Armed drivers - Uber's dilemma

[Rex B]

"Uber’s business model depends on driver “independence,” but stumbles when drivers choose to exercise it."

Surprisingly evenhanded article, considering the source.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/ ... cy/605701/

[The Annoyed Man]

I signed up as an Uber driver almost a year ago, and still haven’t accepted a fare. I’m not entirely comfortable with picking up random strangers when Uber leaves a driver no recourse other than to be a willing victim. I guess I could get back at a carjacker by giving him a bad Uber rating. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I am, however, starting a new job in the next few days as an independent contract driver for another company that is neither a taxi nor a ride-sharing business. I’ll be driving most of the time by myself, and sometimes along with another employee. There’s no written company policy about carrying a firearm. A friend of mine who works for this company and who carries, helped me to get the job, and he says that several others also carry. Nobody who works there talks about it, and I won’t mention the company's name publicly, so as to not poke the bear.

[03Lightningrocks]

My daughter signed up as an Uber driver a couple years ago. I hated it! I was all over her about the dangers. But, since she is 39 years old, she refused to stay grounded to her room. She took a few riders but soon started feeling uncomfortable with some of the riders. She stopped that and now does some kind of grocery shopping/delivery thing and said she makes pretty darn good money and she is able to pick and choose what areas she can deliver to.

OH... I am not sure what the "rules" are but she always carried and still does while doing the delivery/ride thing.

[Ike Aramba]

Typical anti gun nonsense from The Atlantic.

Strand and his wife and coworkers booked a ride for five people. When Wallace arrived, they wanted him to rearrange the back seat to accommodate a sixth person. He refused. His refusal to accommodate an additional rider was within his rights.

Wallace was also within his rights to tell them to get out of his vehicle and to cancel the ride.

Strand could have re-booked to request an Uber XL with seating for six passengers, or Strand and his group could have booked two Uber rides, to comfortably accommodate the six of them.

Instead there was an argument that escalated to a physical fight. During the fight, Strand killed Wallace.

Therefore, says The Atlantic, it's a bad thing that Uber couldn't prevent Wallace from legally carrying a handgun in his vehicle, because Wallace (like all Uber drivers) was an independent contractor rather than an employee.

[Rex B]

I don't see any sort of leftist shenanigans here. I just see a big corporation trying to thread the needle between corporate responsibility and avoiding legal exposure, controlling their employees while denying that they are employees. They've got themselves into a Catch-22 situation, and the solution seems to be to live with the fact that their drivers (contractors) are going to arm themselves despite the rules put forth by the company.