

Uber driver charged with raping woman in D.C. - rexreed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/uber-driver-charged-with-raping-woman-in-dc/2013/03/14/2bbf4c8e-8cb0-11e2-9838-d62f083ba93f_story.html

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cs702
At least one critic of the company warned exactly about this a long while ago:

 _"Laws don’t exist merely to frustrate the business ambitions of coastal
hipsters: They also exist to protect the more vulnerable members of society.
Back home in London (where such statistics are available), 11 women a month
are attacked in unlicensed cabs, and unlicensed drivers are responsible for a
horrifying 80 percent of all stranger rapes. If Uber doesn't have to follow
licensing laws, then neither does any Tom, Dick, or Harry who chooses to paint
the word 'TAXI' on the side of his car, and start offering rides via the
Internet. A disruptive CEO will shrug (and there's a foreshadowing word) and
insist that it’s not his fault that such criminals exist."_ [1]

It appears this critic was right.

\--

[1] <http://pandodaily.com/2012/10/24/travis-shrugged/>

\--

Edit: added "It appears," which more accurately conveys my position.

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ataggart
It's not clear to me how government licensing would prevent an already illegal
rape.

~~~
Retric
Tracking, people are far less likely to commit crimes if they need to be
identified beforehand.

Background checking, while far from foolproof it's both a deterrent and a
preventative measure.

Higher barriers to entry, if it takes significant amounts of effort and money
to be able to drive a cab then people are both less likely to risk it and
going to try something else to have their 'fun'.

~~~
1123581321
Uber drivers are already identified beforehand, have to go through background
checks, and, as we've learned in the article, are suspended if they are even
accused of a crime. They are also tracked by GPS and probably cam, and
probably will soon be tracked via other means as well (driver's door opening,
etc.)

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snprbob86
I don't really appreciate the fact that the suspect is named publicly, but the
victim is not. It should be either neither, or both, preferably the former.
Every time I see an article about rape, there are hints of bias to full on
convictions in the court of public opinion. Innocent until proven guilty!

Uber probably has GPS data for the Driver's phone. Did he linger at the
destination long enough for a rape to occur? Or did he immediately begin
traveling towards his next fare?

There's a character witness for the driver, but what about for the woman?
After all, she was just kicked out of a bar...

What is the status of her injury?

There's just not enough information here for this to justify as news quite
yet.

~~~
rhdoenges
> After all, she was just kicked out of a bar...

What difference does this make?

~~~
warfangle
None at all, unless you make a habit of victim blaming.

~~~
simcop2387
Not to diminish what is going on but at this point all we have is heresy, we
don't know what actually happened. She could have been drunk enough that she
thought it happened when it didn't (knew a few people like that, men and women
in college), or she could have a history of making accusations (rape or not).
It is also equally likely that something did happen to her and that her
accusations are accurate and something should be done (prosecution). At this
point we must wait until at least a judge has heard the case and if there is
any kind of prosecution going forward. Only then can we even begin to form any
kind of cogent opinion on the matter given all the variables and unanswered
questions.

~~~
Avshalom
>Not to diminish what is going on but at this point all we have is heresy, we
don't know what actually happened

It is only ever sexual assault cases where this many calls for skepticism -as
to whether a crime even happened- are made.

~~~
simcop2387
Personally I do it for every case. I see it happen for murder trials, sexual
abuse cases, everything in the media where the presumption is that the person
is guilty and it's just a question of how much. Right now what's been reported
does look fairly damning but the evidence itself hasn't been shown to the
public or a jury yet. The only way for someone to be presumed innocent until
proven guilty is to be skeptical of everything.

~~~
warfangle
It's not a question of guilty/innocent; it's the question of "well she was so
drunk she got kicked out of the bar, so how could it have been rape" being
_absolute bullshit_.

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xanadohnt
Why is Über even mentioned? How about some details on the manufacturer of the
seat the driver was sitting on, maybe what barber he usues too? Regardless,
this is tragic if true, and my heart goes out.

~~~
lawnchair_larry
It's relevant. Uber are creating a network of unregulated cabs, and people
have been voicing concerns over the consequences of that. It can happen with a
regulated cab too, but it's probably a little more sensitive given that there
are no regulations at all.

These concerns are not mine, and I'm not taking a position for or against
Uber, I'm just pointing this out.

~~~
rtkwe
They still employ specially licensed driver just like cab companies. The
regulations they don't have to deal with are things like availability and rate
laws iirc.

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sandbochs
Hope they release the results of the DNA matching. Innocent until proven
guilty.

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greenyoda
Despite what the headline on HN says, the article states in the very first
sentence that he was _not_ charged with anything, and released:

 _"District prosecutors on Thursday said they will not charge a limo driver
who city police had arrested and accused of raping a 20-year-old customer
outside her home in December."_

Edit: Looks like the news article used to have that same headline; it's still
what the page title says. Apparently, the police got it wrong in their press
conference:

 _"Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, told The
Washington Post that the office was not charging Anouar Habib Trabelsi, even
as a top D.C. police commander was holding a news conference outside police
headquarters announcing the criminal charge."_

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nsxwolf
Yikes. Anyone know how a startup protects themselves from liability in this
kind of situation?

~~~
warfangle
Given the driver was not employed by Uber, but employed by a limo company that
uses Uber's technology...

~~~
bdcravens
"Craigslist rapists" aren't employees of Craigslist either, yet there's still
the negative stigma.

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speeder
Rape accusations, true or not, always end destroying the accused, specially
because there are low penalties for false accusations, and the media is very
fast in plastering the person name and photo everywhere.

Also, being a driver is kinda dangerous regarding that, I have some driver
friends, and they all have the same rule: They don't pick up lone women,
period, it might be raining, hurricane, dust storm, middle of the night, day,
whatever, if she is a woman, and alone, they don't pick up them, ever.

It is because here in Brazil at least, is a very common scam to a women accuse
a driver (be him professional, like a cabbie or Uber-like driver, or a
volunteer that wants to help a hitchhiker) of rape, or make threats to accuse
him unless he pays her something.

On this case in particular, I think the best is wait for what a judge and
evidence has to say.

~~~
rhdoenges
It says she paid her fare. What other motive could she have had to make this
accusation?

Unfortunately, there is little evidence to go on at this point aside from her
testimony, so much of this discussion is mere speculation.

~~~
Aloisius
It is an uber. The fare is automatically paid with or without her.

~~~
rhdoenges
Ah, my mistake.

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ratpad
How in the world is this an "Uber" driver... Doesn't he work for a company
that's using Uber? Find this a bit of a sensationalized smear on the service
to associate him so closely with it.

~~~
andrewguenther
Uber approved him as a driver, he receives clients through Uber, he receives
payments through Uber...

