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Liability insurance is required for all drivers, not just taxis. If the driver didn't have insurance, he was violating the law regardless. The fact he was opera

Liability insurance is required for all drivers, not just taxis. If the driver didn't have insurance, he was violating the law regardless. The fact he was operating a taxi service has nothing to do with anything. License plate readers could trivially identify cars on the road without insurance if it's a huge problem.

JonFish85 13y ago
But as a company who employs these drivers, shouldn't at least part of the onus be on them to ensure that their drivers meet these requirements? In the same way that Uber/taxi companies have to ensure that their drivers have a license, shouldn't they also have to make sure he had adequate insurance?
- stickfigure 13y ago
  Drivers are not employees of Uber. Before you say "that's just a technicality" consider also that freelancers are not employees of 99designs.com, freelancer.com, or crowdspring.com - even though that's how they negotiate and get paid for work. The idea of a clearinghouse for matching freelance drivers and customers is something new.
- sneak 13y ago
  > But as a company who employs these drivers, shouldn't at least part of the onus be on them to ensure that their drivers meet these requirements? No, it is the job of law enforcement to enforce laws. Uber should fire drivers that are known to be breaking the law, sure, but requiring that they screen up-front for lawbreakers is the same as requiring drug testing or other such nonsense.
sharemywin 13y ago
the insurance company won't cover it because it's personal insurance not commercial insurance. Personal insurance isn't priced on people driving around in their cars all day.
- Houshalter 13y ago
  Couldn't the insurance company look at their odometer to see how much they have been driving? I did not realize that was the issue though.
  - DanBC 13y ago
    Bob owns his car and has personal insurance. At work they ask Bob to take a widget to a customer. Bob drives his car to the customer but is involved in an accident before he gets there. This is the only time Bob has ever driven for the company like this. Bob finds that his insurance does not cover him. He could lie and not mention the widget delivery, but that is fraud and is a serious crime. We could say that the widget delivery is irrelevant and that the insurance company should just pay the money but insurance companies are SCUM and they employ many people whose only role is to see how to reduce or avoid paying money to the customers.
- jmspring 13y ago
  You are correct. The same caveat that makes using one's personal automobile (and insurance) for pizza delivery problematic is the same one that applies to using your car as a Lyft / Uber or other driver. Personal policies rarely cover commercial use of the vehicle.
- stickfigure 13y ago
  Has this ever actually happened with an Uber/Lyft/etc driver that was involved in an accident? Or is this theoretical?
  - gamblor956 13y ago
    The insurance company for the Uber driver who hit and killed a little girl refused to pay on his policy arguing that he was engaged in a commercial activity at the time and thus not covered by his personal auto insurance liability coverage, which excludes commercial insurance liability claims.
    - 13y ago
pilom 13y ago
Yes it is, so Uber should be MANDATING with documentation that their drivers maintain insurance that covers them at the appropriate times. They should actively be filtering out drivers who do no have a commercial insurance policy. But Uber doesn't do that because that would restrict the number of drivers they could collect fare fees from.

JonFish85 13y ago

But as a company who employs these drivers, shouldn't at least part of the onus be on them to ensure that their drivers meet these requirements? In the same way that Uber/taxi companies have to ensure that their drivers have a license, shouldn't they also have to make sure he had adequate insurance?

stickfigure 13y ago
Drivers are not employees of Uber. Before you say "that's just a technicality" consider also that freelancers are not employees of 99designs.com, freelancer.com, or crowdspring.com - even though that's how they negotiate and get paid for work. The idea of a clearinghouse for matching freelance drivers and customers is something new.
sneak 13y ago
> But as a company who employs these drivers, shouldn't at least part of the onus be on them to ensure that their drivers meet these requirements? No, it is the job of law enforcement to enforce laws. Uber should fire drivers that are known to be breaking the law, sure, but requiring that they screen up-front for lawbreakers is the same as requiring drug testing or other such nonsense.

sharemywin 13y ago

the insurance company won't cover it because it's personal insurance not commercial insurance. Personal insurance isn't priced on people driving around in their cars all day.

Houshalter 13y ago
Couldn't the insurance company look at their odometer to see how much they have been driving? I did not realize that was the issue though.
- DanBC 13y ago
  Bob owns his car and has personal insurance. At work they ask Bob to take a widget to a customer. Bob drives his car to the customer but is involved in an accident before he gets there. This is the only time Bob has ever driven for the company like this. Bob finds that his insurance does not cover him. He could lie and not mention the widget delivery, but that is fraud and is a serious crime. We could say that the widget delivery is irrelevant and that the insurance company should just pay the money but insurance companies are SCUM and they employ many people whose only role is to see how to reduce or avoid paying money to the customers.
jmspring 13y ago
You are correct. The same caveat that makes using one's personal automobile (and insurance) for pizza delivery problematic is the same one that applies to using your car as a Lyft / Uber or other driver. Personal policies rarely cover commercial use of the vehicle.
stickfigure 13y ago
Has this ever actually happened with an Uber/Lyft/etc driver that was involved in an accident? Or is this theoretical?
- gamblor956 13y ago
  The insurance company for the Uber driver who hit and killed a little girl refused to pay on his policy arguing that he was engaged in a commercial activity at the time and thus not covered by his personal auto insurance liability coverage, which excludes commercial insurance liability claims.
  - 13y ago

pilom 13y ago

Yes it is, so Uber should be MANDATING with documentation that their drivers maintain insurance that covers them at the appropriate times. They should actively be filtering out drivers who do no have a commercial insurance policy. But Uber doesn't do that because that would restrict the number of drivers they could collect fare fees from.