A few weeks back we wrote a blog explaining the increased responsibility that a professional driver has. As crazy as that seems professional driver includes airplane pilots, railroad engineers and not so crazy is the inclusion of taxi drivers. The reality is that the driver of a taxi is the professional driver we are most likely to come into contact with. If something happens when you are in a yellow cab that is licensed by a city you have a somewhat better than average chance that the cab has been inspected, the driver is licensed and they have mandated insurances in place to protect you. Along came ride sharing.
What started as a good idea is starting to show signs of danger. The first question you want to ask is who is regulating these services? The drivers want to all be independent contractors accountable to no one and if that’s the case who keeps tracks of their hours behind the wheel, who keeps track of having insurance in place to protect you and since they want to be considered professional drivers who will license them and what tests will they be required to take? The answers are unclear to say the least.
It gets even better! There are lawsuits nationwide over independent contractor as opposed to employee. These start-ups allow workers to set their own hours and that almost encourages the rogue driver putting your safety and the safety of others at incredible risk. As I write this Uber has hundreds of thousands of drivers in 58 countries and over 300 cities. Do you really think that they are up to the standard they need to be? Do they even have standards that apply to their drivers? FedEx drivers work between 9.5 and 11 hours per day, they report to terminals before and after their shift, work in specific geographic zones, wear uniform that identify who they are and have vehicles painted certain colors and are easily identifiable. Uber has a pink mustache and little more! People are already having issues and injuries and deaths have happened. Who is going to be held responsible? That is still not 100% clear.
If you or a loved one has been injured or worse at the hands of a professional driver you should call GBLEGAL. We have the experienced professionals you need to determine what happened and what to do next. Call us 24/7/365 at 888-809-1075 or visit www.gblegal.com We Can Help!
