(Photo credit: Alfredo Mendez/Flickr)
Whether Uber’s ride sharing app has a future in Toronto remains to be seen. In mid-November, the city of Toronto filed an injunction to stop the company from operating within the city stating that the service was a risk to residents. Hearings for the case is scheduled for May of next year, according to the Globe and Mail.
The city has done a detailed investigation into the service with findings that have them concerned about the safety of passengers due to the company’s current driver screening process, vehicle inspections process and insurance coverage, says the Globe. This involved hiring a private investigator (PI), who was once a former Toronto Police officer, to obtain details of the company’s hiring process for drivers.
According to the Globe, the PI received a text for a vehicle inspection less than 24 hours after he submitted an online application. When he arrived at the office, he overheard a company employee telling an Uber driver to report an accident on the driver’s personal insurance, when the accident occurred while he was acting as an Uber driver. When the PI asked for more details about insurance coverage, the employee told him that the company would cover additional costs not covered by the driver’s personal insurance.
The PI underwent a short training program, which included a 15-minute video and a ten question true/false quiz. He received the go ahead after his background check was approved within 48 hours. The PI says he was only subject to a first-level Police Criminal Record Check, which does not approve people to work with vulnerable people, such as those who are disabled or children. Also, the PI’s car was never inspected.
In the US, ride sharing programs are facing questions about its drivers’ insurance and liability if a passenger is involved in a motor vehicle accident since a Lyft passenger, a competitor of Uber, was involved in a fatal accident.
“All drivers who partner with Uber for our ride-sharing product, UberX, must undergo a stringent background check and meet certain criteria to gain access to the platform,” Xavier Van Chau said in a statement, posted in the Globe article. “Every ride on the UberX platform in Canada is backed by liability insurance covering bodily injury and property damage.”
While safety concerns have been raised about the service and taxi drivers rally against it, not everyone agrees with the city’s stance with newly elected mayor John Tory supporting Uber in Toronto. Also, there was a recent column in the National Post that suggests ride sharing could make the city safer since it could encourage more people to call for a ride rather than drink and drive.
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