Car-sale consumer protections need updating for the Uber era
I’ve never made a secret of the pox that I believe Uber to be. Uber and all the other “sharing economy” exploits — Airbnb, Lyft — try to disguise a world that eschews regulation, oversight, consumer protection and workers’ rights.
And whether you’re a big fan of Uber and use it all the time, or you’re like me and avoid it like, well, a pox, the company’s penchant for flouting laws can have implications for us all.
Consider this in your next purchase of a used car. Const. Clint Stibbe with Toronto Police Service notes there are laws that let consumers know if they are buying a vehicle that was once a rental, a police car or a taxi. At this point, no such thing applies to cars used for Uber.
I’ve been calling attention to this since July 2015 and nothing has changed. That great deal you just found on Kijiji could have been driven just as hard as a cab or a rental.
If you’re selling your car next to it, you’re now in an unbalanced situation. If my private car is up against a rental, a buyer will probably choose mine, depending on condition. But that buyer has no way of knowing, unless the information is offered up by the seller — highly unlikely.
The Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council (OMVIC) regulates car sellers. It’s a layer of consumer protection in Ontario. They have a checklist of requirements for sellers, and one is that full disclosure must be made of material facts.
How do you know if a fact is material to the purchase of a vehicle? Ask yourself: would not knowing this make me reconsider or cancel my purchase? Many things are considered material, and their omission could result in OMVIC getting involved; they can charge sellers and assess fines. Previous collision, extensive repairs and daily rentals are all considered material. I’d say using your vehicle in a ride-share program is material, as well.
And if you do use Uber on a regular basis, I’m aware there will be little to talk you out of it. Sometimes we forget that there is more than one currency in our lives, and the monetary cost has little to do with the societal impact of racing an economy to the bottom.
Uber has a $5-million insurance policy to protect passengers, and it finally, after years of silence, extended insurance coverage to its drivers. They continue to operate in jurisdictions that don’t have laws to adequately cover them, and as local governments struggle to keep up — some require professional licensing, most now require criminal background checks for drivers, and adequate commercial insurance — Uber just rolls along, unperturbed by rules and regulations.
So maybe the autonomous car testing Uber has in Pittsburgh might solve this issue, right? Here’s what Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick told The Guardian: “Nobody has set up software that can reliably drive a car safely without a human.”
Pretty eye-popping quote from the guy who is inviting you to catch a ride with his service. He said that in August, even though the launch of the service was earlier this summer. Granted, it still has techs behind the wheel, but make no mistake: Uber plans to be at the forefront of the blistering pace to be fully automated and ditch its drivers. Others (most notably Tesla) are eclipsing Uber, but the race is real.
In the pilot part of the program, according to another report in The Guardian, friends and family of Uber employees were invited to try out the service. First, they had to sign waivers that were very succinct. They release Uber from anything pertaining to “risks associated with riding in an AV,” which “may include, without limitation, those caused by equipment failure, development vehicle operators or other safety drivers, actions of other motorists, weather, temperature, road conditions, negligence or human error,” according to acquired documents. These are the same cars now being used in public trials.
I understand if I choose to get in one of these cars and waive my right to, well, anything, but what about my rights as someone who hasn’t done this? Autonomous cars are great at some things, but there is still work to be done before they stop killing their occupants on occasion. You don’t have to be inside the car to be in danger; I’d prefer not to be a cyclist or a pedestrian around one. I know from self-parking exercises in several makes that this is not a completely reliable thing just yet.