A spokeswoman for Uber worked to reassure customer outside of the DA’s news conference.
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But she’s not happy with the commission’s decision to pull back on safety checks for Uber drivers.
“Whereas we agree with the district attorneys that security is a precedence, we disagree that the LiveScan course of utilized by taxi corporations is an inherently higher system for screening drivers than our background checks”, Uber stated on Wednesday.
As lawmakers are getting ready to vote on allowing Uber and Lyft – Uber’s chief rival – to pick up passengers at Los Angeles Airport, the debate over whether or not ride-hail drivers should submit to the same background-check standards as taxi drivers has already accounted for hours of testimony at Los Angeles City Hall. Despite his criminal background, Chammout was able to work as an Uber driver. The city invoked this clause last week and asked Uber to add an amendment to the contract to require fingerprint background checks for its airport drivers. Uber lost its bid for dismissal of that case last month.
The corporate has scrapped with regulators from Houston to Berlin on points from whether or not it’s required to comply with present taxi legal guidelines to the way it handles rider knowledge. The company has also worked on its image: Uber has hired former Obama campaign strategist David Plouffe and former Google executive Rachel Whetstone in an effort to aid its lobbying and communications efforts. The story has made national headlines, including in the New York Times, as the company with a billion valuation comes under increasing scrutiny by governments, and the public at large.
The district attorneys of San Francisco and Los Angeles filed an updated complaint against Uber on Tuesday.
“I support technological innovation“, Gascón said in a prepared statement.
The company’s publicity, it said, was “likely to mislead consumers into believing that Uber does everything it can to ensure their safety and that Uber’s background check process will capture all of the criminal history of an applicant”, the complaint said.
Sheehey-Church, whose teenage son was killed at the hands of a drunk and drugged driver, said she also advocates traditional taxi services as well as public transportation. Uber’s drivers, especially those in the UberX service category-in which drivers use their own cars – generally do not have taxi licences and are not subjected to the municipaX oversight that come with them, raising concerns about vehicle safety, driver screening and insurance coverage.
One Uber driver was convicted of second-degree murder in 1982.
Analysts say more extensive background checks could make it harder for ride-hailing companies to recruit new drivers and get them on the road within days.
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Later the issue was settled when the company agreed to pay $250,000 and to stop claiming its background checks were among the best in the industry.
