tt085.ht... 3. https://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811991-DWI_Recidivism_in_USA-tsf-rn.pdf https://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811991-DWI_Recidiv... 4. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/02/09/how-just-a-couple-drinks-make-your-odds-of-a-car-crash-skyrocket/?utm_term=.a52b769788a4 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/02/09/how-j...
jstarfish 9y ago
> just to play devil's advocate - would you get into an Uber if you knew the driver had 5 previous DUIs? See, this is the very problem with using criminal history as a form of profiling. What about his history indicates that he drinks on the job, or will be drunk when you get into his car? If those DUIs all occurred off-the-clock, involving no passengers or collisions, after long shifts of driving stone sober, what's it to Uber? The irony is, if we deny him employment opportunities based on past behavior unrelated to his job performance, he's going to have plenty of free time to indulge such vices. Being unemployed sucks. Meanwhile take a 20-something with a habit of getting high behind the wheel. He's still young so he's got a clean record and few (if any) reviews. You'd get into his deathmobile simply because you don't know any better.
- jjeaff 9y ago
  Point is, there are lots of options as an employer. Might as well pick the one without a criminal record, all else being equal. And just imagine the lawsuit when someone sues you because of an accident and you hired the driver even though he had 5 DUIs.

Bjartr 9y ago

> would you get into an Uber if you knew the driver had 5 previous DUIs? Well they somehow convinced the state they should have a driver's license still. If they're that dangerous they shouldn't be on the road. Further, simply having 5 DUIs on record is itself not a sufficient data point to determine if there is any increased risk today of that person doing so again. For instance, if a person turned to drinking out of grief at one point in their life but has had many stable years since, how would you identify that risk against the risk of someone who hasn't yet lived through such a situation but were it to occur they would drink to excess and make poor decisions too? NOTE: I'm not saying those DUIs aren't a problem, I'm just pointing out that it can be more complicated than it first appears to reach an internally consistent, much less fair, approach.

optimuspaul 9y ago

> would you get into an Uber if you knew the driver had 5 previous DUIs? Yes, unless they smelled of alcohol, but at that point the DUIs are moot anyway.

dsacco 9y ago
Why would you get into a car with that driver? Out of the total population of licensed drivers in the United States[1], about 1% have DWI in any given year and the recidivism rate is upwards of 20% depending on the state[2][3]. Given available statistics about the relationship between alcohol consumption and likelihood of a vehicular accident[4], there's good evidence that you're increasing your risk of being in an accident by at least 60% if you get into a car with someone who has had a DWI. Further, considering recidivism can only be tracked if people are caught and the legal limit is 0.08 BAC, a good argument can be made that an Uber driver with a past DWI would be more likely than can be predicted to have be driving under the influence again (meanwhile a BAC of 0.05 still increases the risk of an accident by approximately 100%). _____________________ 1. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/pubs/hf/pl11028/chapter4.cfm https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/pubs/hf/pl11028/c... 2. https://one.nhtsa.gov/people/outreach/traftech/1995/tt085.htm https://one.nhtsa.gov/people/outreach/traftech/1995/tt085.ht... 3. https://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811991-DWI_Recidivism_in_USA-tsf-rn.pdf https://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811991-DWI_Recidiv... 4. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/02/09/how-just-a-couple-drinks-make-your-odds-of-a-car-crash-skyrocket/?utm_term=.a52b769788a4 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/02/09/how-j...

jstarfish 9y ago

> just to play devil's advocate - would you get into an Uber if you knew the driver had 5 previous DUIs? See, this is the very problem with using criminal history as a form of profiling. What about his history indicates that he drinks on the job, or will be drunk when you get into his car? If those DUIs all occurred off-the-clock, involving no passengers or collisions, after long shifts of driving stone sober, what's it to Uber? The irony is, if we deny him employment opportunities based on past behavior unrelated to his job performance, he's going to have plenty of free time to indulge such vices. Being unemployed sucks. Meanwhile take a 20-something with a habit of getting high behind the wheel. He's still young so he's got a clean record and few (if any) reviews. You'd get into his deathmobile simply because you don't know any better.

jjeaff 9y ago
Point is, there are lots of options as an employer. Might as well pick the one without a criminal record, all else being equal. And just imagine the lawsuit when someone sues you because of an accident and you hired the driver even though he had 5 DUIs.