Uninsured UberX drivers put passenger safety at risk
If you use UberX in Toronto without a second thought to your safety, you simply haven’t been paying attention.
A recent accident involving a driver of the upstart taxi service is helping to illustrate a risk that many in the taxi and insurance industries have been warning us about. Last month, an UberX driver and three passengers were involved in a serious crash. We now know that the driver was using a rental car. Rental companies do not allow customers to drive folks around for money and they can deny the insurance claims of those who violate their rules.
The UberX passengers and driver would be in a much better situation right now if the car had been properly insured to take paying customers. But neither the rental company nor Uber itself knew about the driver’s violation and found out only after the accident. We can’t know how many other UberX drivers — many of whom use cars that don’t belong to them — are driving without appropriate insurance. Our city government has allowed for this dangerous situation by failing to bring Uber’s insurance practices in line with other local taxi services.
Driving is a risky activity on its own, and gets riskier if you drive regularly in a busy metropolitan area like downtown Toronto. Rental companies don’t want the additional risk of lending out vehicles to be used as taxis. Similarly, an insurance company that is providing someone with personal insurance doesn’t expect that person to take on the added risks of driving for hire. That’s what commercial insurance is for. Reg- ular taxi services must prove to the city they have commercial insurance to protect their passengers; UberX, by contrast, has been operating on a dubious honour system for over 18 months.
The consequences of this are simple and potentially devastating: all people — drivers, passengers or otherwise — who are involved in accidents with uninsured UberX drivers may not get the injury compensation they deserve, or may see their claims delayed for years due to legal wrangling over liability.
Those who argue for Uber’s superior customer service must not know about this lack of accountability on insurance. Safety, the presumed cornerstone of any transportation service, is being overlooked in favour of Uber’s lower fares and convenient gadgetry.
Why is Toronto trusting a multinational corporation to follow insurance rules, while policing and prosecuting the local taxi industry? Uber has earned fans and foes alike through its indifference to basic transportation rules. Earlier this month, Uber settled a lawsuit with the local governments of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Uber paid $28.5 million (U.S.) over misleading claims about providing customers “the safest ride on the road.” It turns out 25 people with serious criminal records were driving for the company in those cities. Similar lawsuits against Uber in many other global cities are pending, or have also been settled for big money.
Sometimes rules are silly and counterproductive. Many have pointed out that the rules governing Toronto’s taxi industry are convoluted, even fatally flawed. But Toronto hasn’t relaxed its safety and insurance expectations for local cabbies, whom police routinely scrutinize for commercial insurance, in-car cameras, and regular vehicle inspections. It’s a scenario that Philomena Comerford, president and CEO of Baird McGregor Insurance Brokers, calls extremely dangerous.
“If you’re getting into a vehicle, you want to know that it’s been through safety checks, and you don’t allow a global company that isn’t based in Toronto to do it for you,” Comerford said in an interview. She equated such a responsibility to the city’s DineSafe inspection service, which ensures the food we eat at restaurants is safe instead of taking restaurant owners at their word.
Comerford views Uber as just another taxi dispatching service, and cannot understand why city council has lowered its safety expectations in this case. “Welcoming that form of dispatching makes sense, but it doesn’t mean you throw out all the safety regulations that go with it,” said Comerford.
Uninsured UberX drivers put themselves at risk, but also risk the safety of their passengers, as well as other drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists on Toronto’s streets. City officials have always had the ability to require UberX drivers to carry commercial insurance, and to verify coverage through inspections. There’s no reason for Toronto to keep trusting Uber with this critical safety measure, or the many others we demand for local taxis.
All persons involved in accidents with uninsured UberX drivers may not get the compensation they deserve, or see their claims delayed for years