
Uber Knowingly Leased Unsafe Cars to Drivers - coloneltcb
https://www.wsj.com/articles/smoke-then-fire-uber-knowingly-leased-unsafe-cars-to-drivers-1501786430
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ineedasername
More & more, Uber's conduct reads like a case study in when the culture of
"it's better to ask forgiveness" goes too far, and begins inculcating a
culture of "it's not wrong if you don't get caught"

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thearn4
Which really makes me hope that the Uber Elevate concept is smoke and mirrors,
and they aren't going to try and disrupt their way through aviation
regulations.

~~~
sokoloff
The paper is optimistic (to say the least), but it does appear they intend to
fly under part 135 (on-demand charter), which is the "following the FAA rules"
way to approach it.

I think they're dreaming if they expect to get part 135 pilot requirements
waived/lessened because of their augmentation systems. Not for a long, long
time.

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zitterbewegung
Uber looks like they are becoming the Comcast of ride sharing. The largest
player in the space with some competition. But, instead of bad customer
service its questionable morals. Also, a small vocal group will hate it.

~~~
pinewurst
I think at this point, Comcast is the injured party here, given recent
customer service quality that they've given me.

~~~
dawnerd
When I was buying a house and researching what isps were available they were
really nice to deal with. Ultimately had to go with Frontier... which has
been... interesting.

~~~
ojbyrne
So you live in a place where there is actual competition.

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dawnerd
Not really. I can have fiber that's not utilized (Frontier) or cable with
awful data caps and poor upload speeds (Comcast). Nearby there are a lot more
options but since I'm in between two cities, I kinda get screwed. Good news
though, Frontier will sell me gigabit for the low price of 299 if I'll take
only 100mbps upload.

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deft
Once Uber runs out of money to burn they will be no better than your average
taxi, and probably more expensive. As more stories like this come out, it's
becoming apparent they will be worse.

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DiabloD3
I'm not a lawyer, but... isn't this attempted manslaughter at the very least?
They knowingly put lives in danger for personal profit and gain, so clearly
the motive is there.

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advisedwang
Sounds more like (gross) negligence as they weren't actually /trying/ to hurt
someone, just didn't do what they should have to prevent it.

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discodave
Unintentionally killing somebody is manslaughter. I guess there is no such
thing as 'attempted manslaughter', unlike murder.

If somebody had died it could have been manslaughter.

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DannyBee
The law school answer is "there is no attempted manslaughter", but in some
states, it really does exist due to statute. Example:
[https://www.justia.com/criminal/docs/calcrim/500/603.html](https://www.justia.com/criminal/docs/calcrim/500/603.html)

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pfarnsworth
Do rental car companies take cars off the road that have recall notices on
them? I think there are always recall notices going out, but I don't know what
the legal responsibilities are for car rental companies to take cars off the
road for every single recall issue, especially in a foreign country like
Singapore.

~~~
bri3d
In the US, it is illegal to rent out cars with active recalls, but only since
June 2016 [1]. The bill was named for some of the only people I can find who
were injured or killed by a recalled rental car - two sisters who died in 2004
when the PT Cruiser they rented caught fire. (if you want to read an
infuriating story about rental car corporations, this really is one). [2]

1: [https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/effective-today-new-
fed...](https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/effective-today-new-federal-law-
recalled-rental-cars-protects-consumers-vehicle) 2:
[http://www.carconsumers.org/saferentalcaract.htm](http://www.carconsumers.org/saferentalcaract.htm)

~~~
FireBeyond
> (if you want to read an infuriating story about rental car corporations,
> this really is one)

Notwithstanding that it shouldn't take legislation to "don't rent out cars
under active recall for profit until repaired", even the linked article hardly
sounds "infuriating" about rental providers:

"In a commendable move, the rental car industry, including Enterprise, Hertz,
Avis, Dollar- thrifty, Alamo, National, and the American Car Rental
Association, as well as many smaller rental car companies, helped persuade
lawmakers to vote for the Act, and worked alongside Cally Houck, Consumers for
Auto Reliability and Safety, and other supporters for passage of the new law.
General Motors and Honda broke ranks with other auto manufacturers and also
supported the bill"

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URSpider94
Sometimes businesses like regulation, because it levels the playing field. It
can be hard to do what you know is morally right, if it affects your bottom
line and you have to justify the decision to your shareholders.

I don't know, but the fact that many automakers didn't support the law implies
that the new law might have triggered some contractual terms between
automakers and fleet owners around loss of use ...

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randyrand
Reminds me of this video from the 70s/80s about Ford knowingly distributing an
unsafe car - "Milton Friedman on Ford not recalling the ford pinto"

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jltnBOrCB7I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jltnBOrCB7I)

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jeremynixon
Pass the paywall: [https://t.co/fU9VRQUpiw](https://t.co/fU9VRQUpiw)

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aceperry
Thanks for that. I couldn't figure out how to get around the paywall.

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mylons
regulators and law makers need to step in and shut it down

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cryptoz
This is their MO. Growth at any cause. Passengers get raped? Oh well. Tell
them it was fake! There was that story where they hired a known convicted
rapist in India, who then raped a passenger, and then Uber executives tried to
discredit the victim and say it didn't happen.
[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/15/uber-
indi...](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/15/uber-india-woman-
rape-lawsuit)

Unable to read the article linked, but this is Classic Uber and the reason
that capitalism needs more regulations. Cars catch fire? Oopsies!

Companies like Uber should not be allowed to operate at this insane "growth at
any cost". It's not functional. It's not human. They can't be bothered to do
background checks on drivers or safety checks on cars. They shouldn't be
allowed to operate.

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kinkrtyavimoodh
> Tell them it was fake! There was that story where they hired a known
> convicted rapist in India, who then raped a passenger, and then Uber
> executives tried to discredit the victim.

No they did not. They tried to procure her medical records to verify whether
the rape claim was true. They never actively discredited the victim.

There's plenty of stuff to hate Uber for without you making up outrage.

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mikeash
They _succeeded_ in procuring her medical records. They then accused her of
being a shill for a competitor. I think that's perfectly reasonable to
summarize as "tried to discredit the victim." If anything, it's putting things
a bit too mildly, since it fails to mention that obtaining her medical records
was itself illegal and immoral.

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chris_wot
Seriously, this company is just plain evil. Can't we just be rid of them
already?

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mrkrabo
Of course. Anything or anybody else you want us to get rid of, Mr. Chris?

